Team Malizia leads around Cape Horn

(March 27, 2023; Day 30) – Boris Herrmann’s Team Malizia led The Ocean Race fleet around Cape Horn today, the German team rules the south, leading past the iconic Cape Horn and winning the Roaring Forties trophy over Team Holcim-PRB.

Team Malizia, who were contemplating a return to Cape Town after mast damage in the first days of leg 3, and who approached Cape Horn today nursing an injured crew member, have overcome all these obstacles and more to lead The Ocean Race fleet past the iconic landmark.

Boris Herrmann, skipper of Team Malizia, commented on this, his fifth passing of the landmark, “Cape Horn holds many memories for me, and crossing this line in first almost means more than winning the leg, not in terms of points but in terms of what it means. I am proud of the team and this boat! The boat has really proved itself in the Southern Ocean and shown how tough she is.”

“It’s a huge achievement for the whole team to be here,” said Malizia’s Will Harris with his team approached the Horn. “And especially to be here in the lead. If we think back to the start of the leg, the issues with the mast, and then the big winds the last few days, I think we’ve done an amazing job to be here. So we are proud of the full team to make it this far and also grateful to everyone back on land who has made this possible.

“It’s really cold down here at the moment. It’s slightly lighter winds, which is a relief after the last few days of pretty brutal conditions. And I hope as we get around the Horn, it will be calm enough that we get a good view of it. First bit of land we’ve seen in 30 days.”

Team Malizia passed the longitude of Cape Horn at 16:23 UTC on Monday, March 27, 29 days, 4 hours and 8 minutes after the start in Cape Town.

In the process of leading around the Horn, Malizia skipper Boris Herrmann and his team join the ‘legends of the south’ as winners of the Roaring Forties Trophy – awarded for the fastest passage between the Cape of Good Hope in Africa and Cape Horn in South America.

The Malizia crew take the Cape to Cape title in 27 days, 17 hours and 31 minutes.

With leg 3 being the longest leg in the history of The Ocean Race, this marks the first time the trophy will be awarded for a non-stop passage between the two Capes that mark the eastern and western boundaries of the south Atlantic Ocean.

Racing in the southern latitudes, what The Ocean Race sailors call the Southern Ocean, is never easy. Each and every passage of Cape Horn has to be earned, and this race has been no different.

Yesterday, Team Malizia had a scary situation on board when Rosalin Kuiper was thrown from her bunk and hit her head, suffering a cut and a concussion. Fortunately, with the support of expert medical advice, the team was able to close the wound and Rosie has been able to rest and recuperate.

Early indications are that she is recovering well on board and she commented today, “This is a cinematic hospital that I am sitting in watching the beautiful passing of Cape Horn, this wasn’t how I imagined passing Cape Horn, but I also couldn’t ask to better looked after, I am really grateful to the guys!”

Incredibly, on the 30th day of racing in leg 3, Team Malizia have crossed the longitude of Cape Horn with a lead of less than 20 miles over Team Holcim-PRB, with both boats finally gaining some separation from Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team who have dropped 250 miles behind.

Skipper Kevin Escoffier led his Team Holcim-PRB past Cape Horn in second place at 17:40 UTC, for an elapsed time since the start of 29 days, 5 hours and 25 minutes.

“It will be a fight all the way up to the finish in Itajaí,” is the assessment from Harris. “Team Holcim-PRB is only a few miles behind us. They’re doing an amazing job of pushing us as well. We’ll need our best game. It’s a long way to go, 2000 miles, and we’re looking forward to it.”

Watch Team Holcim-PRB on some of their final hours towards Cape Horn

The light conditions which have hurt Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing Team over the past 12 hours are expected to give way to stronger winds, but at 250 miles behind, their passage of Cape Horn is still some 18 hours away, now expected tomorrow morning UTC.

Leg Three Rankings at 16:00 UTC
1. Team Malizia, distance to finish, 1951.3 nm
2. Team Holcim-PRB, distance to lead, 18.0 nm
3. Biotherm, distance to lead, 260.1 nm
4. 11th Hour Racing Team, distance to lead, 263.4 nm
GUYOT environnement – withdrawn from Leg 3

Race details – Route – Tracker – Teams – Content from the boats – YouTube

IMOCA: Boat, Design, Skipper, Launch date
• Guyot Environnement – Team Europe (VPLP Verdier); Benjamin Dutreux (FRA)/Robert Stanjek (GER); September 1, 2015
• 11th Hour Racing Team (Guillaume Verdier); Charlie Enright (USA); August 24, 2021
• Holcim-PRB (Guillaume Verdier); Kevin Escoffier (FRA); May 8, 2022
• Team Malizia (VPLP); Boris Herrmann (GER); July 19, 2022
• Biotherm (Guillaume Verdier); Paul Meilhat (FRA); August 31 2022

The Ocean Race 2022-23 Race Schedule:
Alicante, Spain – Leg 1 (1900 nm) start: January 15, 2023
Cabo Verde – ETA: January 22; Leg 2 (4600 nm) start: January 25
Cape Town, South Africa – ETA: February 9; Leg 3 (12750 nm) start: February 26
Itajaí, Brazil – ETA: April 1; Leg 4 (5500 nm) start: April 23
Newport, RI, USA – ETA: May 10; Leg 5 (3500 nm) start: May 21
Aarhus, Denmark – ETA: May 30; Leg 6 (800 nm) start: June 8
Kiel, Germany (Fly-By) – June 9
The Hague, The Netherlands – ETA: June 11; Leg 7 (2200 nm) start: June 15
Genova, Italy – The Grand Finale – ETA: June 25, 2023; Final In-Port Race: July 1, 2023

The Ocean Race (formerly Volvo Ocean Race and Whitbread Round the World Race) was initially to be raced in two classes of boats: the high-performance, foiling, IMOCA 60 class and the one-design VO65 class which has been used for the last two editions of the race.

However, only the IMOCAs will be racing round the world while the VO65s will race in The Ocean Race VO65 Sprint which competes in Legs 1, 6, and 7 of The Ocean Race course.

Additionally, The Ocean Race also features the In-Port Series with races at seven of the course’s stopover cities around the world which allow local fans to get up close and personal to the teams as they battle it out around a short inshore course.

Although in-port races do not count towards a team’s overall points score, they do play an important part in the overall rankings as the In-Port Race Series standings are used to break any points ties that occur during the race around the world.

The 14th edition of The Ocean Race was originally planned for 2021-22 but was postponed one year due to the pandemic, with the first leg starting on January 15, 2023.

Source: The Ocean Race