Sailors more successful than ever at the Hamburg Sports Gala: Sailing stronghold Hamburg: Boris Herrmann and Heil/Plößel honoured

The 16th Hamburg Sports Gala on Monday evening at the Chamber of Commerce was all about water sports. For the first time, sailors were honoured in two main categories. World circumnavigator Boris Herrmann won the vote for Hamburg's Sportsman of the Year, following in the footsteps of last year's Laser World Champion Philipp Buhl. The Olympic sailors Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel from the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein are Hamburg's sports team of the year and put another exclamation mark behind Hamburg as a sailing stronghold. Sportswoman of the Year was para-canoeist Edina Müller, who won gold in Tokyo with a new record over the 200 metre distance. It was her second gold medal after winning for the wheelchair basketball team in London in 2012. Olympic 49er FX silver medallist Susann Beucke was also among the nominees among the female athletes.

Boris Herrmann, who captivated an audience of millions with his Vendée Globe participation in 2020/2021, was unable to attend the sports gala in person. The 40-year-old ocean racing pro is training in France for a few days with a group of sailing friends and is taking care of his new boat for The Ocean Race 2023 and the second Vendée Globe participation in 2024/2025. The Imoca yacht is due to be launched for the first time on 19 July. Herrmann intends to put his new build through its first transatlantic endurance test on 6 November during the Route du Rhum. The four-time circumnavigator was visibly delighted with the honour in Hamburg, even from afar: "This is great! I've been at home in Hamburg since 2013 and feel like a Hamburg native. That's why this award means a lot to me. 2021 was a great sailing year, in which I was also very happy to cheer on the Olympic sailors." The laudatory speech for Herrmann was held by Prof Dr Mojib Latif. The President of the Academy of Science in Hamburg not only honoured Herrmann's sporting achievements, but also praised his committed and accomplished work for climate protection. Herrmann received a surprise in the form of a very personal video message from Team Malizia's co-founder and friend Pierre Casiraghi. The Monegasque spoke it in German and touched Herrmann's heart.

Shortly afterwards, sailing was once again in the spotlight at the Hamburg Sports Gala. Olympic bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel took the prize for Hamburg's best sports team: they were honoured for their second consecutive Olympic bronze medal, beating the other nominated teams from handball and football. The feat of two consecutive Olympic medals had historically only been achieved by two German sailing crews until the brilliant performance of "HP Sailing". Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel were part of the national sailing team that won three Olympic medals for Team D within three and a half hours off Enoshima on 3 August 2021. The 32-year-old helmsman Heil and his 33-year-old co-skipper Plößel have not ruled out a third Olympic start with a view to the 2024 Olympics. "The upcoming Games in Europe are very appealing," said Erik Heil. The chance of a third Olympic medal in a row is also appealing. No German sailor has ever achieved such a feat in the history of the Olympics.