Team Malizia – Seaexplorer

 

French sailor Nicolas Lunven joins Boris Herrmann, Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper and Antoine Auriol for The Ocean Race 2022-23. They will compete with the brand new IMOCA race yacht Malizia-Seaexplorer.

Lorient, 20 July 2022 – Team Malizia presents a new team member and thus has four crew for The Ocean Race 2022-23: Co-skipper Nicolas Lunven joins skipper Boris Herrmann and co-skippers Will Harris and Rosalin Kuiper as well as Onboard Reporter Antoine Auriol. They will compete with Malizia-Seaexplorer, their brand new IMOCA race yacht that was launched yesterday on 19 July 2022.

The team members – ranging in age from 27 to 41 – include sailors with experience in The Ocean Race as well as younger talents, eager to make a mark in the most iconic crew race. Team Founder and Skipper Boris Herrmann: “I am very excited to be part of a crew that is such a promising mix of people from different countries and with different experiences. Nico is an incredibly talented sailor and I am looking forward to combining our forces as a team”. Team Director Holly Cova adds: “It is exciting to grow the team and with Nico we add a great French sailor who has already proved himself in crewed and solo IMOCA races, particularly recently in the Guyader Bermudes 1000 race.“

 

Nicolas Lunven, 39, learned sailing as soon as he could walk. The son of a family of sailors from Vannes, France, spent most of his free time on the family boat in the Gulf de Quiberon. He was still studying management and administration when he already excelled in a series of races both in France and internationally: for instance, a start to finish lead at the Solitaire du Figaro 2009 at age 26 – a race he won again in 2017. In the same year he won the Solo Maître Coq for the third and the Tour de Bretagne for the second time and became French Offshore Racing Champion. Nicolas has not only raced in the Transat Jacques Vabre three times, he has also competed in the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15 and 2017-18 – and is now ready to be part of the iconic race for the third time. Nicolas lives with his wife and their three children in the northwest of Brittany where he enjoys the proximity to the sea.

Nicolas Lunven commented: “Boris I met quite a few years ago. We crossed paths and always exchanged in a very nice way. He is a very approachable person. I cannot wait, I am excited that we will participate in The Ocean Race all together. I am a navigator on the water but I have been involved in the development and optimisation of the boat over the last months too. It is going to be one hell of an adventure!”

 

With the addition of Nicolas Lunven to the existing team members – Boris Herrmann, Will Harris, Rosalin Kuiper and Onboard Reporter Antoine Auriol – Team Malizia’s crew for The Ocean Race 2022-23 is nearly complete.

Team Malizia was founded by Pierre Casiraghi, 34, Monégasque, and Boris Herrmann, 41, German, in 2016. It has since collected a number of achievements; its skipper Boris Herrmann having been the first German sailor to compete in the Vendée Globe. In addition, Team Malizia uses the excitement of sports to create awareness for ocean protection and to highlight solutions for the climate crisis. It also contributes to scientific research with its ocean laboratory “Ocean Pack“ that collects valuable CO2 data. Its education program My Ocean Challenge is used in classrooms all over the world to teach children about the beauty of the oceans and the dangers they face through climate change.

Team Malizia currently has 33 members of 11 nationalities, The team Director is Holly Cova (UK) and the Team Manager is Louis Viat (FR). It is joined in its effort to be one of the most exciting sailing teams and a champion for sustainability and climate action by seven main partners: The Yacht Club de Monaco, EFG International, Zurich Group Germany, Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd and Schütz.