Two brand new IMOCAs representing radically different design philosophies are preparing to face off at The Ocean Race Atlantic this September, marking a fascinating chapter in IMOCA design innovation. Boris Herrmann’s Malizia 4 from Germany and Kojiro Shiraishi’s DMG MORI Global One from Japan were both launched in Lorient, France in recent weeks and are now in the early stages of commissioning by their respective teams.
DMG MORI Global One was the first to hit the water in early June. Conceived by the legendary Guillaume Verdier, famous not only for his success in the IMOCA world but also for his contribution to the creation of the America’s Cup class AC75 foiling monohull, the boat features design elements that appear to draw from the AC75 underwater profile. Most notably, a pronounced bustle runs the length of its centreline, a feature never before seen on an IMOCA.
Verdier explained how this departure speaks volumes about just how different the boat is from the established IMOCA norm. “Most IMOCA designs are U-shaped,” he said. “This is so that when they heel over the hull’s wetted surface is reduced. We decided to go to the other side of the line and create a boat that is designed to mostly stay upright.” He described the new underwater hull shape as being akin to the central hull on a foiling multihull, expecting the normal angle of heel to be around eight or nine degrees.
“We will displace the full volume of the boat on this bustle,” Verdier said. “That’s a wetted area equivalent to 70 to 75 per cent, a saving of around 20 square metres.” The knock-on effect of the low angle of heel and the boat riding on the central bustle is a more comfortable ride for the crew as it skims over the waves. DMG MORI Sailing Team manager Jacques Caraës described the boat as “a new page in IMOCA design-thinking,” adding that they expect it to be very stable and hoping it will fly a little earlier too.
Also in Lorient, Team Malizia celebrated the launch of the Antoine Koch/Finot-Conq-designed Malizia 4. If the DMG MORI boat represents revolution, then the German entry is very much about evolution. Herrmann’s new IMOCA is the second of three boats built as part of a unique three-way collaboration between the German skipper and France’s Thomas Ruyant of TR Racing and Loïs Berrehar of Banque Populaire. Ruyant’s boat launched in Lorient on June 19, with Berrehar’s yacht scheduled to be ready in early 2027. All three boats share identical hull shapes but will differ internally to suit each skipper’s ergonomic requirements.
Herrmann described himself as being as happy as a child given a new toy, but was quick to point out that the launch came at the end of two years of intense work by everyone in the team. Asked about the differences between his Koch boat and Shiraishi’s Verdier design, Herrmann said the differences were vast. “The design philosophies are very different,” he said. “Their boat is large, wide, powerful, while our one is pointy and narrow. They are completely different: the Verdier boat has a bustle. If you put them next to each other, you would think they were two different classes.”
Herrmann chose to work with Koch for his third IMOCA after seeing the impressive open-ocean performances of Ruyant and fellow French skipper Yoann Richomme in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe. Of particular interest was how the Koch designs coped so well with the big waves of the Southern Ocean thanks to their chined bow sections. Malizia 4 sports a pronounced double chine bow to help in fast running downwind conditions. However, according to Team Malizia co-skipper Will Harris, the new boat has been designed as more of an all-rounder than the previous iteration.
“What we have got is the next generation of IMOCA design,” Harris said. “We are trying to keep that downwind speed and power with those big chines on the bow to help us get through the waves, but then also we’ve got more power in the boat, which is going to help us upwind in the medium and the light conditions.”
At the time of writing, Malizia 4 had sailed twice. The first outing was a seven-knot shakedown sail used to check the new sail inventory, but the second sail a couple of days later saw the boat up and fully foiling on a flat sea in 12 knots of wind. Herrmann said he could not be happier with how the first week had gone. “Everything is working, so congratulations to the team and to the architect,” he said. “We managed stable flight and the boat feels really nice on the helm. The steering feels super nice and we can control the boat longitudinally more than the last one. It’s nicely balanced and everything feels good. We knew after five minutes of flight that this is something spectacular, the boat is amazing.”
Both teams are now tightly focused on getting their boats ready for transatlantic crossings from Lorient to New York ahead of the start of the first-ever edition of The Ocean Race Atlantic on September 1. “You totally shouldn’t underestimate what we’ve got to do to achieve that,” Harris said. “Launching one of these new boats is really hard. To make sure every system is working reliably enough to go and send it across the Atlantic, where you’ve got no technical assistance less than a week away, that’s a big thing we’ve got to be ready for.”
In related news, French skipper Paul Meilhat and Portuguese co-skipper Mariana Lobato have launched the IMOCA boat they will race in The Ocean Race Atlantic in 2026 and The Ocean Race around the world in 2027, also from Lorient, France, as part of their new United by the Ocean campaign.
