Boris Herrmann looks ahead to The Ocean Race 2022/23, describes it as “a sporting highlight of my career”

Boris Herrmann is relishing the prospect of competing in The Ocean Race 2022-23, describing it as “a sporting highlight of my career”.

The German, who will skipper Team Malizia, has sailed around the world three times, and has been involved in several world records during recent years.

But ahead of The Ocean Race beginning on January 15, Hermann says the Dakar Rally in motor racing is the only comparable challenge in sport.

In an exclusive interview with Eurosport, who will broadcast the event live, Herrmann said: “You can compare it a bit with the Dakar Rally, which I enjoyed watching as a teenager. The drivers don’t always know the exact course of the route, which makes for a great adventure factor.

“It’s similar with us, we don’t know what’s coming up out there. Winds, waves, technical problems. The only thing we can be sure of is that surprises will come our way.

“It’s never going to be what you expect. Still, in the end it will be the best crew that wins the Ocean Race. They will be underway for about half a year. Saying goodbye to family and friends will be different from saying goodbye to a professional footballer going to an away game.

“It is without question a sporting highlight of my career. The big team, the new ship, the race with its famous history, in which I am now participating for the first time – we are all passionate about it.”

The race will see teams in both the IMOCA 60 class and VO65 class take part in 126 days of racing spread across 11 legs, and Herrmann highlighted the arduous life that comes with being on the water for so long.

“It is a racing machine, everything is optimised for the purpose of sailing as fast as possible,” he explained.

“There are no sofas with cushions or a fridge that you open and take something out of. Life on board the Malizia-Seaexplorer is like camping. You have a sleeping mat, a sleeping bag, a gas cooker. That’s the level of comfort we have, and there is neither kitchen nor toilet nor running water.

“Instead, we have a seawater de-salination plant and solar panels on the roof. We use this electricity to de-salinate the seawater. This produces our drinking water. Of course, we have a small emergency ration with us in case the technology fails. When we eat, we pour this water into our camping gas cooker and then into tear-open bags of food.

“We can’t shower at all, at best in the tropics we pour a bucket of water over our heads from time to time. The toilet is done in a bucket or directly overboard. That’s it, there’s nothing more.

Team Malizia will be competing alongside the 11th Hour Racing Team, GUYOT environnement-Team Europe, Biotherm Racing and Holcim-PRB in the IMOCA 60 class. Herrmann weighed up the competition from the other four teams.

“You can at least rank the five boats,” he said.

“The 11th Hour Racing Team from the USA has been preparing for the competition the longest, and in contrast to the other crews, exclusively for The Ocean Race.

“The greatest resources were used for this. First they bought a boat for training purposes, then they bought a new one. Unless something very special happens, 11th Hour has to win the race.

“This means that the role of favourite has been assigned. The opposite is Guyot Team Europe with the oldest but also most reliable ship. Therein lies a strength, as this means the crew can push the hardest of all. The other three teams rely on relatively new boats – which can be a disadvantage because they don’t know the material that well yet and have to fix one or two teething troubles.

“Meanwhile, the Swiss team Holcim can claim that skipper Kevin Escoffier won the last edition of the Ocean Race.”

The first leg of the race begins in Alicante, Spain to Cabo Verde, and begins on January 15.

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Viewers can enjoy streaming coverage of every leg live and on-demand on discovery+ and via the Eurosport app.