Historic “Ocean Race” hunt
Boris Herrmann wins the royal stage around Cape Horn
04/02/2023, 09:10 am
The Ocean Race is one of the most spectacular sporting events in the world. A German boat triumphed on the king’s stage of the circumnavigation, for the first time in 22 years. The “incredible crew” of the Malizia around Boris Herrmann sails the fastest around Cape Horn on a historically long stage.
Boris Herrmann’s team Malizia won the Queen’s Cape Horn stage in the Ocean Race. The team crossed the finish line in front of Itajaí in Brazil at 7.20 a.m. and 28 seconds CEST in the morning. “Our incredible crew just won stage three of the Ocean Race,” Herrmann, 41, tweeted. He and his team were on the road for a total of 34 days, 17 hours, 10 minutes and 28 seconds.
One day before the stage final in Itajaí, “Malizia – Seaexplorer” had gained a lead of around 35 nautical miles in a top duel with the Swiss team Holcim-PRB. In recent stormy winds off South America’s east coast, the racing yacht under the German flag once again demonstrated its strong wind potential. After days of bug-to-bug duel, Herrmann’s crew was able to recapture the lead with an intermediate sprint – and brought it to the finish with ease.
“Built the boat for the south”
In his “End of Watch” podcast, Herrmann had previously emphasized that he “absolutely wants to win” the historically longest stage around three-quarters of the southern hemisphere. “I built the boat for the south.” With the triumph, Hamburg-based Herrmann, Will Harris, Nico Lunven and Rosalin Kuiper moved up to second place behind Kevin Escoffier’s Holcim-PRB team after three of seven stages of the circumnavigation. The Swiss leaders in the overall classification were expected to cross the finish line a few hours after Team Malizia. On April 23rd, the journey will continue from Brazil to Newport in the USA. Herrmann will not be on board then. He’s planning a trip home.
At the end of the historically longest stage of the Ocean Race with 14,714 nautical miles (27,250 kilometers) sailed, the German boat reached the finish line at 2:20 a.m. local time. Most recently, 22 years ago, the German “Illbruck” won the Cape Horn stage in 2001 and later also the overall ranking of the race around the world.