The Ocean Race: The new members of Team Malizia - Eliès and Pillain on board

Team Malizia's sailors Boris Herrmann, Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper and Nicolas Lunven have been joined for their debut in the Ocean Race 2022: Yann Eliès and Axelle Pillain complete the crew that will start the 14th edition of the ocean marathon on 15 January. Three male and one female sailor are required for each leg. Malizia's players will rotate. On-board reporter Antoine Auriol will be in constant demand.

The solo mission on the Route du Rhum is followed by The Ocean Race

The team will start under the German flag and compete with the new "Malizia - Seaexplorer", with which Boris Herrmann has just completed the first transatlantic regatta at the Route du Rhum. The team for The Ocean Race now includes a total of two female and four male sailors from Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands and France. It is one of the most international crews in the fleet of five Imocas, which will start the six-month race around the world over around 32,000 nautical miles in January.

Boris Herrmann made the team's motto clear after the Route du Rhum for The Ocean Race, which was completed with moderate success but achieved the goal of qualifying for the Vendée Globe 2024/2025: "Of course we want to sail as well as possible. There are only five of us at the start. We want to give it our all and be there at full throttle!"

Team Malizia's young boat, which was launched in Lorient on 19 July, is currently being sailed across the Atlantic to Alicante without boss Boris. While Boris Herrmann is at home in Hamburg planning The Ocean Race, the crew is using the leap across the Atlantic to train in Ocean Race configuration.

Dream team for Boris Herrmann

The team members for The Ocean Race, who are aged between 27 and 48, include both highly experienced sailors and younger talents. 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." Team Director Holly Cova adds: "It's exciting to see the team grow. With our new members, women make up almost 50 per cent of the entire team."

Yann Eliès, 48, hardly needs any introduction before the start of The Ocean Race. The Breton is one of the most experienced sea sailors. Growing up in Saint-Brieuc in the Côtes-d'Armor department, he was already embraced by the sea and the sailing world as a child. At the age of 23, he took part in his first solo regatta. He competed in the challenging Solitaire du Figaro 17 times. Three times - in 2012, 2013 and 2015 - he won the most important race for aspiring soloists and recommended himself for higher tasks. Although a single-handed sailor at heart, Yann Eliès has also won the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race three times (2013, 2017 and 2019).

Yann Eliès narrowly escaped death in 2008

He has also excelled in multihulls: in 2013 he won a multi-50 race alongside Erwan Le Roux and twice the Jules Verne Trophy (2002 and 2005). Yann Eliès has taken part in the Vendée Globe twice (2008/2009, 2016/2017). He is best remembered for his dramatic rescue operation in 2008, when a huge wave "attacked" his 18-metre yacht "Generali" in the Indian Ocean in December 2008. Eliès suffered a complicated femur fracture and several broken ribs in the crash with the elemental force. He would not have survived the accident without the demanding and fortunately successful rescue operation by the Australian navy.

Yann Eliès has been a consultant and coach to Boris Herrmann and his team for several years. The growing relationship has now led to the alliance for The Ocean Race. Yann Eliès said before setting sail for the transatlantic repatriation of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer": "I am excited to take on this new challenge with Boris and his team. And I am looking forward to sailing on the new 'Malizia - Seaexplorer'."

Axelle Pillain: into the ocean marathon with a maths brain

Axelle Pillain's background is completely different. The 32-year-old Frenchwoman swapped her medical studies for ocean sailing in 2019. By this time, she had already obtained her doctorate in applied mathematics for brain imaging. Axelle has loved sailing since she was six years old. Near her home town near Brest in western France, she initially enjoyed playing in the wind and waves on dinghies.

After a successful career in gymnastics, she took off more intensively in sailing, taking part in regattas such as the Mini-Transat and was active in technical teams for projects such as "Spindrift" or the Imoca "Corum L'Épargne". Axelle can usually be found on or in the water, where she enjoys all kinds of sports. On land, Axelle has been a keen runner and sprinter for years. Now she is starting a new chapter in her career with The Ocean Race. Click here to go to the Team Malizia homepage.

Click here to go to the Ocean Race homepage.