Two years after starting the Vendée Globe, circumnavigator Boris Herrmann is back on the water alone. The twelfth edition of the transatlantic classic Route du Rhum will be for the Hamburger the first solo endurance test with his new ship.
It’s raining cats and dogs in the Breton port of Saint-Malo. The unusually warm past few weeks have resulted in low pressure areas with strong storms. It’s going to be damn uncomfortable for Boris Herrmann and the other solo sailors who start the transatlantic adventure Route du Rhum on Sunday (1.02 p.m., from 11.40 a.m. to 1.40 p.m. in the English-language live stream on NDR.de). A classic for more than 40 years – and already notorious for its rough conditions.
Storms and rough seas: “The most extreme for the nerves”
“The first week will be very tough. We probably have three active cold fronts that we have to cross before we reach the more pleasant areas in the south,” predicts Herrmann and, as an experienced seaman, knows exactly what to expect. Winds up to 55 knots, up to ten meters of rough sea: “That’s the most extreme thing you can imagine for your nerves, for the ship, for the material. It’s really going to be a baptism of fire.”
However, the 41-year-old does not find the extreme conditions entirely inconvenient. His second participation in the Route du Rhum is the stress test with the new “Malizia – Seaexplorer”. The deliberately robust high-tech boat was only launched in mid-July. Barely four months later, a real test follows.
“We will have all the sailing conditions in this race. It is meteorologically very demanding and interesting, the whole team will learn an awful lot,” says Herrmann, who, two years after his sensational participation in the Vendée Globe, is again working solo for the first time. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great ship and can fly close to the wind,” enthuses the Hamburg native, who helped design the 18-meter-long racing yacht himself.
Basic trust in the ship “still suspicious”
But not everything is going smoothly yet. Are there any technical difficulties, as only the most recent training runs showed again. That’s another reason why Herrmann is cautious: “I like my ship, but I’m still suspicious when it comes to basic trust because we’ve had too many problems in the past few weeks,” admits the four-time circumnavigator.
It just takes time for people and material to harmonize. And so for the Malizia team, the 3,540 nautical miles (6,562 kilometers) long jump across the pond to Pointe-à-Pitre on Guadeloupe is not about a top position, but about “the further development of the boat and the arrival,” explains Herrmann , who finished fifth with his predecessor at his Route du Rhum premiere four years ago.
“At the last Route du Rhum I had already sailed two full seasons, including two transatlantics, and was at 90 percent on the learning curve with the ship. Now I’m at 40 percent and just beginning,” he explains.
“Who knows, maybe I’ll get through the first storms well. Then I can really attack and jet to Guadeloupe. But I don’t want to get my hopes up too high. It’s a long way before a machine like this can be in race mode.”
— Boris Herrmann
Across the pond in less than 14 days
138 soloists from 15 nations are required for the one-handed classic, including seven skippers, who start in six classes and all at the same time – more than ever before. Climate ambassador Herrmann, who will again collect data for marine research along the way, is one of the 37 IMOCA skippers and wants to make the long journey to the Caribbean in less than 14 days.
If he finishes, he will already qualify for his second Vendée Globe participation in 2024/2025 – then with a well-engineered boat. At his premiere, only a collision with a fishing trawler just before the finish prevented him from even better than fifth place.
Around the world again at the Ocean Race
On the way there, after the Route du Rhum, on which pirates once brought rum from the Caribbean to Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, the next challenge is already on January 15, 2023: the native of Oldenburg will be sailing in the Ocean Race for the first time . The most important team race around the world with a flying visit to the Kiel Fjord leads around the world in seven stages. “In the Ocean Race, we should then also be in a position to approach the race in a competition-oriented manner. We’re all looking forward to that,” Herrmann looks ahead to the “freestyle”.
But first comes duty. The task is to maneuver the ship unscathed across the starting line, which is only 0.9 nautical miles long, at the Saint-Malo spectacle on Sunday with around a million fans in the crowd of the other 137 boats. Defying wind and weather in the North Atlantic – and then letting the trade winds carry you to your destination in the warm south.
A bottle of rum for the soul and memories
In order for this to succeed, in addition to a great deal of technology and sailing know-how, Herrmann traditionally has a bottle of the drink with him that gives the Route du Rhum its name – and the tormented sailor Kraft. Herrmann: “If I’ve fought my way through this hell for a week, with the tropical mood on board emerging, the sore muscles, the pain and the sleep deprivation are slowly disappearing, then maybe I can smell this bottle of rum and remember that it was too there is life outside of this mere struggle for survival.”
This topic in the program:
sports club | 06.11.2022 | 10:50 p.m
