"First comes the baptism of fire, then the barefoot route"
111 days after the launch of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer", Herrmann will start the first solo regatta with his new build on 6 November. For the 41-year-old from Hamburg, it will be the first solo regatta since the Vendée Globe final on 28 January 2021. The record fleet of 138 boats with 131 skippers and seven female skippers can expect a brutal start with a series of tests - as is so often the case with the late autumn classic Route du Rhum.
"First comes the baptism of fire, then the barefoot route," summarises Boris Herrmann briefly, "we can expect three strong storms, which we will have to overcome on the course to the west." After just 30 days of sailing with the new yacht "Malizia - Seaexplorer", he himself will have to find the best configurations for the difficult tests. "You have to see how you can cope with the swell when the ship starts to take off on its foils and then crashes down again from a height of metres."
How do the new Imocas react in ten metre swells?
Herrmann does not expect a normal trade wind route. The reason for this is that the Azores High is currently very far to the south. The soloists are expecting swell of up to ten metres and 30 to 35 knots of wind on average. "But there are certainly also places with 45 knots and more, so it will be a baptism of fire," says Herrmann. It is quite possible that he will have to slow his ship down at times in order not to jeopardise it. There is not yet a perfect solution for sailing the "deep-sea dinghies" against the wind. He would have to test this in the race.
Herrmann explains some of the challenges: "The boat likes to sail at 30, 35 knots in the wind. That's not a problem per se. When we get 30 knots, we sail at a wind angle of around 57 to 60 degrees to the wind. We don't sail very high upwind like a sailing yacht on the Kiel Fjord. For us, it's a bit like oceanic upwind sailing, where we sail 60 degrees to the wind instead of 40 degrees. But we sail at a speed of 20 to 22 knots. Which is actually great, because the boat then cushions itself nicely on the foil."
And he continues: "The faster it goes, the smoother it becomes, at least on flat water or in light waves. And then you have to see: How do you manage to cope with the swell when the boat starts to take off and crash down from a height of metres? Of course, you have to slow down so as not to jeopardise the rig. We'll see how that goes. We may then have to reduce the speed to twelve or ten knots, i.e. half. And if gusts of 50 or 55 knots really come in, we'll have to consider switching to the storm jib. That can take an hour of fighting on the foredeck ..."
The traditional bottle of rum is on board, comes from your favourite crêperie
Herrmann's positive message: "I feel mentally ready and stronger, I'm going into the race with a good energy reserve." Herrmann expects the race to last eleven to twelve days and has provisions for up to 15 days on board. His most important goals for his solo comeback are to arrive and further develop his young new build. He traditionally has a bottle of rum with him. It was given to him as a lucky charm by his favourite crêperie "Boo't a Boo" in L'Armor Plage, where guests are even served a special Herrmann crêpe on request.
When I've fought my way through a week of hell, when the aching muscles, pain and sleep deprivation slowly give way and maybe a little tropical atmosphere comes on board, then I can remember for a moment, as I sniff the rum, that there's life outside the struggle for survival."
The favourite in the Imoca class sailed by Herrmann is the Frenchman Charlie Dalin on "Apivia". "Charlie is the most impressive sailor on the planet at the moment," says Boris Herrmann approvingly, "you can't say clearly enough how dominant and strong he is. He has simply won everything this year. Without making any mistakes. He doesn't make mistakes. In the Azimut race, he was faster solo than with a crew. Despite numerous manoeuvres. I can't imagine how he does it." The current Imoca course record is held by Paul Meilhat ("SMA") with 12 days, 11 hours, 23 minutes and 18 seconds.
The trimaran giants of the Ultim class will also be the fastest to reach the finish line off Guadeloupe in this edition. The existing Route du Rhum record is currently held by Francis Joyon on "Idec Sport" with 7 days, 14 hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds.
The start of the 12th Route du Rhum will be broadcast live on Sunday via Homepage will be broadcast. German TV teams from ZDF, ARD and NDR as well as RTL+ are on site and report on the start in various programmes. The issue of corona and how to deal with it is in the hands of the teams. There will be no official tests before the start of the race. Boris Herrmann was the only one of the hundreds of participants to wear a mask at the big pre-race briefing.
