‘It’s a dream come true’ – Will Harris relishing prospect of captaincy of Team Malizia in Leg 4 of The Ocean Race

Will Harris is counting down the days to when he takes charge of Team Malizia for Leg 4 of The Ocean Race.

As part of a scheduled change, Harris will take on the role from Boris Herrmann when the race gets back under way in Itajai.

It has been five years in the making for Harris, who worked as shore support in the 2017/18 edition.

“I was very lucky in the last race to be part of Race Control,” Harris said. “I saw it as a good stepping stone to getting an opportunity to have a ride in the race.

“I gained so much experience from being in this control centre monitoring seven boats as they raced around the world. Although I wasn’t sailing in the race I think I learned a lot about how best to approach The Ocean Race.”

In the intervening five years, Harris has been honing his skills as a sailor and is ready to take the next step in charge of Team Malizia.

“The last five years have been about developing my own sailing career,” Harris said. “I’m very determined to get to where I want to be. I knew I wanted a spot in The Ocean Race and I’ve worked hard to do everything I can to be here. I knew I had to take on as much offshore sailing as possible, to get into as many races as possible.

“I was fortunate to meet Boris and Team Malizia in 2019 and we just jelled. We definitely get on well and Boris has a lot of trust in me… There were a hundred sailors with more experience who he could have chosen over me when we first met. I was just 26 at the time and I’d never even sailed across the Atlantic before… But he chose me to race double handed with him in his IMOCA.

“Now we’re at the point where we trust each other and I think he sees that I’m very hungry and determined to get ahead and I’ll work very hard for it. I think that’s important. You need to work hard and say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes your way. You never know what doors will open.”

Herrmann is excited to see Harris take the reins when the race gets back underway next weekend.

“It’s a fantastic feeling to see the team go and perform without me on board,” Herrmann said. “I wasn’t on for Leg 2 and they came very close to winning that leg. In the morning when I drove down to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, I still thought they might win. It was very close… Seeing them perform and enjoy the race without me is a tremendous satisfaction.”

Leg 4 sees the crews race from Itajai to Newport, and Malizia will be full of confidence after winning Leg 3.

“I’ve been fortunate that Boris and Team Malizia have put their trust in me,” Harris said. “I’m sitting here as co-skipper on the winning boat on the toughest leg in the history of The Ocean Race and I’m looking forward to being skipper on the next leg up to Newport. It’s a dream come true.”

Team Holcim-PRB lead the overall standings from Malizia and 11th Hour Racing.

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