Malizia II - Yacht Club de Monaco finishes twelfth in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre IMOCA

Boris Herrmann and Will Harris, on their 60ft monohull, Malizia II - Yacht Club de Monaco, have finished twelfth in the IMOCA class of the 14th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre after crossing the finish line in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil on Monday, November 11, 2019 at 10:43:43 (UTC), 14 days, 22 hours 28 minutes and 43 seconds after leaving Le Havre, Normandy, France on Sunday, October 27 at 12:15 (UTC). 

Malizia II - Yacht Club de Monaco covered the theoretical course of 4,350 nautical miles at an average speed of 12.13 knots but actually sailed 4,979.52 nautical miles at an average speed of 13.89 knots. It finished 1 day 10 hours 20 minutes and 43 seconds behind the winner, Apivia.

This Anglo-German duo battle all the way to the line and in another nail-biting race to the line that has defined this edition were just 22 minutes and 20 seconds behind Maître CoQ at the end. 

For the 38-year-old German skipper, Boris Herrmann, this was not his first Atlantic crossing of the year, but it was certainly his fastest. He chose the 25-year-old Briton, Will Harris as his co-skipper because his mixture of his sailing and logistical experience. Herrmann was fourth in the last edition of the race and Harris had excelled on the Figaro circuit, winning Rookie of the Year in 2016, as well as working for the Volvo Ocean Race race management.  

The beginning of the race and their the second half, as they drove their way back through the huge and competitive IMOCA fleet, showed the capabilities of both duo and boat. On paper they were easily a top ten team and Herrmann said in Le Havre he was hoping for top 5 again.

But their race will be defined by the decision to go west. They had made a great start up the Channel in their 2015 foiler, leading past Guernsey and were second off Perros-Guirec. They did not immediately commit to the west but on the third day of the race became part of the breakaway group of five “westerners” – Hugo Boss, Bureau Vallée II, Maître CoQ, IV and Prysmian Group  hoping for a slingshot from the huge low in the north Atlantic and eventually a better angle south.  These western IMOCA were later joined after a pit-stop by Advens for Cybersecurity.

Their grey foiler was neck-and-neck with Hugo Boss, when they said they hit an unidentified object around 400 north-west of Canary Islands and eventually lost their keel. A sobering moment. Herrmann’s main goal was managing risk and to get the boat to Salvador. “For me on a small budget, if I break the boat or lose the mast I won’t be doing the Vendée, it’s very different for all these projects,” he said before the start in Le Havre. We have different pressures. We have to preserve the boat. Our objective is to see if we can consistently deliver being a reliable team. So far, we have finished every race, we haven’t abandoned any trip or delivery and I think that is one of the important goals, to build confidence with partners.”

They were reeling boats in all the way down the coast of north-east Brazil passing 2007-generation boat, Corum L’Epargne with 100 miles to the finish and almost passing fellow 2015-foiler, Maître CoQ at the finish.