05
Aug 23
Best of The Ocean Race: Leg 1 & Cabo Verde, Rough Kick-Off
The Ocean Race came to an end at the beginning of July and the team is taking a well-deserved rest but this doesn’t mean that you have to miss us over the summer! We have prepared a series of photo articles that we will share one by one in the coming weeks - so that you can relive the last 6 months of incredible racing around the world with some of the most memorable images!
by Hélène Katz
And they are off! The five IMOCA race yachts left Alicante on 15 January for Leg 1 of The Ocean Race, sailing towards Mindelo, Cabo Verde. Soon, they will encounter tricky upwind conditions in the Mediterranean.
© Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
A very experienced co-skipper Nico Lunven steering the boat by hand shortly after the start, with Team Holcim-PRB and the Spanish coast in the background.
© Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia
Skipper Boris Herrmann and co-skipper Rosalin Kuiper on watch in the cockpit of Malizia - Seaexplorer and very focussed on the start day.
© Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia
Day 2 of Leg 1 and something new has already come up: It's the first time Boris Herrmann had to use the infamous storm jib, as the weather conditions in the Mediterranean have rapidly worsened.
© Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia
Day 3 isn't easier: Rosalin and Boris are fixing the lynch motor, whilst Will is driving the boat.
© Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia
The crew made it out of Gibraltar, into the Atlantic Ocean and is speeding South to Cabo Verde. The perfect opportunity on the fourth day of Leg 1 for onboard reporter Antoine Auriol to fly the drone and capture the first of many spectacular shots of Malizia - Seaexplorer racing.
© Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia
Podium finish in Mindelo! The crew arrived in Cabo Verde at 07:35:21 UTC on 21 January in third place, behind Leg 1 winner Team Holcim-PRB and 11th Hour Racing Team, and racing for 5 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes, and 21 seconds.
© Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
Our cheerful sailors managed to close the gap to the previous boat in fast downwind sailing angles in the Atlantic, after facing intense and challenging weather conditions exiting the Mediterranean. Accomplishing a podium finish in the opening chapter of the crewed round-the-world race is a very satisfying reward for our team that invested a tremendous effort in our pre-race preparations, having only replaced our damaged foils a week before the start.
© Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
Burnt foot aside, the Mindelo stopover was a great opportunity to host a My Ocean Challenge kids event with children from an underprivileged area. Here our Communications Manager Helene Katz is talking to the children about the importance of the Ocean in climate change, whilst the teacher translated from English to Portuguese.
© Jimmy Horel / Team Malizia
Meanwhile, at the Ocean Summit, Boris Herrmann handed over The Ocean Race’s Relay4Nature Baton in Leg 1 to Ulisses Correia e Silva, Prime Minister of Cabo Verde, Richard Brisius, Chairman of The Ocean Race, and Antonio Guterres. The Baton, which we sailed from Alicante to Mindelo, symbolically links environmental conferences around the world as it passes through the hands of leaders, innovators and ocean advocates, giving the ocean a voice on the critical issues the planet is facing.
© Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
Boris Herrmann got to meet UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and proudly show him our boat which carries the UN's Sustainable Development Goals wheel on its sails.
© Boris Herrmann / Team Malizia
The Cape Verdean stop was considered as a "pit-stop" and the tech team weren't allowed to go or work on the boat. So the check and eventual repairs had to be carried out by the tired sailors. Here Nico Lunven coming down the mast after checking the rig.
© Jimmy Horel / Team Malizia
Taking over for Boris: Yann Eliès (left) jumping in as new crew member and Will Harris (right) taking over the skipper role.
© Jimmy Horel / Team Malizia
On 25 January 2023, the IMOCA fleet departed from Mindelo in Leg 2 of The Ocean Race for a 4,000 nautical mile race towards Cape Town, South Africa.
© Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
Fighting with 11th Hour Racing Team during the inshore section at the start of Leg 2 in Mindelo, Cabo Verde.
© Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
First sunset of Leg 2, Malizia - Seaexplorer sailing around the Cape Verdean islands.
© Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia