The Kiel Yacht Club has made professional sailor Boris Herrmann an honorary member. Chairman Carsten Krage symbolically presented the professional sailor with the club's stander and the golden badge of honour at Kieler Woche. He had already joined the KYC 20 years ago. Herrmann is only the 15th honorary member of the club, which was founded in 1886, since the Second World War.
Lighthouse for the sport of sailing
"Sailing needs lighthouses, not only on the water, but also on land," said Krage in his justification for the rare honour. "Because only with the achievements and successes of the best can we arouse more interest in our sport and, above all, get more young people interested in sailing and offshore sailing," Krage continued.
Herrmann has already been honoured once by the Kiel Yacht Club for outstanding achievements. In 2001, the sailor was honoured with the Schlimbach Prize for his participation in the Mini-Transat, the youngest prizewinner in its history.
Infectious enthusiasm
In addition to the sailing performance for the club, an important aspect of the renewed award was the reporting from on board, with which Herrmann had managed to inspire the nation for sailing during his participation in the single-handed non-stop race around the Vendée Globe: "With your reports from on board, you have always made it possible for us to share in your experiences and your decisions. And everyone was very enthusiastic, checking in at breakfast and dinner to see how things had gone. Even many people who aren't sailors at all were inspired," said Krage.
"In the middle of winter, we suddenly had sailing on every channel," continued the KYC chairman. In the "Tagesschau" and in the "Aktuelles Sportstudio", with special programmes on many channels and in many newspapers and media - unusual for the sport of sailing - the 40-year-old's circumnavigation of the world was reported on continuously and extensively. "Ocean sailing, which is otherwise difficult to communicate in Germany, suddenly took on a particularly likeable face and everyone was enthusiastic about it. And I believe that you have done something particularly good and lasting for sailing in Germany over and above your individual achievement."
Commitment to climate protection
Herrmann's commitment to climate protection was also mentioned. He had taken measurements for scientific research in remote areas while travelling.
"Thank you very much. I feel very, very honoured," thanked Herrmann, recalling that the jury for the Schlimbach Prize had criticised his logbook at the time. "And that's why I thought I'd keep a video logbook for this Vendée Globe, so that there's really no doubt that I sailed that way!"
Lasse Johannsen
Deputy Editor in Chief YACHT
