BORIS BLOG: Herrmann's interim assessment - "There were major meteorological disruptions"

How am I doing right now? Quite well, actually. I'm coping quite well with the situation. You have to look on the bright side. You don't get bored here. It's a nice challenge. If the Vendée Globe was easy, it wouldn't be the Vendée Globe. I'm pretty exhausted from the three events last week. Now it's time to move on!

Vendée Globe fourth place was already in sight...

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I had won nicely and was within 25 miles of fourth place. And then I dropped back a bit. Of course, you can feel sorry and world-weariness, but I try to avoid that. It takes a bit of effort, because the thoughts are there: Oh, crap, now I've lost 300 miles to Sam Goodchild, who I've been with for ages, always so close behind, 30 miles, 50 miles, ten miles. I've been able to keep up with him since Cape Horn. And now he's gone.

It's not great to slump backwards in the race. And I don't care either." Boris Herrmann

I actively try to turn the picture around and see everything positive, but also not to deny reality. But you always need a positive mindset and to look ahead. The comparison to my first Vendée Globe? The two Vendée Globes are very different! I think my current performance is better than last time.

Even as a project, it's a major achievement with my own shipbuilding, which is largely proving its worth, and a successful campaign and a pretty good ranking so far. I was just one beat away from fourth place. Now with ninth, tenth place, maybe eighth, it might not look quite as strong on paper as last time, but from my point of view it's stronger.

With more mental strength at the second Vendée Globe

I'm in a much better mental state with this Vendée Globe. I have no problems with loneliness and fewer problems with stress. I've already been up the mast twice and no longer have a fear of heights. In this respect, what I've achieved so far almost feels like a major success.

More than at the first Vendée Globe, where the field was not comparable to the current one. There were only two competitors who were comparably strong: Thomas and Charlie. Everyone else either dropped out or wasn't quite as strong. And you can also see that in the field, where the ones we had to contend with last time are: Jean Le Cam, Giancarlo Pedote and others are thousands of miles behind us.

The fleet here is like a Figaro field." Boris Herrmann

We now have a field of ten top people here. Jérémie was there last time, but then dropped out. Justine is very strong at the moment, Sam Goodchild! The fleet here at the front is like a Figaro field. It's much stronger than usual.

Two races, two very different experiences

That's why I think my performance is significantly higher than in the last Vendée Globe: the sailing performance in this fleet. We are also travelling much faster. And of course the boats have very different weaknesses and strengths. In this respect, I wouldn't compare the two editions so much. They are two very different experiences and races.

If the leaders finish at the beginning of the week, they will have done a great job! But there was also a huge split due to this weather situation. You can't convert the days directly into performance and say that they were so and so many per cent better because they arrive so many days earlier.

Click here for the race tracker and the intermediate results.

Thomas Ruyant, for example, sails with me. He's just as good. He was very close, second at the first cape. At the end of the Indian Ocean, he missed the jump by maybe five nautical miles to get into this weather system. And then he got stuck in this high-pressure bridge. And that's why he's here now.

Two thirds of the electronics do not work

There was simply a huge meteorological split in this Vendée Globe. You have to say that. That doesn't detract from the performance of the people at the front, but you have to be able to judge it. It's not like they're sailing faster all the time and we're just kind of paddling around and being slow. There were several big meteorological breaks in this Vendée Globe.

How is my boat currently doing, what is missing? For example, the radar is missing. About two thirds of the electronics have been gone since the lightning strike. It's better to say what's still there: I have a computer, a screen, the second autopilot and the second instrument line with a makeshift wind sensor in the mast, an Ultrasound wind sensor, which isn't calibrated that accurately. So I don't know exactly how much wind I have and where it's coming from.

Everything else no longer works. I can still switch on a few consumers, such as the watermaker. I can start the engine and swing the keel. But I don't know the keel angle. It is no longer displayed. I also have to stop it manually. All the relays no longer work. The one satellite antenna still works.

The history of the J2 hook

Everything else is gone. I can't see the foil rake, I don't have any load measurements. Everything you can imagine no longer works. Oscar is still working. AIS: My antenna fell out of the mast. I'll try to build something for that too. I have a second aerial at the stern, but the reception isn't great. I'll try to mount it higher somehow.

In terms of pure boat performance, I actually have almost all the capabilities. I'm missing a bit of maximum foil rake on the port side. Maybe half a degree. That's a bit painful. Otherwise I have everything. I'm missing a sail. I still have to repair my small gennaker in the Doldrums. Actually, everything is fine so far.

Perhaps a more detailed explanation of our J2 problem, which I was able to solve yesterday in the mast: As a rule, Imocas have a fixed stay with a main headsail, which we always use. Everyone ties the J2 at the top and bottom. At the last Vendée Globe we had a lot of J2 problems and people had to climb a lot, had trouble getting up, getting it down and the like.

The Vendée Globe is tougher than any other regatta

I then discussed with Antoine Mermod (editor: Imoca class president) that we should provide a hook so that we could lower the sail in the event of a problem. And we got permission. So we developed the hook over two years ago and have been working with it ever since. We have tested it intensively.

But nothing compares to the Vendée Globe." Boris Herrmann

We have said that we will only use it in the Vendée if it proves to be reliable. We had it on last season. I think even at the Transat Jacques Vabre. There were no problems there. But the Vendée is a bigger load for the boat. And now the hook has broken. The stay was still in place, of course. So the sail simply slipped down the stay. I pulled the sail up again with a halyard, then climbed into the mast and lashed the sail down.

In theory it was all very simple, but it somehow took me three hours to do everything, because everything takes longer on a boat alone. Up in the rig I had a bit of trouble getting my lashing right, finding the right height for the sail. When I came down, I realised, oh, the sail is too low, so I climbed back up and found the optimum height. Job done!

Someone told me to shake myself like an animal." Boris Herrmann

Yesterday someone asked me how I manage to 'decompress' after such pressure actions as recently. I don't have any routines. I discussed it with the team. Someone told me to shake like an animal. The shaking when surprises happen. The best way to get the adrenaline out of your body is physical activity, exercise, running. But I can't do that on the boat. I just sat down and fell asleep pretty quickly. I even rang a few people. That helps a bit too.

Herrmann is a guest on Vendée Live today!

Vendée Live! Boris Herrmann will be talking to presenter Andi Robertson on the current Vendée Globe programme on 12 January from 2.30 pm. Race director Hubert Lemonnier and project manager Marcus Hutchinson will also be guests. Click here for the programme.

The clip of Boris Herrmann's latest mast campaign: