Victory at the 14th edition of the Ocean Race is no longer possible for the Malizia team. Five months after the start of the circumnavigation and one day before the start of the final stage from The Hague in the Netherlands to Genoa in Italy, skipper Boris Herrmann draws a positive balance.
“The Ocean Race was a great experience for us as a team and we would love to do it again,” said the man from Hamburg. “Of course we can’t announce a new campaign just yet, but we will probably work with great motivation to start here again,” announced the 42-year-old.
“Germany and Kiel did a great job”
After almost 86 active days of sailing by his crew around the world to date, Herrmann attested that German sailing played an important role in the Ocean Race before the starting gun for the seventh and final stage with more than 2,200 nautical miles on Thursday: “Germany and of course Kiel as a fly-by -Hafen presented themselves very well. There is a huge following in Germany. It is always claimed that Germany is not such a great sailing nation. But that has always not been entirely true.”
Overall standings in the Ocean Race
1. 11th Hour Racing – 33 points
2. Team Holcim – 31 points
3. Team Malizia – 27 points
4. Biotherm Racing – 19 points
5. GUYOT environment – Team Europe – 2 points
11th Hour Racing and Holcim-PRB fight for overall victory
The US team 11th Hour Racing, which leads the overall standings, can only be stopped by the Holcim-PRB team (31) with 33 points. However, the Swiss would have to score three points more than the front runners on the Genoa course. Because the results of the harbor races are taken into account in the event of a tie and 11th Hour Racing also leads in this classification, Holcim-PRB has to score one point more than the Americans in the final count of the stages.
The Ocean Race: The Stages
1st stage: Alicante – Cape Verde
Start: January 15; Arrival: January 21st
1,900 nautical miles
2nd stage: Cape Verde – Cape Town/South Africa
Start: January 25th. Arrival: February 12th
4,600 nautical miles
3rd stage: Cape Town – Itajai/Brazil
Start: February 26; Expected arrival: April 2nd
12,750 nautical miles
4th stage: Itajai/Brazil – Newport/USA
Launch: April 23; Expected arrival: May 10th
5,550 nautical miles
5th stage: Newport/USA – Aarhus/Denmark
Start: May 21; Expected arrival: May 30th
3,500 nautical miles
6th stage: Aarhus/Denmark – Fly-By Kiel – The Hague/Netherlands
Start: June 8; Kiel (no stop) June 9; Expected arrival: June 11th
800 nautical miles
7th stage: The Hague/Netherlands – Genoa/Italy
Start: June 15; Expected finish: June 25th
2,200 nautical miles
Malizia safe on the podium
Herrmann’s Malizia can still fight for second place with 27 points. For that, the native of Oldenburg and his crew would have to win the stage and Team Holcim-PRB would have to finish last. Then both teams in Genoa would have 32 points. Because Team Malizia is unassailable ahead of Team Holcim-PRB in the ranking of the harbor races, the German Malizia – Seaexplorer would win the race in the event of a tie.
“Thanks to stage six, we’re definitely on the podium and have nothing left to lose. That’s a great success. We can still get second place. So we want to win this stage so that we can show what’s going on in the end stuck with us,” said Herrmann.
Kuiper on board for all seven stages
The Malizia contests the last fight in the 14th Ocean Race with the regular crew, which includes Herrmann, co-skipper Will Harris, navigator Nico Lunven, and Rosalin Kuiper. At the end of the Ocean Race, the Dutchwoman will be the only sailor to have completed all seven stages.
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Sports current | 06/15/2023 | 3:17 p.m
