The Ocean Race: Team Malizia moves forward - Boris Herrmann: "More motivated than ever"

Things are looking up for Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia in the Ocean Race. The Hamburg-based skipper's crew took second place behind the Swiss "Holcim - PRB", which won for the third time in a row, in the first half of the queen's stage from Cape Town to Itajaí. The German racing yacht "Malizia - Seaexplorer" reached the halfway finish line at 143 degrees longitude east off Tasmania at 0:44:08 on Monday night.

Boris Herrmann: "Focused on getting the boat across the line in one piece"

With a good hour's lead over the US team 11th Hour Racing, Boris Herrmann's sailing quartet secured four valuable points after a successful overtaking manoeuvre and a thrilling duel. Boris Herrmann said: "I'm so happy that we crossed this line in second place. That means a lot to us as a team. We've pushed so hard over the last 24 hours. Sunday lunchtime we overtook 11th Hour Racing. That's a great achievement for our team. We have done it! We are more motivated than ever."

It was not an easy task, as Herrmann explained: "In the last 24 hours, I really focussed on getting the boat across the line in one piece. The swell made it quite difficult to navigate safely. You always have to maintain a balance between accelerating and protecting the boat. I think we have found this balance. The boat sails incredibly well in these conditions."

Tears of joy for Rosalin Kuiper, relief for co-skipper Will Harris

Team-mate Rosalin Kuiper said shortly after crossing the imaginary halfway finish line, which also marked the seamless start to the second half of the queen stage: "I couldn't be happier and prouder of this team. I have tears in my eyes, and that doesn't happen often. I promised myself I would never cry on a boat, but this crossing means so much more than just crossing a virtual finish line. It means the next level. It's a big achievement, it's very emotional. We can see that this boat was built for the Southern Ocean."

Co-skipper Will Harris laughed and said: "We are so happy, so relieved to have got this second place. It was such a struggle! Halfway round we fixed the mast. We weren't sure if we could continue sailing. And now we've reached the line in second place. The last 72 hours have been the tightest offshore sailing I've ever experienced. You can imagine how stressful it was to stay ahead. We have shown our potential and I am so happy."

The "monster stage" continues at full speed

In the overall classification, Team Malizia moved up to third place with nine points behind Team Holcim - PRB (15 points) and 11th Hour Racing (10 points). This success also tastes so sweet because just a week ago Team Malizia was facing a stage exit, when the sailors discovered a crack in the mast of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer". Then the repair marathon lasting several days at a height of 28 metres and the comeback. The 12,750 nautical mile long and double-rated "monster leg" will continue relentlessly in the Southern Ocean.

The pursuers have to hurry, because the front-runners from the Swiss team Holcim-PRB have already extended their lead to 150 nautical miles on the 15th day at sea. There is no time to take a deep breath. The field is sailing close to the "Furios Fifties" at the 50th parallel along the ice edge in the Southern Ocean. As the fourth team to cross the halfway finish line, Paul Meilhat's Team Biotherm is putting on the pressure again and has already overtaken Charlie Enright's Team 11th Hour Racing. As the southernmost boat, "Biotherm" was only around 15 nautical miles behind Team Maliza early on Monday morning.

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Good prospects for Team Malizia

In the Brazilian finish harbour at the beginning of April, points worth the value of a single stage beckon once again. If the current rankings remain the same, Boris Herrmann's team could even move up to second place. After four more legs, seven in total, and the fly-by in Kiel on 9 June, the Ocean Race ends with the final harbour race on 1 July in the Italian port of Genoa.

• More about the route and the scoring mode

Fantastic drone shots of the frontrunner "Holcim -PRB":

Rousing, emotional and refreshing: listen to Rosalin Kuiper's commentary on second place in the half-time rankings:

And so the US team 11th Hour Racing, which was defeated in the duel with Team Malizia, experienced the lost battle for second place at the halfway point: