IThe fifth stage of the Ocean Race starts on Sunday evening in the American port of Newport. She leads the fleet on its circumnavigation over 3500 nautical miles across the North Atlantic, through the North Sea and the Kattegat to Aarhus in Denmark. Boris Herrmann’s team Malizia is self-confident in the final sprint back to Europe. “We have everything to win the race,” said the man from Hamburg, who will celebrate his 42nd birthday in the final sprint of stage five on May 28 at sea.
Just one point behind leaders Holcim-PRB (19 points), the US team 11th Hour Racing and Boris Herrmann’s German “Malizia – Seaexplorer” are in second and third place.
Stronger than other teams
Herrmann’s hope: “The next stage has the highest statistical chance of strong waves and winds. We’re definitely stronger than other teams. I like that there are double points. I’m pretty confident that we can put in a good performance and a good overall result.” Joining Herrmann are co-skippers Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper and Yann Eliès.
While around 80 percent of the ocean race route around the world has already been completed, just under 45 percent of the points are still being awarded in the last three sections. With the double points, the upcoming transatlantic stage can give the winners a valuable advantage in the escalating three-way battle for overall victory. After the mast broke on stage four, the Swiss team Holcim-PRB is ready for action again with a replacement mast.
The situation remains difficult for the French-German team Guyot after the late mast break on stage four. The only thing that is clear is that the boat has been loaded and is to be sent to Europe by cargo ship on Sunday. Whether and when the team around the French skipper Ben Dutreux and the Berlin co-skipper Robert Stanjek can intervene again remains uncertain.
The team has postponed its decision on a possible re-entry until next week. Financial considerations and time constraints also play a decisive role.
