Fourth stage of the Ocean Race: Malizia without Boris Herrmann

Itajaí/Brazil (dpa/lno). The Malizia team will start the fourth stage of the Ocean Race on Sunday without its team boss Boris Herrmann. The 41-year-old will follow the second-longest leg of the circumnavigation in his home port of Hamburg, 10,500 kilometers away. The sailing break had been planned for a long time. Herrmann takes care of project tasks and his family on land. “I don’t think the sailing team is at a disadvantage as a result. I wouldn’t sit out if I felt they could do better with me,” said the 41-year-old.

Briton Will Harris takes over the role of skipper for Herrmann. After the Cape Horn triumph and victory on the queen stage, Team Malizia is second with 14 points behind Swiss team Holcim-PRB (19) and ahead of US team 11th Hour Racing (13th place) before the start of the fourth of seven stages ).

From Itajaì in Brazil to Newport in the USA there are 5,500 nautical miles to master. After the endurance test in the South Seas, the fleet returns from the southern to the northern hemisphere. There is still 38 percent of the race track to be completed, but 60 percent of the points are up for grabs.

Herrmann warned against excessive expectations of his team. “It would be nonsense to think: we won the last stage, so we’ll win this one too. It’s like at the beginning of the race: All five teams can win, anything is possible.” Herrmann’s interim result is still positive: “The great thing about the Ocean Race is that all five competitors are really equally strong. With the big difference that we obviously have an advantage in the south.”

The “Malizia-Seaexplorer” is particularly strong in strong winds. The fourth stage, which lasted around two and a half weeks, still has to show what that’s worth in the Atlantic hunt from south to north. The starting shot will be fired on Sunday at 6.15 p.m. German time. Before that, the teams are challenged in a harbor race. However, the results of these short races are not included in the Ocean Race classification. The placings in the ranking of all harbor races are only decisive if teams are tied at the end of the circumnavigation.

After the bitter end of stage three, Team Guyot is back in action with a repaired boat and Berlin co-skipper Robert Stanjek. The Franco-German team had to give up the third stage with severe hull damage. “The repair is rock solid. The point gap to the other teams rankles us. We want to deliver now,” Stanjek announced before the comeback.

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