The Ocean Race: Boris Herrmann returns to skipper Team Malizia for Leg 3 after recovering from burn

Published 21/02/2023 at 08:04 GMT

Boris Herrmann will skipper Team Malizia for Leg 3 of The Ocean Race after receiving treatment for a burn he suffered in the opening leg. The German was forced to miss Leg 2 after suffering the injury and requiring treatment, and described the incident as a case of "me being stupid". Herrmann returns in time for a historic Leg 3, the longest leg in the race's history, from South Africa to Brazil.

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Team Malizia skipper Boris Herrmann has recovered from a burn that ruled him out of the last leg of The Ocean Race and will lead his crew for an epic Leg 3 starting this weekend.

Herrmann was forced to sit out Leg 2 after pouring boiling water over himself during the opening leg of the 2022/23 event.

But he said that he has received treatment and is ready to go again ahead of the longest leg in the history of The Ocean Race, a 12,750 nautical mile stretch from Cape Town to Itajai in Brazil.

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“I went to a burns specialist who had a very special treatment approach that is different from what most people would experience in Germany or anywhere in Europe. It’s a more advanced and modern treatment that has worked well for me,” Herrmann said.

Explaining the injury, he said: “It was me being stupid. We are making some modifications which will be ready before the start of this leg so as to make it [the cooking equipment] as safe as it can be.

“We just put our freeze dried food under the valve and open the valve, which means we don't need to move the pot with the hot water.”

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Leg 3, which sets off from Cape Town on Sunday 26 February, will be a historic occasion.

Double points are up for grabs on the testing leg, with points split between the finishing positions and the order at which the teams pass the longitude of 143 degrees east.

“I’m looking forward to the leg because I really feel that we could perform very well,” Herrmann said.

“It’s not very often that you have a program in place, where the conditions seem to be aligning well for our strengths. Of course, you can never be certain of the wind, if some high pressure system comes in as we sail out of Cape Town.

“But we’re expecting strong winds as we get into the leg and I think we are well prepared for that. Going around Cape Horn will be one of the great moments of the race.

"It’s such a cool landmark that I hope we can see it when we go past and be in a good place [in the race] at the same time.”