Vendée Globe: 50 days to go - Boris Herrmann ready for second solo around the world
Tatjana Pokorny
· 21.09.2024
The Vendée Globe has seen nine editions and eight winners in its history to date: the list of winners of the toughest sailing solo has included the champions of their generations. It began with Titouan Lamazou (1989/1990) and was continued by Alain Gautier (1992/1993), Christophe Augin (1996/1997), the only two-time winner Michel Desjoyeaux (2001/2002, 2008/2009), Vincent Riou (2004/2005), François Gabart (2012/2013), Armel Le Cléac'h (2016/2017) and the reigning title holder Yannick Bestaven (2020/2021). Who will win the anniversary edition?
Record fleet for the Vendée Globe
A record field of 40 Imocas will line up off Les Sables-d'Olonne on 10 November for the start of the 10th Vendée Globe. 34 men and six women will take on the challenge of sailing solo around the world. They represent eleven nations. Among the top performers, daredevils, XL dreamers and adventurers are 14 "internationals" and 15 first-time participants, known as "bizuths" at the Vendée Globe.
42 years separate the youngest participant Violette Dorange ("Devenir"), who is only 23 years old, and the 65-year-old old master Jean Le Can ("Toute Commence en Finistère - Armor Lux"). On paper, the challengers have 24,296 nautical miles (44,996 kilometres) to master. In reality, there will be many more.
Race director Hubert Lemonnier and his team will send and direct the fleet into the race. The Vendée Globe record is still held by Armel Le Cleac'h, who won the penultimate Vendée Globe in 74 days, 3 hours, 35 minutes and 46 seconds. A time of 70 days does not seem out of the question - depending on the conditions.
Six to ten people can sail onto the podium. I am one of them." Boris Herrmann
Boris Herrmann is competing in the most famous solo sailing race around the world for the second time in a row after finishing fifth in his debut in 2020/2021. Alongside Munich-born German-French Isabelle Joschke ("Macsf"), he wants to successfully fly the German flag on his "Malizia - Seaexplorer", christened in 2022. The 43-year-old starts the race with podium chances.
Boris Herrmann is one of the favourites
The five-time circumnavigator described his preparation ahead of his sixth and second solo round-the-world race as "very good". Boris Herrmann said: "Looking at the homework we've done, we're among the front runners, so we can't deny ourselves co-favourite status."
After the experience of the last-minute collision with a fishing boat on the last night of his first solo circumnavigation, which cost him a podium finish that was within his grasp at the time, Herrmann also recalls the downsides of sailing's toughest test: "In the Vendée Globe, luck also comes into play. If, for example, a stupid object, a tree trunk floats in the water like Samantha Davies last time, who had a collision off Cape Town and had to retire..."
Like all the other 39 Imoca skippers, Boris Herrmann is starting out with the hope of being spared such setbacks. This hope is flanked by a number of biodiversity protection zones that have been set up. They are intended to help minimise the risk of collisions between the imocas and the marine megafauna - consisting of whales, but also large fish such as sharks, which stay in these areas to feed or reproduce.
Conservation efforts for marine biodiversity
These zones will be defined as biodiversity protection zones before the start by the scientific consortium Share the Ocean in collaboration with the Vendée organisation. The consortium is supported by the Vendée Globe Foundation endowment fund.
Vendée Globe President Alain Leboeuf said: "The protection of marine biodiversity is a priority for the Vendée Globe. In collaboration with Share the Ocean, we are setting up these protection zones to minimise the impact on marine megafauna and thus continue this great human adventure with respect for the ecosystems we pass through."
Want to experience the adventure of the Vendée Globe for yourself? In the last edition, 1,069,068 people took part in the virtual solo around the world. 424767 arrived. Click here for more information.
