The Ocean Race: Boris Herrmann forms his team: Clever mind: Rosalin Kuiper joins Team Malizia
She owns a self-built camper van and loves cycling and kiting. But she loves the challenging and adventurous offshore sailing even more. Rosalin Kuiper is the new member of Team Malizia and the first woman on Boris Herrmann's crew list for The Ocean Race. The 26-year-old officially takes on the role of one of two co-skippers. In recent years, the Dutchwoman has repeatedly shown what she is made of with far above-average commitment. For example, when she was determined to sail the Sydney Hobart Race, flew from Europe to Australia, applied to various crews there and finally secured a shore job for the crew on the maxi "InfoTrack". She gladly accepted the fact that she had to get up at 5 a.m. every day for weeks and work around the clock, usually with a smile. Her efforts were rewarded by the impressed "InfoTrack" crew: she was given a place on the regatta crew.
This in turn caught the attention of other big names in The Ocean Race environment. And so she became a trimmer on "AkzoNobel" in the Ocean Race Europe. Skipper Chris Nicholsen also asked the Dutchwoman to take care of the team's media work. He also saw her psychology studies at Leiden University, specialising in sports psychology and group dynamics, as a good basis. Holland's Ocean Race icon Carolijn Brouwer also studied there. Rosalin Kuiper has now joined Team Malizia and skipper Boris Herrmann is delighted with his new addition.
At the age of six, Rosalin Kuiper started out in classic Optimist sailing near her home town of Zoetermeer, often accompanied by her dog Takkie. She was equally enthusiastic about nature and sailing. The Dutchwoman is a sportswoman through and through, always focussed on performing better and winning. After intensive involvement in athletics and hockey, she made her sailing comeback at the age of 18: She was travelling alone in Australia and noticed that she spent hours staring at sailing ships in harbours. She then took a job as a deckhand on a sailing ship in the Whitsundays Islands and knew from then on that she had found her calling. On her return, Rosalin Kuiper attended a sailing school and was accepted into the Youth Sailing Academy under the guidance of Finn helmsman and ocean-going warhorse Roy Heiner. It was here that she caught fire, while her own dream of competing in The Ocean Race began to take shape.
Since then, fuelled by her energy and drive to succeed, Rosalin Kuiper has competed in races such as the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, the Fastnet Race, the Middle Sea Race and the Caribbean 600, working with a host of sailing champions. Her accumulated offshore experience equates to a distance of two circumnavigations. She now has her sights set on the next one. And she will be doing so alongside Boris Herrmann, his loyal companion and co-skipper Will Harris and the TV journalist, 2010 kite world champion and new Malizia on-board reporter Antoine Auriol, who has also already signed up for The Ocean Race. The 28-year-old Briton Harris and 37-year-old German-Frenchman Antoine Auriol almost complete the crew for The Ocean Race. Four active crew members and an onboard reporter will sail around the world from Alicante/Spain on board the new Malizia Sea Explorer from January 2023. Paul Meilhat's French team Biotherm and American Charlie Enright's 11th Hour Racing Team have also confirmed their participation.
