The Ocean Race: French-German team registered: Co-skipper Stanjek: "The boat is a real hit"

They have already successfully rehearsed for the real thing in the Ocean Race Europe: co-skippers Benjamin Dutreux (France) and Robert Stanjek (Berlin) won the premiere of the Ocean Race's little sister in the summer of 2021 in the Imoca class, just ahead of 11th Hour Racing and Thomas Ruyant's Team LinkedOut. At the time, Offshore Team Germany, with German-French co-skippers and an international team, achieved the coup with an aged Imoca. In the battle with the modern foilers, they narrowly prevailed in the thrilling final. The victory gave the participants fresh impetus for their battle to take part in the ultimate race for ocean teams: The Ocean Race. Its 14th edition will begin on 15 January 2023 following postponements due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the now-registered Guyot Environnement Team Europe and the long-registered Team Malizia led by Boris Herrmann joining other German sailors on the starting line.

Boris Herrmann: "The Dutreux-Stanjek team will be a strong competitor!"

On 20 May, the Ocean Race management presented the fourth Imoca team for the upcoming race: The Guyot Environnement Team Europe with co-skippers Dutreux and Stanjek turns the previous class trio into a quartet. Boris Herrmann, whose new Imoca is already in the final construction phase, is also happy about this addition to the world's most famous team regatta: "I'm delighted that it worked out. There are now four really good boats on board. The Dutreux-Stanjek team will be a strong competitor with a great, tried and tested boat, one of the fastest in the fleet. It has good foils that make perfect sense. It can hold a candle to the new boats."

The Imoca, about which Herrmann speaks so favourably, will sail with a European team under the French flag. It is the "Hugo Boss" with which Alex Thomson finished second in the Vendée Globe in 2016/2017. After further good results, she was most recently used by the 11th Hour Racing team as a training boat in their own preparations for The Ocean Race following a refit and the fitting of new foils. French co-skipper Benjamin Dutreux, whose racing team acquired the boat a few months ago, says: "This boat is already well developed and prepared to sail at the front of the field." Dutreux, who is nine years younger than his German co-skipper Robert Stanjek (41) and made a very positive impression with ninth place on a 15-year-old Imoca at the last Vendée Globe, remembers the first joint outings with Offshore Team Germany last year: "The Ocean Race Europe was a great experience for all of us who worked together for the first time. I think that we can now look forward to a great race around the world with the new boat and this team."

"I think it's a great idea to mix the different experiences from offshore and Olympic sailing"

Dutreux himself is expected to bring the six-year-old boat to the finish line quickly in solo regattas as well as in ocean races. Like from 12 June in the Vendée Arctique. With a view to The Ocean Race, the Frenchman, who offered Offshore Team Germany the joint venture and shared adventure of The Ocean Race, says: "I think it's a great idea to mix the different experiences from offshore and Olympic sailing and to sail together with different nations from France, England and Germany. These different cultures on board - that's part of the story. We French have a great history in offshore sailing, but the input from the Olympic field, this very structured approach, is a big plus for the Ocean Race programme."

Robert Stanjek is just as enthusiastic about the chosen Imoca as Dutreux: "The boat is a real hit. Ben has made a fantastic choice. Even the newbuilds lean their foils very closely to the set-up of this boat." The Ocean Race start is a long-cherished dream come true for the 2012 Olympic sixth-placer. It began a decade ago after the star boat was ruled out for the Olympics. At the time, he was looking for a new career path in sailing. "We Germans were light years away from the America's Cup," he recalls, "then the opportunity to go sailing opened up. I took my first steps with Timmy Kröger after the Olympic star boat retirement." At that time, Stanjek took part in long-distance regattas in the Baltic Sea for the first time, and shortly afterwards he skippered his first Fastnet Race. This was followed by an application to Bouwe Bekking and the Dutch Ocean Race Team Brunel, which ultimately decided in favour of a fellow countryman. "For eight years now," says Stanjek, "I've been working on being able to design a project for The Ocean Race myself. It's amazing that it's working out now."

With a tailwind from Boris Herrmann and the Imoca class

The team managers Alice Potiron and Jens Kuphal, who will continue to support Team Guyot Environnement - Team Europe together in the future, have helped intensively. Jens Kuphal says: "We found the perfect team composition last year in The Ocean Race Europe. This great experience has led us to embark on the adventure of 'The Ocean Race' together. I am proud and happy that after all the work and time we have put into the project, we will be starting next year." There was also a lot of support for the project within the Imoca family. "We also benefited from the great collaboration with Boris Herrmann and the other Imoca teams," says Stanjek about the precision landing eight months before the start of the most famous crew race around the world. The regular crew of Offshore Team Germany, already familiar from the Ocean Race Europe, is and will remain part of the team, including Dutreux and Stanjek as well as former Finn sailor Phillip Kasüske and British circumnavigator Annie Lush. "It's a great team. And we have the advantage that we have been working together for a long time, whereas other teams are perhaps just being put together."

The project has so far been visibly supported by the team's namesake Guyot Environnement, a "modern, fresh and likeable recycling company". According to Stanjek, the composition of the total budget, which has not been quantified, and the German share of it result in a "competitive budget". "We are safe," says Stanjek, "but there is definitely still room for improvement. We are still on the lookout and are working hard to achieve this." Robert Stanjek is additionally motivated by the memory of 2002 and the anticipation of the Kiel fly-by of the upcoming race: "The victory of the 'Illbruck' 20 years ago is one of the greatest German sailing moments - with several hundred thousand fans at the finish in Kiel. Now having a fly-by in Kiel is great for us, and we hope to reignite the enthusiasm and bring offshore sailing back to Germany."