Boris Herrmann awarded the German Offshore Award 2025 in Hamburg City Hall
by Team Malizia 8 Mar 10:07 NZDT
6 March 2025
Boris Herrmann and the Malizia - Seaexplorer awarded with the prize for the Best German Offshore Yacht 2025 © Hinrich Franck
The IMOCA "Malizia - Seaexplorer" and skipper Boris Herrmann received the award for Best German Offshore Yacht 2025 at the eighteenth German Offshore Award on the evening of 6 March 2025. The ceremony took place at Hamburg City Hall and honoured the sensational 2nd place in the New-York Vendée Race 2024.
The German Offshore Award 2025 was celebrated in the Great Hall of Hamburg City Hall on the evening of Thursday, 6th of March 2025. This year's award for Best German Offshore Yacht went to the IMOCA "Malizia - Seaexplorer" and skipper Boris Herrmann. This recognition is presented annually to the best yacht sailing in international regattas under the German flag by a jury of representatives from the major Hamburg sailing clubs, chaired by the Hamburg Sailing Association.
The winning yacht is determined using a formula that considers multiple factors, including the regatta's difficulty, the number of competing yachts, prevailing weather and wind conditions, and the final overall ranking.
This year's runner-up was the TP52 Red Bandit, which had claimed victory in the most recent edition of the Rolex Middle Sea Race. In an incredibly close contest, it finished just behind Malizia - Seaexplorer, missing out on the top spot by less than half a point in the German Offshore Award jury's ranking.
The eighteenth edition of this award honoured Boris Herrmann's outstanding performance in the New York-Vendée race aboard Malizia - Seaexplorer, celebrating it as a prime example of how seamlessly a yacht can sail when man and vessel operate as a perfect unit. In his speech, State Councilor Christoph Holstein highlighted the achievement, stating, "The New York-Vendée race was a breakneck sprint over more than 3,000 nautical miles, where the yacht was able to fully showcase its performance."
While competing at the highest level in some of the world's toughest Ocean races, Herrmann and Team Malizia also gather crucial Ocean data through a laboratory installed onboard the Malizia - Seaexplorer racing yacht.This data provides valuable insights into Ocean climate change and is analysed by scientific partners at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology before being submitted to the worldwide databases. The findings have contributed to significant scientific reports, including the IPCC report and, most recently in 2024, the Global Carbon Budget.
For years, Herrmann and Team Malizia have championed the "A Race We Must Win" campaign, driving ambitious climate action through education, awareness and the promotion of tangible solutions to the climate crisis.
In his acceptance speech, Herrmann therefore shifted the focus from the physical race across the Ocean to the urgent race for climate action - to protect our Oceans and the planet. He acknowledged the political and socio-economic shifts of recent years, months and even weeks, but reaffirmed Team Malizia's unwavering commitment to Ocean protection and conservation. Underlining the importance of this mission, he shared a memorable encounter just days before the start of the New York-Vendée, when world-renowned Ocean advocate and marine scientist Dr. Sylvia Earle asked him, "Boris, do you actually know what world lies beneath your boat?" Reflecting on the impact of her words, he told the audience, "That question, and the emotion with which Sylvia asked it, will stay with me forever and, above all, motivate me to do more for our blue planet and our global climate."
Looking ahead to the upcoming races this year, including The Ocean Race Europe set to take place in late summer, Herrmann emphasised the race's main theme, "Connecting Europe," a slogan that can also be interpreted through a political lens.
Another key topic in Herrmann's acceptance speech was the integration of more young German sailors into the international sailing world, noting that only a few German talents dare to step onto the global stage. As Herrmann explained, he regularly receives applications from young sailors - but rarely from German applicants. Efforts to integrate German water sports athletes into offshore racing teams, such as the upcoming Ocean Race Europe 2025, have also been unsuccessful so far. "So far, it hasn't borne fruit," Herrmann admitted. "We need to keep working on promoting young talent and raising awareness of these opportunities."
Other stars of the night included the nominees for this prestigious award Carl-Peter Forster with his TP52 Red Bandit (Bavarian Yacht-Club), the Elliott 52 Rafale and the Neo 430 Neomind (both sailing for the Seglerhaus am Wannsee), as well as Lucky Five, skippered by Leif Petersen from the Neustädter Sailing Club. The ceremony also presented the Lifetime Award to Carl Friedrich Schott, a longstanding advocate for international collaboration between yachting clubs and an active race officer for many decades. This year's Wehring & Wolfes Youth Award went to Melwin Fink and Lennart Burke, who have been sailing successful races with their Class 40 Next Generation.
Team Malizia's A Race We Must Win - Climate Action Now! mission is only possible due to the strong and long-lasting commitment from its seven main partners: the Yacht Club de Monaco, EFG International, Zurich Group Germany, and Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd and Schütz. These partners band behind Team Malizia to support its campaign, each of them working towards projects in their own field to innovate around climate solutions.