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D-2 to the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023 – Ready to race across the Atlantic

Hamburg based German Boris Herrmann and Will Harris are about to embark on ICONIC Malizia (Y.C.M.) – Seaexplorer and race in the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre 2023.

The Team Malizia duo is competing for the second time in the challenging transatlantic race, which will see them confront the new boats of the IMOCA fleet for the first time.

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.

“I am very much looking forward to doing this race again with Will”, comments skipper Boris Herrmann.
“This time, it will be on our new boat Malizia – Seaexplorer and a different route, not to Salvador in Brazil but to Martinique. For the first time, we will confront some of the new boats in the class that I will compete against in the Vendée Globe next year.
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.”


A record 95 boats across 4 classes (Ultim, Ocean Fifty, IMOCA, Class 40) were prepared to set sail on Sunday 29 October 2023 in the longest and most difficult double-handed offshore sailing race.

BUT Today’s planned start of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandie Le Havre has changed. The race organisers announced this Sunday morning that the IMOCA race, which was supposed to start at 13:29 today, will remain in Le Havre and that the start is postponed to a future date which is still unknown and will depend on this week's forecast.

A rapidly worsening weather forecast, in particular for the period Monday into Tuesday with predicted winds of 80 knots and 10 meter seas, will hit the west coast of France and Portugal 24 hours earlier than expected and will lead to extremely difficult weather conditions at Cape Finisterre.

For this 16th edition, the different boat classes will depart at staggered timings and race along different courses, which should allow relatively grouped arrivals in Martinique.

The 40 IMOCA race yachts will start at 13:29 local time and compete over 5,400 nautical miles. The race is expected to last between 16 and 18 days, during which the sailors will have to navigate key passages like the English Channel, the Bay of Biscay, and cross the doldrums twice.

After the start line in front of Le Havre and a coastal course to Étretat, the boats will try to get out of the often tricky conditions in the English Channel as quickly as possible. Strong currents and intense marine traffic are characteristic of the area and the challenging weather conditions forecasted will keep the sailor’s on their toes.

As they approach the finish line, Yacht Club Monaco' s Malizia sailing crew and their competitors will pass between the iconic Rocher du Diamant and the island’s coast and end the race in the bay of Fort-de-France.

Fotos: Malizia / Y.C.M., all rights reserved