Storm Ciaran forces a new start date for team Malizia's Boris Herrmann and Will Harris in the TJV
by Team Malizia 6 Nov 2023 02:24 PST
Malizia - Seaexplorer in the Ocean Race © Antoine Auriol / Team Malizia
Boris Herrmann and Will Harris have a new start date confirmed for 7th November 2023 - the duo will sail Malizia - Seaexplorer in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre 2023. The start was postponed last Sunday due to extreme weather conditions. This is the second time the pair will compete in this race and the first time they will confront all the new IMOCA boats. As they race from northern France to Martinique, the pair will deploy scientific instruments and collect valuable Ocean data to further climate research.
The Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre 2023 will see Boris Herrmann and Will Harris race onboard Malizia - Seaexplorer from Le Havre, in northern France, to Fort-de-France on the French island of Martinique in the Caribbean. It will be the second time that the Malizia duo will sail this race after their participation in 2019, when Will Harris first joined our team.
The original start date had been planned for 29th October 2023 however, Storm Ciaran had other ideas and left the race organisers no choice but to postpone the start for three of the four competing fleets. The teams worked together to secure all the boats and ensure everyone was safe before the storm hit. The IMOCA fleet of forty boats will now set sail on Tuesday 7th November 2023 in the longest and most difficult double-handed offshore sailing race. For this 16th edition the teams will sail a more direct course to Martinique leading to only one crossing of the Doldrums.
The 40 IMOCA race yachts will start at 09:30 local time and compete over 3750 nautical miles. The race is expected to last between 10 to 11 days, during which the sailors will have to navigate key passages like the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay and the doldrums.
After the start line in front of Le Havre the race direction commented: "The sea will have calmed significantly in the Bay of Biscay as in the English Channel," explains Christian Dumard, the race meteorologist. "The general westerly flow continues from the Atlantic but the start should be completed in manageable conditions. A new front does look set to come in and hit the Atlantic coasts from Wednesday but we are seeing winds of 30-35 knots which is much less violent than these recent storms."
Skipper Boris Herrmann commented "I am excited to start the race now, we've had a week postponement where I waited out the storm with my family in Hamburg. The boat has been safely moored in Le Havre with the team taking good care of her during the height of the storm. Now she is ready to get back on the water and to perform in this double handed race to Martinique. The shorter course is a wise idea as I need enough time to compete in the solo return race that happens directly after the TJV."
Boris went on to state "the aim is the same as a week ago, we will confront some of the new boats in the class that I will compete against in the Vendée Globe next year and we will test and perfect the boat in the semi-solo race mode. Having sailed around the world with Will, and him having skippered the boat in two legs of The Ocean Race, he is the best pick as co-skipper for this race. It's really a pleasure and joy to go sailing together now."
Co-skipper Will Harris added: "We will be running the Ocean Pack, as we have done in every race and delivery for many years now, in order to collect further Ocean CO2 data for marine scientists", adds Will Harris who has earned a degree in Oceanography at the University of Southampton in 2015.
"Certain sections of the race will be similar to ones we sailed in The Ocean Race earlier this year, so I'll be curious to see what scientists can observe on a more seasonal scale. We will also experiment with something new and try to collect some environmental DNA samples through a filter system added to the Ocean Pack. This race will be a great opportunity to test the setup and perfect it for the coming races."
The British sailor adds: "I'm also excited that we will deploy another drifting buoy, in an area where data is cruelly lacking. It will be our third drifter buoy deployment in 2023, my very first one was actually in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2019 when I joined Malizia - this shows how consistent we have been as a team in supporting marine research."
The drifter will be able to measure sea-surface temperature and air pressure, as well as surface current. From its remote position in the Ocean, the buoy will send frequent highly accurate scientific data updates to the Global Telecommunication System (GTS), an international data network of the World Meteorological Organization. This platform allows forecasters and scientists around the world to access the information - for free. The deployment is part of the Eumetnet's E-SurfMar European programme, coordinated by Météo France.
Boris Herrmann concludes: "The global project will help scientists around the world to gain a better understanding of the Ocean and how natural and human-induced changes affect it. It will also significantly improve the accuracy of modern weather forecasting and weather models, which are an integral part of ocean racing."
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: Schütz, the Yacht Club de Monaco, EFG International, Zurich Group Germany, Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, and Hapag-Llyod. 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.