"Seaexplorer" wins 15th German Offshore Award: Boris Herrmann's boat wins for the third time

At 720 square metres, the Grand Ballroom in Hamburg City Hall is the largest hall in the City Hall and is used for large receptions and banquets. Once a year, the organisers and guests of the German Offshore Awards are almost at home here. It was presented for the 15th time on Tuesday evening in the Grand Ballroom. The award traditionally goes to the most successful offshore yacht under the German flag in the previous year. So it came as no surprise to the 300 or so guests in the hall or to sailing fans that Boris Herrmann's "Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco" won the race and was honoured in the hometown of its skipper. The Imoca racing yacht had brought Boris Herrmann safely around the world in 80 days at his Vendée Globe premiere and to the finish line in fifth place, thus writing a piece of German sailing history.

In his laudatory speech, State Councillor Christoph Holstein said: "Boris Herrmann has shown an outstanding performance with the 'Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco' as a single-handed sailor over the impressive distance of 28,000 nautical miles and has also inspired us all with his captivating reporting from on board." Christoph Holstein went on to enthuse: "With this almost unrivalled sailing adventure under racing conditions, Boris Herrmann has brought himself and the sport of sailing to the main news on German television and to the front pages of the daily newspapers. Both this sporting success and the public enthusiasm are unprecedented for a sailor in Germany. As a representative of the Hamburg Senate, I am of course particularly pleased that Boris Herrmann is carrying the name of his adopted home of Hamburg around the world. The fact that he combines his top sporting achievements with the constant reminder to protect our planet and the oceans deserves special recognition." This came in the form of a silver platter engraved with the names of all the winners and will continue to do so. Most recently, the young deep-sea professional Lennart Burke received the award for his red Mini "Vorpommern" for 2020. Incidentally, Boris Herrmann's achievements could already be read about before the current award, as the "Beluga Racer", with which he won the Portimão Global Race alongside Felix Oehme, had won the German Offshore Award in 2010. In 2018, Herrmann's "Malizia 2 - Yacht Club den Monaco" won after coming fifth in the Route du Rhum.

DSV President Mona Küppers summarised her congratulations to the skipper of the winning yacht: "What Boris Herrmann has achieved is unprecedented for a German sailor and for German sailing." She presented Boris Herrmann with a silver tray engraved with the entire 28,000-plus route of the Vendée Globe on behalf of the DSV Executive Committee as a special token of appreciation for his successful participation in the Vendée Globe.

Among the other nominees this year for 2021 was Melwin Fink's mini "signforcom". The young skipper from Bad Salzuflen came third in his Mini Transat premiere at the age of 19 and caused quite a stir. The Imoca yacht "Einstein" from Offshore Team Germany and the "Störtebeker" from Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt were also in the running. Skippered by Katrina Westphal, the ship took part in the Rolex Fastnet Race with a very young crew and achieved second place in the IRC Zero classification group of large yachts; the jet-black ship came ninth overall. "In a regatta dominated by professionals, Katrina Westphal and her new flagship were honoured by the organising association as the 'fastest skipper', the 'fastest ship under 30' and the 'fastest club ship'," says Achim Brünner, second chairman of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt. The traditional Hamburg training association, founded in 1903 by shipowner Albert Ballin, has been organising the Senate Prize awards together with the German Offshore Owners Association since this year.

In front of around 300 guests from the worlds of sport, politics, business and culture, the Liftime Award was presented to Kirsten Harmstorf-Schönwitz from Hamburg, who successfully skippered the racing yacht "Tutima" with an all-female team for many years. The laudatory speech for the honoured and moved Kirsten Harmstorf-Schönwitz was given by Susann "Sanni" Beucke, who won the silver medal in the 49er FX at the Olympic Games in Tokyo together with Tina Lutz and is now concentrating on an offshore career herself. Beucke said: "Sailing is a sport in which more and more women have the courage to do the same as men. Kirsten is one of the main pioneers in Germany."

This year's Wehring & Wolfe Youth Prize, presented by Achim Brünner, second chairman of the Hamburgischer Verein Seefahrt, was awarded to the classic regatta yacht "Germania VI", which has belonged to the Alfred Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation since 1972 and on which young crews have the opportunity to learn all facets of ocean sailing. The well-known copper-green classic yacht, which took part in the Kiel-Travemünde regatta of the North German ocean sailing clubs in autumn 2021, was transferred by Arndt von Bohlen und Halbach to a foundation whose main statutory objective is to promote young people and train them to become experienced ocean sailors.

Note: We have corrected the original article, which stated that Boris Herrmann's boats had won the German Offshore Award for the second time. In fact, it was the third time.