Boris Herrmann sailed into the top five at the Vendée Globe. A collision with a trawler negates his chances of winning. Still, Herrmann is a winner – and a win for German sailing. He leaves open whether he will start again.
With a thick red and white wool sweater, a team vest and baseball cap, Boris Herrmann reported in a good mood about his adventure Vendée Globe at the online press conference in fluent French. The missed podium place in the circumnavigation because of the collision with a fishing trawler the night before didn’t seem to bother him on Thursday. After all, the hamburger was still in the top five in Les Sables-d’Olonne.
Only when asked what the biggest problem had been in the 80 days on the oceans did he become serious. “The loneliness was by far the most difficult thing,” said the 39-year-old. “I’m not made for being alone. I’m not a loner. I like to have people around me.” It was “a human experience, but not always an easy one”.
Boris Herrmann at the finish line after 28,000 nautical miles
A few hours earlier Herrmann had left his badly damaged yacht “Seaexplorer – Yacht Club de Monaco” in the port of the French coastal town. Finally he was able to embrace his wife Birte Lorenzen-Herrmann, his seven-month-old daughter Malou and family dog Lilli, relieved and exhausted.
At this point at the latest, the native of Oldenburg had forgotten the hardships and the shock of the collision shortly before the goal after more than 28,000 nautical miles. “You have to wait 80 days for the finish and for all these beautiful emotions to occur,” said Herrmann. “It’s not a pleasure trip, it’s a strange relationship between time and reward.”
In the morning he crossed the finish line in fifth place, was celebrating with two Bengalos in his hands and was greeted by friends and team members on dinghies. “It was a wonderful feeling out there on the water when the boats got closer and closer and I recognized one face after the other,” he reported.
Due to a time credit of six hours, Herrmann came fourth in the provisional classification of the toughest regatta in the world. However, he had to wait until the evening whether Jean Le Cam (“Yes We Cam”) would oust him thanks to his time credit of 16:15 hours.
But that didn’t matter to him on land. Not even that hopes of victory were shattered by the disastrous encounter with the Spanish ship “Hermanos Busto” about 90 nautical miles from the destination.
“Really happy with the result”
“I’m really happy with the result, also considering the circumstances. It was an incredible experience, a team effort, a great journey over many years that came to an end today,” said Herrmann. “The little hiccups from Wednesday are almost forgotten,” he said.
The race definitely changed him, said Herrmann. “I don’t know how yet, but it taught me a lot about trust, trust in the people and the boat, trust in time – that good things come with time.”
“Congratulations my great friend, Boris Herrmann, on finishing the toughest race in the world in the top 5! Solo non-stop around the world. We couldn’t be more proud of you! Welcome home!”, Said the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter . “A true hero.” The committed environmentalist sailed 18-year-old Thunberg on a yacht across the Atlantic to New York in late summer 2019.
As the first German sailor, Herrmann had dared the Vendée Globe adventure on November 8th and immediately caused a sensation – until Wednesday evening. “That was the worst nightmare,” he said a few hours after the accident. Fortunately, he and the crew of the other ship were unharmed.
French Bestaven is declared the winner
But instead of creating something historical and being the first to break into the French victory phalanx in the ninth edition of the race, he had to continue his voyage at reduced speed because of the considerable damage to his yacht. Whether he wanted to take part in the race again to achieve an even better result, he left open on Thursday: “It’s still too early. It’s an ambitious company to aim for the podium.”
When Herrmann was still on the water, the Frenchman Yannick Bestaven was declared the winner. The 48-year-old skipper of the “Maître Coq IV” reached the destination as the third sailor in the night 7:43 hours after his compatriot Charlie Dalin (“Apivia”). But a time credit of 10:15 hours on his total sailing time helped him to succeed. So far only the French have won. Dalin had crossed the finish line on Wednesday evening. Louis Burton (“Bureau Vallee 2”) came in second.
Herrmann, Bestaven and Le Cam received the credits from the race committee for their involvement in the rescue mission for the shipwrecked Kevin Escoffier on the night of November 30th to December 1st.
Despite the missed victory, Herrmann has risen to become the new German sailing star. He made his journey a media event. With his talent for communication, he knew how to take viewers on board via social channels, to let them get close to him, to excite and inspire them.
At the same time, Herrmann promoted his fight against climate change and the health of the seas in the Hatz über das Wasser. He never let the stream of gripping pictures, videos and interviews from on board break even in dark hours – like when the mainsail tore in a storm off Cape Horn. Only from his drama in the Bay of Biscay with the fishing trawler there were no more pictures.
