Boris Herrmann has put together his sailing team without much fanfare according to quality, experience and human fit. So far, four strong players and the 41-year-old four-time circumnavigator Herrmann make up the quintet that will start the 14th The Ocean Race in the Imoca division in January. At least one more substitute is expected to join them. The crew, whose members are between 27 and 41 years old, includes experienced sailors as well as up-and-coming young talents who want to make a name for themselves in The Ocean Race. Team founder Boris Herrmann says: "I am delighted to be part of a crew that is such a promising mix of people from different countries and with different experiences." Herrmann's team mates so far come from England, the Netherlands and France. Click here to go to Team Malizias Homepage.
Faithful companion and navigation ace: co-skipper Will Harris
Briton Will Arthur Edward Harris joined Team Malizia back in 2019. The quiet and likeable man from Weybridge in the south-east of England rode the Transat Jacques Vabre two-handed race together with Boris Herrmann for the first time. The chemistry was right and Harris became Herrmann's loyal companion. The 28-year-old has the aura of a rock in the surf, keeping his cool even in hairy moments. As one of the youngest meteorologists and navigators in international professional sailing, Will Harris has already matured into an authority. He laid the foundations for this with a bachelor's degree in oceanography at the University of Southampton.
During Herrmann's solo circumnavigation at his Vendée Globe premiere in 2020/2021, it was Harris who not only supported his skipper from shore with a wealth of expertise, but also explained the course of the race to the large audience in a knowledgeable and comprehensible way. With a great deal of technical expertise, Harris has matured into a valuable team player and closely followed the recently completed construction of the new Imoca "Malizia - Seaexplorer" in France. After joining the organisers' shore team in the 13th The Ocean Race, Harris is now looking forward to his sailing debut in the popular team regatta around the world.
He has acquired the skills for this over the past few years during many missions with Boris Herrmann. The two Hs - Herrmann and Harris - get on as well on the boat as they do on land. Harris says: "Team Malizia is like a family that has now grown once again." Harris himself has spent a maximum of 21 days at sea in his career to date. The historically longest leg of The Ocean Race from Cape Town to Itajaí in Brazil will take around five weeks. "It might come as a shock, but the best thing about offshore sailing for me is getting into the rhythm and being in the most remote areas. I'm really looking forward to this challenge."
Co-skipper Nicolas Lunven: Ocean Race connoisseur and winner
He is the youngest new addition to the team and celebrates his 40th birthday in November: Nicolas Lunven learnt to sail as soon as he could walk. The son of a sailing family from Vannes in France, he spent most of his free time on the family boat in the Gulf of Quiberon. While studying management and administration, he had already excelled in a number of regattas, both in France with its affinity for the high seas and at international level.
He caused a sensation with a start-to-finish victory at the 2009 Solitaire du Figaro at the age of 26. The Figaro is considered to be extremely demanding and a mastermaker's stage. Lunven won the endurance test again in 2017. In the same successful year, he took his third victory in the Solo Maître Coq, his second title in the Tour de Bretagne and was crowned French Offshore Racing Champion. This made him stand out even in a country as rich in sailing talent as his homeland. Nicolas Lunven has not only taken part in the Transat Jacques Vabre three times, but also in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014/15 (in the initial phase on "Mapfre") and 2017/18 ("Turn the Tide on Plastic"). Now he is ready to take part in the most important team race around the world for the third time.
Nicolas lives with his wife and three children in the north-west of Brittany, where he enjoys being close to the sea. Commenting on his involvement in Team Malizia, he says: "I met Boris a few years ago. We ran into each other and always had a very nice chat. He is a very sociable person. I can hardly wait and I'm thrilled that we'll be taking part in the Ocean Race together. I'm a navigator on the water, but I've also been involved in the development and optimisation of the boat over the last few months. It's going to be one hell of an adventure!"
Co-skipper Rosalin Kuiper: strong-willed climber with a clever head
She looks like the likeable girl next door, but in sailing she develops a strength and a passion that have already taken her far at a young age: Boris Herrmann relies on these qualities and the skills of Rosalin Kuiper from the Netherlands. The 27-year-old trimmed the sails on "AkzoNobel" before her Malizia involvement in The Ocean Race Europe. Rosalin Kuiper studied psychology at the same university in Leiden where Dutch ocean racing icon and first Ocean Race winner Carolijn Brouwer studied. The dynamic sailor owns a self-built camper van and loves cycling and kiting. But she loves adventurous offshore sailing even more.
At the age of six, Rosalin Kuiper took off in the classic Optimist 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 improving 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.
After her return, Rosalin Kuiper attended a sailing school and was accepted into the youth sailing academy under the guidance of Finn helmsman and ocean veteran Roy Heiner. It was here that she caught fire, while her own dream of competing in The Ocean Race began to take shape. She has classics such as the Fastnet Race, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and the Middle Sea Race in her back yard. Rosalin Kuiper has pursued her goal of successfully taking part in The Ocean Race with impressive tenacity. Now, with Team Malizia, she has arrived in the upper house of her sport to prove herself in the royal race - and to stay there.
TV man and kite world champion: Anbord reporter Antoine Auriol
37-year-old Antoine Auriol is also part of the team on board. The French-German videographer will be documenting the race and team activities as an onboard reporter (OBR for short). Antoine Auriol is not only a well-known TV journalist who has created several documentary series for French television. The son of a German mother and a French father is also a professional athlete himself, becoming Kiteboard Pro World Champion in 2010. Born in Vouziers in the French Ardennes, he discovered the freedom of the sea for himself after his family moved to Brittany. In his family, says Antoine Auriol, sport has become a form of art.
As a boy, he was a gifted gymnast and trampolinist and was one of France's top five in his age group. At the age of 15, windsurfing became his elixir. In 2003, he won the European Youth Championship in the Olympic windsurfing class and at the same time fell in love with the newly emerging sport of kitesurfing. Kiting allowed him to utilise all of his talents: as a former gymnast with a lot of strength, as a trampoline jumper with experience of rotations in the air and as a windsurfer with a good feel for the elements.
Antoine Auriol became a well-known TV face with documentaries such as "Free Like the Wind", the later series "Hopeful Earth" and as host of the TV series "Wind Quest", in which he travelled around the world on the hunt for the most famous winds. Environmental friendliness and a positive attitude to life are as much a part of him as his passion for kiting, which he also shares with Boris Herrmann. Just like the goal of the successful circumnavigation in The Ocean Race, which Antoine Auriol will accompany live on all the world's oceans in words, pictures and film as an on-board reporter.
