Vendée Globe: Cheerful! What Boris Herrmann has in common with Loïck Peyron
Tatjana Pokorny
· 12.12.2024
At the start of the 33rd race day of the Vendée Globe, Boris Herrmann experienced "one of my fastest days" since the start of the race at boat speeds of up to 30 knots. Switched on to the midday programme Vendée Globe Live, the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper reported a "beautiful day and flat seas". "We are experiencing very fast reaching here. Justine and I are surfing on the hump of the Australian ice edge," Boris Herrmann told Vendée Globe presenter Andi Robertson and Loïck Peyron, who also joined the afternoon programme Vendée Globe Live.
Sailing jack-of-all-trades with Vendée Globe history
65-year-old Loïck Peyron is one of France's best-known offshore heroes. The younger brother of Bruno Peyron and Stéphane Peyron achieved many successes with the trimaran "Fujicolor" in the 1990s. He won the Transat Jacques Vabre in 1999 and 2005 and took over the management of the Gitana team from Swiss banker Benjamin de Rothschild in 2006.
Loïck Peyron co-skippered the 33rd America's Cup with Team Alinghi and "Alinghi 5". Peyron won the Jules Verne Trophy on 6 January 20212, when he sailed around the world in 45 days and 13 hours with "Banque Populaire". But he never won the Vendée Globe. Nevertheless, second place with "Lada Poch" in the premiere of the most important solo regatta around the world in 1989/1990 made him famous. Peyron had to give up further participations in 1992/1993 with "Fujicolor III" and in 2008/2009 with "Gitana Eighty" after the mast broke.
Loïck Peyron is not only known for his sailing skills in a wide range of disciplines, but also for his mischievous sense of humour. With his wide range of gestures and facial expressions, Peyron, who was named Seamaster 2013 by Delius Klasing Verlag eleven years ago, could also have become an entertainer or actor. He is a generalist and idea generator like Asterix. He has lost none of his energy even at an age when others are retiring.
The Asterix among the sailors
Loïck Peyron himself once said: "I think I fell into a pot as a child. Like Obelix. But I'm actually much more like Asterix..." Peyron once again exuded plenty of this charm in the Vendée Globe Live programme. This time in conversation with Boris Herrmann, who was on air from the Indian Ocean. The two sailors were naturally on the same wavelength.
Loïck Peyron himself once painted one of his Imocas below deck with bricks and cows to create a more cosy atmosphere. The unusual design was also intended to remind him of his dream of having his own farm, which he has today and from where he conducted the interview with Vendée Globe presenter Andi Robertson and Boris Herrmann.
The Frenchman chatted cheerfully with Herrmann about the wooden appearance of the rear room of "Malizia - Seaexplorer". He had noticed it. Boris Herrman replied with a smile that Peyron's former farm design had indeed been the model for this idea and that his favourite place to be below deck of "Malizia - Seaexplorer" was at the back of the boat. It is "a little less uncomfortable there than on the others". The German soloist has also stuck illuminated stars under the ceiling for the Christmas season.
First a high, then a low?
During the entertaining discussion, Boris Herrmann also took a look at the coming days and the various weather scenarios. The current racier conditions could soon be followed by an encounter with an area of high pressure. In addition, Boris Herrmann already had his sights set on a possible storm south-west of New Zealand. "It could bring us very strong winds of 45 or even 50 knots. We're keeping an eye on it," says the skipper from Hamburg.
Precise forecasts are currently not easy to make. "We have to see what happens in the dynamics of the groups. And whether this dynamic will allow me to get a little closer to the guys in front of me," said Boris Herrmann. He had the good feeling that he was approaching the halfway point of the race as he approached the longitude of Cape Leeuwin.
The Cape Leeuwin passage usually means a lot to all participants in a Vendée Globe, as Loïck Peyron also knew very well: "You are no longer moving away from the starting harbour, but getting closer to it again. That's much more pleasant psychologically." The Frenchman also had some regrets about the Vendée Globe generation that followed him, saying: "These boats are so fast, but also so loud and so uncomfortable!"
Simon faster than Dalin
The current Vendée Globe fleet continued to be led at the start of race day 33 by front runner Charlie Dalin, whose lead over Sébastien Simon, who was not letting up even with a broken foil, was 265 nautical miles on Thursday afternoon. Simon was travelling faster at more than 19 knots than Charlie Dalin at around 17 knots.
Boris Herrmann still has 1200 nautical miles to make up on the leader, but had been able to reduce the mileage mountain somewhat. He had extended his lead over "Juju" Mettraux, who was in eleventh place behind him, to just under 40 nautical miles.
