Engine problems, a leaky boat, hours of bailing out water from the cockpit and hardly any sleep? Hard to believe that this is what a successful end to the year looks like for Team Malizia’s skipper Boris Herrmann who has just arrived in 4th place out of 31 IMOCA race yachts in the challenging 3500 nautical mile Retour a la base regatta! Hardship and tenacity as well as top speeds and wise routing decisions culminated in big, proud smiles from the shore team welcoming Boris back on land after 9 days, 20 hours, 2 minutes, and 41 seconds alone at sea.
After crossing the finish line just off the coast of the French harbour town Lorient, Boris explained:” I am super happy about finishing in fourth place! A top five result was an optimistic thing to achieve because of the level in the class - but we did it! Of course, there’s many factors involved, including others’ misfortunes, but the boat performed incredibly well, I felt good sailing solo again, and the result shows what a great job we did as a team this year.”
This was the second solo race for Boris on his Malizia – Seaexplorer and its success offers comfort, as the previous singlehanded race one year prior was filled with challenges. However, after a circumnavigation of the globe as part of The Ocean Race and two transatlantic races within this past year, the boat has proven itself to be reliable, strong and most importantly fast.
The race yacht is currently in a ship yard in Brittany, France undergoing a winter refit and receiving new foils to ensure it is ship shape for the upcoming race year.
The next year brings two transatlantic races for Boris aboard the Malizia – Seaexplorer and finalizes with the highlight of the season, which is the Vendee Globe race around the world.