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

The Ocean Race‘A very happy team!’ – 11th Hour Racing collect last podium place after brutal Leg 311/04/2023 AT 09:15 “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