Wind, waves, science: Boris Herrmann is not only a gifted offshore sailor, he can also tell brilliant stories about his passion. He is also a climate teacher – with his wife Birte he designed an educational project for schoolchildren.
If there is a sailing gene, Herrmann has definitely inherited it. Or the North Sea air infected him with passion as an infant on his parents’ yacht. After the beginnings in the Wadden Sea, the Hamburg native, who was born in Oldenburg, perfected his sailing skills on the seven seas. Today he lives an exemplary career as an ocean sailor, which he could only dream of as a student of economics with a focus on sustainability.
A sailing star not only for enthusiasts
Herrmann had his key experience a good two decades ago on the Kiel Fjord in the midst of a hustle and bustle of countless hobby sailors. That’s what I want, too, he said to himself at the time when the “Illbruck”, the first and only German yacht to date, came into the Baltic Sea port as the winner of the legendary “Ocean Race”. In the meantime, not only sailing enthusiasts are cheering for Lower Saxony, who was born on May 28, 1981.
When Herrmann was the first German ever to take part in the famous non-stop regatta Vendée Globe in 2020/21 – and reached the goal, he inspired the nation with his video messages from on board the “Malizia – Seaexplorer” and left in times of corona isolation and loneliness, many people at home can share in the vastness and adventure.
Ocean and climate – an educational project for schools
“Of course I’m happy that we managed to tell a story that is more than just competition and sport,” says Herrmann of the NDR Sportclub. Wind, waves, science – this triad also includes his commitment to climate and environmental protection, which he shares with his wife Birte, who teaches art and mathematics.
Together they set up the “My Ocean Challenge” project, an educational program designed for schools that is to be further developed as a children’s book. “We hope to inspire kids to be curious, to do crazy things in their own lives,” says Herrmann. “But that they also learn how the ocean and the climate are related.”
Sailing around the world – “kinda crazy”
Crazy things? “Yeah, I think it’s kinda crazy to think how long I’ve been sailing around the world by myself.” Mental strength is important: “Persevering without getting nervous, scared and stressing others.” In June 2020, Herrmann’s daughter Marie-Louise, called Malou for short, was born. One more reason for the adventurer to look forward to calling at the home port of Hamburg after many weeks close to the wind.
Wife Birte: “He’s incredibly brave, but reasonable”
The small family – including the dog Lilly – copes quite well with the long separations. This is mainly due to the fact that Birte Lorenzen-Herrmann doesn’t sit at home all the time and worry. “I think he’s incredibly brave, but still reasonable,” she says of her husband. She experienced on board how he moves intuitively. “And I know he doesn’t want the boat to break down, he doesn’t want to break down. So I sleep well.”
Climate change and the role of the oceans
She sometimes takes her students on board for practical lessons. “We noticed how much curiosity and enthusiasm can be triggered in the children: about geography, winds, the climate system, ecology and the animals in the sea,” Boris tells the sports club and Birte adds: “We also have data that we measure on board, and of course we address that: What is climate change and what role does the ocean play in it?”
Herrmann also sails in the service of science
The skipper delivers coveted, because rare, data packets to science while on the move. “It’s a race against time, we have to find solutions to slow down climate change,” he says. His racing yacht could also pass as a research ship, with an on-board laboratory weighing 25 kilograms. The data, for example on the CO2 pollution of the oceans, is transmitted to the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel and evaluated there.
Climate data of inestimable value for the GEOMAR in Kiel
Findings of inestimable value can be gained from the edge of the Southern Ocean, for example. Without the sailing climate protector, the scientists would have to do without sending their own research ship there, which would be far too expensive. The region is super important for the climate, according to GEOMAR oceanographer Toste Tanhua, “because the water is cold here, big storms churn the sea and have a tremendous impact on the climate”.
Sailing expedition through the Bering Strait
Incidentally, Herrmann was already “at the top” on the map. As part of an expedition, he sailed on a Chinese trimaran on the legendary Northeast Passage, from Murmansk in Russia through the Arctic Ocean to the Bering Strait, the strait between the Asian and American continents. The video log of September 15, 2015 reads: “Behind me is Russia, over there, in sight, is America. We are the first sailing team to sail through the Northeast Passage without engine assistance drove.”
The big goal: off-shore sailing
Boris Herrmann, modern adventurer, top sailor, ambassador of the seas. Reason enough to dedicate an open art exhibition with 50 photos to him in Hamburg’s Hafencity, where the family lives. Who would have thought that when he became German champion in the dinghy class 505 in 2007?
Even then it was clear to him: it should be off-shore sailing. A promise to himself that he redeemed by starting the “Portimao Global Ocean Race” on October 12, 2008. Together with his friend Felix Oehme he won the regatta around the world after stops in Cape Town, Wellington, Ilhabela in Brazil and Charleston in the USA. Herrmann: “This win was really important for my future advancement.”
Boris Herrmann on board the “Malizia”.
The 2011 trip with the American Ryan Breymaier through all climate zones proved to be good training for everything that was to come. For the first time non-stop around the world, with a ship that needed a lot of attention: flexing, sanding, laminating. There was a flood, the power supply went on strike at times, a headsail went overboard. Lots of material for good stories.
“Alone between sky and sea” – a bestseller
Make what you have experienced come alive. Herrmann can do that like no other – without sailor’s yarn and stories about the Klabautermann. “Alone between sky and sea” is the name of his bestseller, in which he describes “My 80 days at the toughest sailing race in the world”. The Vendée Globe, which started in November 2020 – and made a media star out of the first German to sail alone around the world in this regatta.
Radio message from the “sailing space capsule”
It feels like he’s constantly on the air in the “sailing space capsule”, reporting to “people on earth” about his sometimes adventurous everyday life and doesn’t hide his weak knees when, despite his fear of heights, he had to climb the 29-meter-high mast. Things got dramatic when Kevin Escoffier’s racing yacht broke up and sank in stormy seas. 800 nautical miles from Cape Town, the Frenchman made it into a life raft with his last strength – and survived because many like Herrmann helped. “Tough hours, but it went well,” says the Hamburg native.
In 80 days around the world
Almost on the home stretch of the Vendée Globe, Herrmann could still hope to be the first non-Frenchman to win the toughest regatta in the world. However, with almost 90 miles to go he collided with a Spanish fishing trawler and ended up fifth. Off the dream! In the arms of his wife and little daughter, however, the anger and hardships of 80 days and 21 hours fell away from him. Let’s start again, it was quickly said – and the family project Vendée Globe 2024 was already booked.
Yacht baptism with obstacles
“In memory, the proportions of suffering and beautiful things shift,” says Herrmann. Especially since the current project certainly reminds him of old times and dreams. The “Ocean Race” with the high-tech yacht “Malizia – Seaexplorer”, which costs around six million euros and was christened in Hamburg’s HafenCity in September 2022. On the second attempt only after the champagne bottle had not shattered on the first attempt. A bad omen?
Mishap while making coffee stops the skipper
In fact, the prophecies of doom on the maiden voyage seemed to come true. The enormous wings, called foils, which lift the ship out of the water, showed hairline cracks. Luckily, a replacement could be procured from a yacht still under construction, costing 600,000 euros.
“There are two things that must not break: the foils and the mast,” said Herrmann – and forgot the skipper in his list. He himself had to take a longer break from sailing after the first leg of the “Ocean Race” after scalding his foot while making coffee during the toughest team regatta in the world. Something like that can also happen to an expert on a wild ride across the oceans.
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sports club | 05.02.2023 | 10:50 p.m
