Team Malizia's Will Harris: “We can expect some close racing in Leg 4”
by Team Malizia 22 Apr 2023 01:59 PDT
Malizia - Seaexplorer, Team Malizia's race yacht in Itajaí, Brazil © Sailing Energy / The Ocean Race
After their win in Leg 3 of The Ocean Race, Team Malizia is about to set sail for a race back to the Northern Hemisphere, more motivated than ever to perform well and score crucial points.
This Sunday 23 April, the 5 IMOCA crews will leave Itajaí towards Newport, USA. With Boris Herrmann's planned departure back home for this leg, Will Harris takes over the role of skipper for the second time in the race. He will be joined by co-skippers Nico Lunven, Rosalin Kuiper as well as the new addition of experienced French IMOCA sailor Christopher Pratt. Antoine Auriol will be back as onboard reporter for the fourth leg.
Itajaí, Brazil, 21 April 2023 - Team Malizia's sailing crew had a 10-day rest after the gruelling Southern Ocean race and their first-place win on the toughest leg of the race. They have been back at the boatyard for the last 6 days, checking the boat, test sailing and preparing for the next big challenge. "We are now in second place of the overall ranking and, with winning the last leg we have a bit more pressure and are trying to catch up with first place Team Holcim-PRB", commented skipper Will Harris. "I'm really confident in the team, we have so much trust in each other after around 20,000 nautical miles of sailing together in the last 4 months, we are a fluid group. It's made preparing mentally for the skipper role much easier knowing that we spent this time together already."
The race starts this Sunday 23 April at 13:10 Brazil local time from Itajaí, Brazil, and will lead the fleet of five IMOCA boats up the East coast of Brazil on a 5,500-nautical mile journey to Newport, USA. Leg 4 is the final major south-to-north passage of The Ocean Race. The crews will leave Brazil in autumn, cross the Equator (no longer a first for any of the crew members) and its infamous doldrums, and arrive in Rhode Island in early spring.
"The way to Newport is a bit paradoxal," explains navigator Nico Lunven. "Compared to the previous Southern Ocean leg, we will for sure have much nicer weather, with warm seas and warm air, almost a tropical kind of leg. On the other hand, there are plenty of crucial key points regarding strategy and weather during the next leg. It is going to be quite challenging to do a nice leg to Newport. The last two days before reaching Newport can be quite tricky too, with northern Atlantic conditions, strong winds and cold water."
As well as negotiating the doldrums one more time, the crews will need to be on constant watch to avoid becoming entangled in the massive clusters of Sargassum seaweed in this area of the Ocean.
"I feel very good and super motivated", says co-skipper Rosalin Kuiper. "I have recovered very well from my concussion, and I feel energised and ready to do this leg." The Dutch sailor adds: "The fact that we won Leg 3 did change my mindset. I always tried to focus on the process, on getting better as a team step by step, but now I am so keen to beat the other competitors, more than ever before! I need to be careful not to overdo it, but I am ready to get back on the water and sail this boat as fast as we can! And with Chris onboard we have a lot of fresh energy, he's a good soul, a calm person, has a great vibe, and we can learn a lot from his vast experience!"
New addition Christopher Pratt recently arrived in Brazil and found his mark quite quickly: "I received a very warm welcome from the Malizia family, I have only been here for about a week and I already feel like I have known the team for a long time. I'm also happy to work with old friends like Nico Lunven whom I've been sailing with on Figaros many years ago! I'm looking forward to this tricky leg. We have to focus on strategy details, and on improving our speed in lighter wind conditions, which we discuss quite a bit with the crew." The French co-skipper added: "In the past days I found it quite easy to get used to the boat, with the piano and all the ropes. I also enjoy the closed cockpit in which you can stand and have a nice look outside... I haven't tested the big bedroom yet! Mostly, I'm looking forward to being offshore again and sailing with Nico, Will, Rosie, and of course Antoine! "
"I like that Boris built a team with a democratic way of decision-making," adds Nico Lunven. "Him and Will know each other very well, and Will has already been the skipper in Leg 2, which makes it really easy to swap crew members in these conditions. I am really happy to have Chris on board with us, he is bringing all his IMOCA and offshore sailing experience to the team. I also think it's a good moment halfway through the race and after the win to have fresh blood onboard so that he keeps us sharp!"
"Leg 4 is expected to last anything between 14 and 21 days, with super close racing the whole way", explains Will Harris. "We have to get around the corner of Brazil first, then up through the trade winds and the doldrums. Generally, that means lots of straight line speed, where the boats are looking for every last percentage to overtake the other one." Once they enter the Northern Hemisphere, the team will have to deal with the North Atlantic systems that are developing very quickly along the eastern coast of North America because of the warm Gulf Stream. "What I saw in the previous race when I was in race control was that the results were completely flipped over in the last six hours", adds the British sailor. "I think even more this time we can't say the race is over until the finish line! We will have to push right until the finish and we could see it become very exciting throughout the leg."
Team Malizia's A Race We Must Win - Climate Action Now! mission is only possible due to the strong and long-lasting commitment from its seven main partners: the Yacht Club de Monaco, EFG International, Zurich Group Germany, Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd, and Schütz. These partners band behind Team Malizia to support its campaign, each of them working towards projects in their own field to innovate around climate solutions.
Overall scoreboard before Leg 4:
1. Team Holcim-PRB - 19 points
2. Team Malizia - 14 points
3. 11th Hour Racing Team - 13 points
4. Biotherm - 10 points
5. Guyot Environnement - Team Europe - 2 points