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Boris Herrmann

Will Harris

Rosalin Kuiper

Nicolas Lunven

Antoine Auriol

We compete on the highest level in the toughest races, inspire action & create awareness and highlight solutions to the climate crisis.

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Pifou Dargnies rejoint Team Malizia en tant que directeur technique après avoir passé près de neuf ans en tant que directeur technique de Beyou Racing à la tête de l'impressionnante campagne IMOCA de Charal. Ce Français expérimenté a pour mission de superviser tous les aspects techniques du programme Malizia et son développement pour les années à venir.

 possède une longue expérience dans le monde de la 

 : il commence sa carrière en 2009 en tant qu’ingénieur en travaillant avec le célèbre Roland Jourdain, puis en tant que responsable du bureau d'études. Au cours de cette période, il se lance dans sa propre campagne de voile en participant à la 

 a également participé quelques années auparavant.

Combinant sa formation d'ingénieur et son expérience de navigateur, Pifou Dargnies rejoint l'équipe 

 en 2014 afin de gérer le volet performance du projet de Maître CoQ. Lorsque Jérémie Beyou s'associe à 

 en 2017, Pifou Dargnies prend le rôle de 

 du programme Charal. L’équipe, très performante, termine la 

Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe 2022

 en troisième position avec un bateau flambant neuf.

En 2010, Boris Herrmann et Pifou Dargnies se rencontrent alors qu'ils vivent ensemble en France et que le skipper allemand essaie de faire décoller son projet IMOCA. Ils se

rapidement d'amitié et restent proches depuis

, partageant la même passion pour les IMOCAs et la volonté de repousser les limites du monde de la course au large.

Pifou Dargnies rejoint Team Malizia au cours de 

, prenant en charge les aspects techniques de la gestion de l'équipe pendant la course, tout en préparant le bateau et son skipper pour le 

« Je suis très heureux que Pifou rejoigne l'équipe », explique 

, fondateur et skipper de Team Malizia. « Nous sommes amis depuis de nombreuses années et j'ai vraiment confiance en son expérience et ses connaissances. Le fait d'avoir un lead technique et de design aussi fort sera un grand avantage pour notre équipe et signifiera que nous pourrons vraiment travailler ensemble sur la performance du bateau. »

, directrice de Team Malizia, ajoute : « Nous sommes ravis que Pifou rejoigne Team Malizia Entre son expérience et ses excellents résultats avec Charal, nous sommes chanceux de l'avoir parmi nous. La période précédant le prochain Vendée Globe sera une période d'entraînement intense et je suis sûre que Pifou pourra apporter beaucoup de connaissances et d'expérience à l'équipe et nous aider à progresser d’un point de vue compétitif. »

« Boris et moi nous connaissons depuis des années et échangeons des idées depuis que nous sommes jeunes », commente 

, nouveau directeur technique de Team Malizia. « Ce sera un défi passionnant de travailler avec cette jeune équipe. Bien sûr, dans l’immédiat notre objectif est The Ocean Race mais je pense déjà à l'avenir et à la façon dont nous pouvons avoir un bateau capable de gagner le Vendée Globe 2024. La fiabilité et un bateau abouti seront des éléments clés. Le bateau a prouvé qu’il peut naviguer vite dans les mers du Sud et Boris y a acquis une expérience précieuse avec son Malizia - Seaexplorer. Il appartient maintenant à l'équipe technique d'assurer la fiabilité pour cette longue course autour du monde. »

Pierre-François "Pifou" Dargnies joined Team Malizia as Technical Director

Pierre-François (Pifou) Dargnies, nouveau Directeur Technique de Team Malizia

Pifou Dargnies joins Team Malizia as Technical Director after nearly nine years as technical director for Beyou Racing running the impressive Charal IMOCA campaign. The experienced Frenchman has come onboard to oversee all technical aspects of the Malizia programme with a look towards the future.

 comes with many years of experience in the world of 

, having started his career working with the infamous Roland Jourdain as an engineer since 2009 and later as Head of Design. During this, he set out on his own sailing campaign as a sailor in the Mini Transat in 2013, a race 

Combining his engineering background and his sailing abilities meant that in 2014, Pifou joined the 

 to run the performance side of the project of Maitre CoQ. This developed and when Jérémie partnered with 

 in 2017, Pifou Dargnies was positioned as Technical Director of the Charal programme. The high-performing Charal team finished in an impressive third place with a brand new boat in the 

In 2010, Boris and Pifou met while living together in France when Boris was trying to get his IMOCA project off the ground. The pair formed a 

 ever since, with a similar passion for the IMOCA world and 

, taking over the technical aspects of running the team during this time and with an eye towards preparing the boat and skipper to be the strongest possible in the 

 commented: “I am really happy to have Pifou join the team, we have been friends for many years and I really trust his experience and knowledge - having such a strong technical and design lead will be a big advantage to the team and will mean we can really work together on the performance of the boat.”

, Malizia Team Director, said: “It will be great to have Pifou join Team Malizia, with his strong background and excellent results with Charal we are lucky to have him with us. The run-up to the Vendée Globe will be an intense training period and one where I am sure Pifou can add a lot of knowledge and experience to the team and help us step up in a competitive sense.” 

, Malizia Technical Director commented: “I am really looking forward to working in an international team, Boris and I have known each other for years and swapped ideas since we were young, it will be an exciting challenge to work with this young team. Of course, the first focus is The Ocean Race but I am already thinking ahead and looking at how we can have a winning boat for the Vendée Globe 2024, reliability and durability will be key here. The boat has proven its ability to sail fast in the Southern Ocean and Boris has gained valuable experience with his boat in the Southern Ocean. So now it will be up to the technical team to ensure reliability for this long round-the-world race."

Pierre-François (Pifou) Dargnies Joins Team Malizia As Technical Director

The world’s leading climate scientists published the IPCC AR6 synthesis report on Monday 20 March 2023, which assesses the current global knowledge of climate science and was approved in Interlaken by 195 governments. The report presents the scientist’s findings in a comprehensive review but what does it say and why is it so important? And how does Team Malizia contribute to this major publication? 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

. It was established by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988 to provide political leaders with periodic scientific assessments about climate change.

Thousands of people from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC. For the assessment reports, experts volunteer their time as IPCC authors to 

assess the thousands of scientific papers

 of what is known about the drivers of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and how adaptation and mitigation can reduce those risks.

 and member governments is an essential part of the IPCC process to ensure an objective and complete assessment and to reflect a diverse range of views and expertise. The IPCC has 

 (WGI, WGII, and WGIII), each addressing specific topics.

Team Malizia's race yacht carries the UN SDG wheel and the A Race We Must Win message on its sail, calling for "Climate Action Now!" 

. These provide governments, at all levels, with scientific information they can use to develop 

. They are a key input into the international 

. IPCC reports are drafted and reviewed in several stages to guarantee accuracy, objectivity and transparency. 

Over the last year, the IPCC was working on the production of their 

, made up of the reports of the three working groups (published in August 2021, February and April 2022, respectively) and a synthesis report. This 

 was published yesterday on Monday 20 March 2023, marking the 

 of the assessment cycle, the first since the previous in 2014.

The synthesis report is not presenting new science, as it is a recap, but it 

, which is further condensed into a “summary for policymakers”. It is also a very important document as it is supposed to 

, which will take place in Dubai at the end of this year. As an example, the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) which was completed in 2014 provided the main scientific input to 

The scientific papers that are being assessed to produce the reports are, amongst others, based on data collected all around the world and made available to the scientific community through databases. This includes the 

 which contributes to a database (SOCAT) and our data has therefore 

“Today’s IPCC report is a how-to-guide to diffuse the climate time bomb”, said 

 during the IPCC press conference on Monday. “It is a survival guide for humanity. As it shows, the 1.5°C limit is achievable, but it will take a quantum leap in climate action.” Guterres, whom Boris Herrmann met recently in Cabo Verde during The Ocean Race Summit, made a call to massively fast-track climate efforts by every country, in every sector and on every timeframe. “Our world needs climate action on all fronts, everything, everywhere, all at once.”

“This Synthesis Report underscores the urgency of taking more ambitious action and shows that, if we act now, we can still secure a liveable sustainable future for all”, said 

. The report shows that there are multiple, feasible and effective options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to human-caused climate change, and that they are available now. It also brings into sharp focus the losses and damages we are already experiencing and will continue into the future, hitting the most vulnerable people and ecosystems especially hard. “

Climate justice is crucial because those who have contributed least to climate change are being disproportionately affected,

” said Aditi Mukherji, one of the 93 authors of this Synthesis Report. Taking the right action now could result in the transformational change essential for a sustainable, equitable world, the report says.

It adds that in this decade, accelerated action to adapt to climate change is essential to close the gap between existing adaptation and what is needed. Meanwhile, keeping warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels requires deep, rapid and sustained greenhouse gas emission reductions in all sectors. Emissions should be decreasing by now and 

will need to be cut by almost half by 2030

said Antonio Guterres during the IPCC press conference on Monday 20 March 2023

Toste Tanhua, chemical oceanographer at GEOMAR

 and the science partner of Team Malizia over the last 5 years, commented: “The AR6 Synthesis report is speaking a very strong language, all based on the best available science. For instance, the IPCC states that ‘Continued greenhouse gas emissions will lead to increasing global warming, with the best estimate of reaching 1.5°C in the near term in considered scenarios and modelled pathways. Every increment of global warming will intensify multiple and concurrent hazards.’ The message is clear, humans are causing global warming, and we need to act decidedly and quickly in order to minimise damage. The efforts of Team Malizia are contributing to better understanding climate change, and to spread the message “Climate Action Now” – which is just what the synthesis report states.

Team Malizia, who is currently competing in 

, is once again using the opportunity of racing around the world to 

 message. Since the start of the race, the team has deployed an 

, two drifter buoys, and is continuously running their 

. Skipper Boris Herrmann and onboard reporter Antoine Auriol filmed a 

 two days ago, explaining how this mini ocean laboratory works and how we collect rare ocean Co2 data that contributes to the crucial IPCC reports.

 commented on 21st March 2023 from near Point Nemo in the Pacific Ocean whilst racing in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race: “The climate crisis can seem impossible to solve and at times hopeless but these are the times that we must believe, we must fight harder, we must come together, we must push harder and innovate faster in order to find better solutions to the climate crisis. 

WATCH THE VIDEO OF BORIS HERRMANN EXPLAINING HOW THE OCEAN PACK WORKS:

Malizia contributes to the IPCC Report, A “Survival Guide For Humanity”, said UN SG Guterres

The international crew skippered by Boris Herrmann has taken the lead of the Southern Ocean leg of The Ocean Race after nearly three weeks of eventful sailing.

After a complicated start to Leg 3 of the round-the-world race, with several difficult repairs, notably the mast repair which 

 managed brilliantly, the tracker updates have been getting more and more exciting lately! Team Malizia crossed the scoring gate south of Australia on Sunday 12 March at 23:44:08 UTC in second position, grabbing four hard-earned points in the ranking. Slowly but surely, the crew skippered by German sailor 

 has been closing the gap to Team Holcim-PRB and today, at the 15:00 UTC tracker update, 

! The gap to Holcim might only be 3.0 nm at the time of this publication and the fleet will compress once the boats reach the light zone ahead of them. Nevertheless, the

 crew composed of Herrmann, co-skippers Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper, Nico Lunven, and onboard reporter Antoine Auriol is very excited to see their team's name at the top of the Leg's ranking.

 who is currently on watch, said in an audio message to the shore team: "We are leading the fleet at the moment, after almost three weeks of sailing! It's looking like Nico's 

 strategy is turning out to be the right one, it's super nice to be in this position right now, although it's very tricky as we are sailing towards a ridge, a high pressure. We expect all the boats to slow down this weekend and there will be a new start line. We have had a bit of rest in the past few days, and a bit less wind than before which allowed the crew to sleep. We did all the checks on the boat and we are ready for another race towards Itajaí which would start this Sunday when the wind will pick up again. It's still a long way to go but also very exciting to be in the lead!".

Boris Herrmann onboard Malizia - Seaexplorer

Team Malizia Takes Over The Lead In Leg 3 Of The Ocean Race

Deutscher Produzent und Schauspieler Ben Blaskovic verfilmt Extremsegler Boris Herrmanns Vendée Globe Abenteuer auf Grundlage des Bestsellers „Allein Zwischen Himmel und Meer”.

 gestartet, der berühmtesten und härtesten Einhandregatta der Welt. Nach einem fantastischen Rennen belegte er mit seiner Yacht einen kaum erträumten 

, schildert er seine Erlebnisse und Emotionen, den Kampf mit der Natur und das Ringen mit sich selbst während der 80 Tage allein auf dem Meer. Wie viele Leser des

 meistverkauften deutschen Sportbuchs der letzten zehn Jahre

 war auch deutscher Schauspieler und Produzent 

 von den Abenteuern des Extremseglers fasziniert. Innerhalb von drei Tagen verschlang er das Buch und wusste sofort, dass er diese Geschichte verfilmen und auf die Leinwand bringen wollte. Auch dieser Traum wird nun verwirklicht: Ben Blaskovic verfilmt Boris Herrmanns Biopic.

 erklärt: „Da ich seit Kindesbeinen selbst passionierter Segler bin, freut es mich ganz besonders, Boris Herrmanns Heldenreise auf der Vendée Globe als fiktionalen Spielfilm zu verfilmen. Andreas Wolfers hat hierzu eine wunderbare Grundlage geschaffen, die der herausragende Drehbuchautor Gernot Griksch zu einem spannenden Drehbuch verarbeitet. Es entsteht ein Film, der Boris’ äußere und vor allem innere Reise auch für Nicht-Segler spürbar macht und den Zuschauern - zwischen all dem negativen ‚Krach' der Welt - eine nachhaltige, positive und starke Message mit auf den Weg geben wird.“ 

“Ich freue mich sehr auf dieses Projekt!”, so 

. “Ich bin eher an Dokumentarfilme über unser Team gewöhnt, bin aber sehr gespannt darauf, mein erstes Vendée Globe Rennen als Spielfilm zu erleben. Ben und ich haben uns endlich persönlich in Kapstadt getroffen, zum Auftakt des Leg 3 des Ocean Race, das mein Team Malizia und ich gerade segeln. Das war perfekt, um die Emotionen mitzuerleben, da diese Etappe uns wie die Vendée Globe durch die Südmeere führt. Während des Stopovers ist Ben sogar beim In-Port Race auf unserer 

mitgefahren und konnte so erleben, wie es ist, gegen die besten IMOCA-Skipper zu segeln.

, Co-Autor: „Boris und ich haben so präzise und authentisch wie möglich sein abenteuerliches Rennen um die Welt beschrieben. Unser Motto für das Buch hieß: Kino im Kopf! Wie großartig, dass es nun bald heißt: Echtes Kino!“. 

Boris Herrmann und Ben Blaskovic © Laura Nenz

Boris Herrmann (links) und Ben Blaskovic (2. von rechts) bei In-Port Race in Kapstadt © Ricardo Pinto / Team Malizia

Boris Herrmann at the arrival of the Vendée Globe 2020-2021

Boris Herrmanns Vendée Globe Abenteuer als Spielfilm von Ben Blaskovic

German producer and actor Ben Blaskovic creates a film of extreme sailor Boris Herrmann's Vendée Globe adventure based on the bestselling book "Alone Between Sky and Sea".

 is the first German to have competed in the 

, the most famous and toughest race in the world. After a fantastic race, he finished in a barely dreamed-of 

, written with Andreas Wolfers, he describes his experiences and emotions, the battle with nature and the struggle with himself during the 80 days alone on the sea. Like many readers of the 

best-selling German sports book in the past ten years

 was fascinated by the adventures of the extreme sailor. He devoured the book within three days and knew immediately that he wanted to film this story and bring it to the big screen. This dream is now becoming a reality: Ben Blaskovic will be filming Boris Herrmann's biopic.

 explains: "I have been a passionate sailor myself since childhood, which is why I am particularly pleased to be able to film Boris Herrmann's heroic journey during the Vendée Globe as a fictional feature film. Andreas Wolfers has created a wonderful basis for this, which the outstanding screenwriter Gernot Griksch has turned into an exciting script. The result is a film that makes Boris' outer and, above all, inner journey tangible even for non-sailors and will give viewers - amid all the negative 'noise' in the world - a lasting, positive and strong message to take with them."

"I am really looking forward to this project!", says 

. "I'm more used to documentaries about our team, but I'm very excited to relive my first Vendée Globe race as a feature film. Ben and I finally met in person in Cape Town, at the start of Leg 3 of The Ocean Race, which I am currently competing in with our Team Malizia. It was a perfect opportunity for Ben to witness the emotions our team goes through before a race start, as this leg takes us through the Southern Ocean on an almost identical route as the Vendée Globe. During the stopover, Ben even sailed in the In-Port Race on our 

 race yacht and got to experience what it's like to sail against the best sailors of the IMOCA class.”

 adds: "Boris and I described his adventurous race around the world as precisely and authentically as possible. Our motto for the book was to make the story as visual as possible in the mind, like they play a film in their own minds. How great that it will soon be turned into a real-life film!"

Boris Herrmann (left) and Ben Blaskovic (second from the right) during the In-Port Race in Cape Town 

Boris Herrmann's Vendée Globe Adventure As A Feature Film By Ben Blaskovic

It is currently very close racing for Malizia and Holcim PRB - we saw the gap between the two narrow to 0.5nm during the night! Holcim is positioned further to the south which could be a better position due to having to travel slightly less miles (due to the curvature of the earth). Although, over the last 24h Malizia has travelled over 500nm and Holcim around 450nm so there is definitely a chance for our team to catch up.

Antoine Auriol the team’s onboard reporter sent a drone up today to capture the boat flying through the ocean. Boris Herrmann, Will Harris and Rosalin Kuiper are all awake and commentated over the epic drone shots of the boat at full speed. The smiles and high energy on board is palpable with the team in good spirits after their scoring gate points win and the repair they completed a few days ago a distant memory. 

 Flying through the ocean (c) Antoine Auriol

For the next 24 hours the fleet will remain in good pressure with almost all their time on a port gybe, we might see some short gybes south on starboard for tactical positioning but if anyone does this I suspect it will be for very short periods of time. This is basically a drag race to the east, which will create some exciting close moments during the leg!

Late on the 16th and into the 17th the fleet will start compressing into a ridge of high pressure with lighter winds at around 15kts but this should still be consistent wind from a NNW direction with the boats still pushing east on port gybe. This means the team should still be able to sail fast in these conditions but they will be fighting for the miles over the coming days. 

Late on the 18th the fleet starts to cross the ridge of high pressure and there will be a +/- 24 hour period of very light winds as everyone tries to get across this area of light variable winds. By the 20th the high pressure starts pushing north and the fleet will be getting into better breeze from the west but it will be a game of gybing right on the edge of the ice exclusion zone to stay in the best breeze.

The teams won't do this but to give an example the routing has them gybing at every isochrone (this would mean every 3 hours). However, this is a clear indication that it would make sense for them to stay right on the edge of the exclusion zone, this is the best area of wind but also very tiring work for the sailors who have to wake each other in order to do clean and quick manoeuvres.

By our estimation it will be two weeks until they make it to Cape Horn and currently from our on land routings we estimate an ETA in Itajai of +/- 4th April 2023.

All images from today and video can be found below and are free for all editorial use!

All our content is free to use for editorial purposes

Flying High in Second Place - Team Malizia

 Team Malizia has crossed the halfway scoring gate in second place during Leg 3 of The Ocean Race at 23:44 UTC. The line which forms directly down from Cape Otway contains half of the points for the whole leg. For crossing in second place the team earnt a respectable 4 points. The fight is now on to reach the finishing line in Itajai Brazil. 

Holcim PRB crossed the line in first place, followed by Team Malizia in second. 11th Hour Racing Team are hot on the heels of Team Malizia with Biotherm currently sitting in fourth place. 

Leg 3 of the race started on February 26th 2023 departing from Cape Town to Itajai, and they are now on day 14 of the race. The crew consisting of skipper Boris Herrmann, co-skippers Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper and Nicolas Lunven and onboard reporter Antoine Auriol have been pushing hard to be in this position to gain the points at the scoring mark. There is always a balance between maintaining the boat and avoiding too much damage and pushing hard to win. The line is a fine one but important and a hotly debated topic onboard Malizia - Seaexplorer.

From following the videos and podcast of the team it appears to be Will Harris, who has been the most determined at pushing the boat in the last days. You can see the nerves and excitement are palpable between the crew. They know that they are in a strong position and that these are really the most favourable conditions for our type of boat, but they also know that one wrong move could have cost them a place. 

The team moved into 2nd place during Sunday morning with the scoring gate forcing the teams to ramp up their speed, driving hard towards the imaginary line which holds so many points. In doing so, the team passed incredibly close to 11th Hour Racing and continued to drag race with them for the whole of Sunday. Currently, Holcim PRB is only 125nm ahead of Malizia, a gap which couldn’t be closed before the scoring gate. However, Team Malizia has been slowly chipping away at this lead and with a distance like this it is possible to catch them before the end of the race. 

Life on board has become harder for the team. The conditions are very grey and damp, and the wind has been consistently strong for a long time now, which is good for racing but makes living harder. As the race goes on you do get into a rhythm but you also feel lonely, restless and further away. In order to combat this, Rosie and Boris have started the podcast “End of Watch”. The aim is to spend 25 minutes at the end of Rosie’s watch to discuss life at sea, the highs and the lows and to share their thoughts with our listeners. If you would like to listen to their podcast “

Now that they are through the scoring gate it is likely that the teams will ease up a little to take stock of the boats and check for any damage. There is still a very long way to go until Itajai and preserving the boats still has to be a focus for the teams. The team celebrated in true Team Malizia style by calling the team on land with Whatsapp to pass the line together and having a small swig of Rum at the line. 

, Malizia skipper commented: “I am so happy we have crossed this line in second place. We pushed really hard and this marker meant a lot to us as a team. For the last 48 hours I was really focused on getting the boat over the line in one piece. The sea state was quite difficult to navigate safely and there is always a balance between pushing and preserving the boat. I think we found that balance and the boat sails amazingly well in these conditions.” 

co-skipper commented “I am so happy, so relieved that we managed to come away with second place. It has been such a fight to even still be in the race after having to fix the mast a week and a half ago and not being sure we could continue, and now we are here crossing the line in second. This has been some of the closest offshore racing I have ever done, we crossed 11th Hour Racing within only 200 metres. It is a big relief that we have crossed the line second, we have proved our potential, I can sleep well tonight and then look forward to the Pacific. I am really so happy!”

 co-skipper commented before crossing the line “my heart was full of fire and I felt so alive when we went past 11th Hour Racing, this was one of the most special moments of the race so far”. On crossing the line Rosie sent the message to shore saying “I am super happy, I have tears in my eyes. This crossing means more than just crossing a line, it is the next level of endurance, teamwork and having a mission and pushing through as a team. It is emotional, I haven’t been emotional the last weeks because we were pushing and now I can be because this is an emotional moment. We overtook 11th Hour Racing yesterday and we really saw what our team and the boat could do. We will go back into the racing mode now but we take a moment to do a small celebration! I can’t wait to sail around the world with these guys, they are my brothers and my friends, we are taking care of each other - but now back into the racing mode. Thank you to the team on land too, as we did this as a team together.”

commented “we are really happy to have crossed the scoring gate in second place, it was hard to get here and we have pushed a lot. The race is not even half way through yet though and I am already looking ahead to the next stretch of the race and running the routings for this.”

This mission is only possible due to the strong and long-lasting commitment from Team Malizia’s 

: Zurich Group Germany, Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd, Schütz, the Yacht Club de Monaco, and EFG International. These partners band behind Team Malizia to support its 

A Race We Must Win – Climate Action Now

! mission, each of them working towards projects in their own field to innovate around climate solutions.

The video and photo content of them crossing the scoring gate line will be available here on our image bank from around 3am UTC and video content will be available on our 

All our content is free to use for editorial purposes.

All photos below are (c) Team Malizia / Antoine Auriol and can be found on our image bank. 

Team Malizia Cross the Scoring Gate in Second Place Gaining Them 4 Points During Leg 3 of The Ocean Race

 - At approximately 19:00 UTC on 28th February 2023, 

 were sailing in big waves with good wind conditions when they 

. The team quickly assessed that it had become 

 and this was the reason for it falling. This is something that the shore team and sailing team are discussing further 

With darkness approaching and the big ocean swell, the team had to act quickly. 

 of the sail was pulling against the mainsail, not wanting to cause any further damage he acted quickly and cut the halyard 2 meters from the hook. This allows for the halyard to be easily repaired when they have more time. 

. The team were concerned to damage anything further knowing that the sail was wrapped around the 

 were able to pull this onboard and store it down below. 

The IMOCAs must all carry a total of 8 sails on board one of which must be a storm jib and the main sail, therefore, leaving 6 other headsails to choose from. The team will have to 

 and make good decisions in order to ensure they can sail optimally 

Skipper Boris Herrmann commented after the incident: “Our downwind sail came off the hook and fell into the water... Now, we are on a different downwind sail but this issue gave us a

losing maybe 20 nautical miles at least and a sail

 in sorting this out and no other damages as far as we know”.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE EVENT CAPTURED BY OUR ONBOARD REPORTER

Team Malizia cutting their head sail free on 28 February 2023

Team Malizia Lost A Head Sail During The Night Of Day 2 Of The Ocean Race

 and its 2,5-lap inshore race course started well for 

, with close inshore racing and the team coming out on top for that short course. 

Two of the other teams, Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing, had 

 at the start of the race which meant the former had to return to port to fix the issues resuming racing late in the night. The latter had issues with their main sail which the team decided to fix in the calm flat waters in the wind shadow on Table Mountain.

Both teams have managed to catch up relatively well due to the 

, so all 5 boats are within 130nm of each, with Holcim currently leading the pack at the time of writing.

 for the teams with lighter than expected winds and also an 

adverse current running against the fleet 

which left some of them moving backwards and fighting to catch the wind and a way to move forward. 