Boris Herrmann narrowly missed out on the podium at the Ocean Race Atlantic

The “catastrophe” for Boris Herrmann and his Malizia team has occurred. At least if you take seriously the half-joking sentence that the Hamburg sailor uttered before the start of the Ocean Race Atlantic in New York on September 2nd. At the time, Herrmann said it would “of course be a catastrophe for me” if his crew were beaten by their actual teammates Francesca Clapcich and Will Harris in the first race on their brand new yacht Malizia 4. And of all things from the yacht Malizia Seaexplorer, which Herrmann retired last year and with which the 11th Hour Racing Team travels.

That's exactly what happened on Thursday - albeit just barely. In the approximately 3,000 nautical mile long Ocean Race Atlantic, Herrmann and his Malizia crew crossed the finish line in Lorient on the French west coast in fourth place after exactly eight days, six minutes and forty seconds. And just 18 minutes after 11th Hour Racing with Clapcich and Harris, who finished just behind skipper Paul Meilhat and his team United by the Ocean.

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“The boat is extraordinary!”

The regatta across the Atlantic was extremely exciting until the end. All four first boats reached the finish within less than half an hour. In the final sprint with the Japanese yacht DMG Mori Global One, the Malizia crew was only five minutes short of reaching the podium. Both Imoca class boats are only two months old and were considered big favorites before the race.

"I'm proud of my team. Of how we stayed motivated and fought. The handicap could have demotivated us," said Herrmann, referring to the mishap on the fourth day of racing, when Malizia 4, while in the lead, collided with a marine mammal or large fish and the new yacht directly suffered damage to the foil system.

Shortly after the finish, Herrmann did not want to speculate about whether his crew would have won the race without the incident. "But it definitely held us back in this race. That's a bit disappointing," said the 45-year-old from Hamburg. Overall, he was impressed by the new yacht: "The boat is extraordinary! We were super fast on the wind from the start until the collision. That cost us about two hours of work. We were never able to fully catch up afterwards."

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The Ocean Race Atlantic is considered a dress rehearsal for the Ocean Race around the world starting in Alicante, Spain, in January, in which Team Malizia is also taking part. In November 2028, Boris Herrmann wants to set his sights on his third Vendée Globe. He probably has even less use for disasters and collisions in the regatta, which lasts almost 80 days and is sailed completely alone, without any stops.