Team Malizia’s sailing crew comprised of Boris Herrmann (GER, skipper), Will Harris (GBR, co-skipper), Rosalin Kuiper (NED, co-skipper), Nico Lunven (FRA, co-skipper), and Antoine Auriol (FRA/GER, onboard reporter). After an emotional dockside farewell surrounded by the team, friends, family members and more than 50,000 visitors, the newly built race yacht docked out at 14:29 hours to the sound of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”, for her first race around the globe.
This year marks the 14th edition of the legendary race and it is the first to feature the high performance IMOCA 60 boats. Team Malizia’s pre-race build-up in Alicante was somewhat fraught following the discovery of significant damage to the boat’s foils during the recent Route du Rhum race. As a result, the team had to refit Malizia - Seaexplorer with brand new foils at the last minute, as well as adapt the boat from a solo to a crewed configuration.
This proved challenging as foils are usually designed in conjunction with the boat, however the intense preparations and new set-up seems to have paid dividends. Team Malizia got off to a flying start with a strong win in The Ocean Race’s first ‘In-Port’ race, and they have started the first leg of The Ocean Race from Alicante to Mindelo, Cabo Verde with confidence.
During the challenge, Team Malizia will continue to support the global effort to address climate change. Their slogan ‘A Race We Must Win’ carries a double meaning for them, they are not only competing to win The Ocean Race but uniting on a bigger scale to win the race against climate change and global warming.
Team Malizia will collect valuable ocean CO2 data from remote parts of the world via their onboard laboratory and use the race stopovers and their communications platforms to raise awareness about ocean protection and climate change. They also hope to inspire the next generation through the ‘My Ocean Challenge’ educational programme.
How to follow the action
You can follow The Ocean Race route and anticipated arrival and departure times for each leg of the journey here.
Team Malizia’s on board reporter Antoine Auriol will capture all the ‘behind the scenes’ action on-board and daily updates will be shared on the Team Malizia website and their social media channels (YouTube: @teammalizia, Facebook: @teammalizia, Linkedin: @team-malizia, Instagram: @team_malizia).
The Ocean Race will also share content from all the participating teams on all their website and social media channels, go to www.theoceanrace.com for more information. The Ocean Race has partnered with Warner Bros Discovery who will broadcast live and highlight shows across the duration of The Ocean Race. Post event, a series of documentaries on The Ocean Race and Team Malizia and a book are also planned.
Interactive content
The race tracker carrying live data from the boat will be embedded in the EFG website and you can view the dashboard here.
The Ocean Race is one of the world’s greatest sporting challenges. It tests teamwork and individual strength of character, technological capability, and the flexibility to navigate ever changing environments with skill, all attributes we align with as an organisation. We are proud to support Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia in their ‘A Race We Must Win’ and wish them the very best of luck along the way. The team have described the challenge as ‘the adventure of a lifetime’ and you can watch their short teaser video: