Vendée Globe: "Eat, cry, see" after mast breakage, Malizia has XXL plans
Tatjana Pokorny
· 31.01.2025
While many fans of Boris Herrmann are struggling with the withdrawal from their daily Vendée Globe routines after 81 days and the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" skipper is slowing down step by step in the company of his family and his team after the storm final, the race around the world rages on out at sea.
Fourteenth-placed Romain Attanasio ("Best Western - Fortinet") is expected to cross the finish line on Sunday with Boris Herrmann's first Vendée Globe boat. Before that, Benjamin Dutreux, who finished tenth in the Vendée Globe, is expected to take part in the cheering parade in Port Olona this Friday afternoon. Like Clarisse Crémer, who finished eleventh in the Vendée Globe, Dutreux also had to call at La Rochelle first after his stormy finish. The skipper, who lives in Les Sables-d'Olonne, is expected to start at 5.00 pm.
After mast breakage with Liberty Kite to the Antilles
However, many eyes were also on Arnaud Boissières in the Atlantic distance on Friday. The man who was the only skipper in the current fleet to finish four Vendée Globes in a row lost his mast on 30 January. His initial frustration was followed by creativity and drive. He has since put up an orange-coloured Liberty Kite. Vendée Globe legend Yves Parlier once developed it for precisely this case: as a drive for an Imoca without a mast.
The badly hit Arnaud Boissières can't laugh about it yet, but he is still making progress at three or four knots. The "La Mie Câline" skipper sailed westwards on Friday and has set course for the Antilles. "I will try to reach the Antilles as far downwind as possible," said Boissières.
His first longer statement was sad to read beforehand: "I'm very disappointed tonight, it's such a shame. Of course I've had better days, I've not been spared recently. Tonight I'm sorry for my boat, for all the work we've done with the team. In a fraction of a second... We'll see what happens next. I don't know how."
Vendée Globe Eight: exciting final
Arnaud Boissières thanked everyone for their messages of encouragement, writing: "I'm sorry for Les Sables d'Olonne, I won't be back as planned. I won't be coming back to celebrate the canal trip. I'll make room for others, bravo to others... I will eat, I will cry, and then I will see the rest differently."
There was also a lot of sympathy and encouragement from the fleet for "Cali", as they call the 52-year-old, who has his camp in Les Sables-d'Olonne. Romain Attanasio wrote: "We are all sad for Cali. It made me very sad today. I'm already very close to the finish, but I'm sailing very calmly because of this story with the mast breakage."
Things are more competitive 400 nautical miles behind Romain Attanasio: eight skippers are still very close to each other north of the Azores. Not quite as close as before, when only 40 nautical miles separated them. But the tracker image still looks like a Vendée Globe party in the middle of the Atlantic. Changes in position ensure that the tension remains high.
The Vendée Globe headlines in Germany
In the morning, Paralympics winner and "Apicil" skipper Damien Seguin had taken over the lead of the Vendée Globe eighth, pulling away from Benjamin Ferré on "Monnyeur - Duo for a Job" by almost 30 nautical miles overnight.
They were followed by the Swiss Alan Roura ("Hublot"), Tanguy Le Tuquais ("Lazare"), the German-French Isabelle Joschke ("Macsf"), old master Jean Le Cam ("Tout commence en Finistère - Armor-lux"), the Italian Carlo Pedote ("Prysmian") and Conrad "The Crazy Kiwi" Colman ("MS Amlin"). By midday on Friday, there were 176 nautical miles between their 15th and 22nd places.
On land, the waves of arrival have calmed down after the welcome celebrations for Boris Herrmann and Samantha Davies. However, the headlines in the German-language media still reflect the echo: "Great reception - Herrmann's triumphant harbour entry" wrote NDR. Der Spiegel took a different look at Boris Herrmann's race with the headline: "How the Vendée Globe became a disappointing adventure for Boris Herrmann".
After the Vendée Globe is before the Vendée Globe
The FAZ quotes the skipper in the headline: "I'm glad this fight is over". The Sueddeutsche Zeitung, like many others, looks to the future with Boris Herrmann: "He definitely wants to compete again". The local Hamburger Abendblatt also reports on Hamburg's sports star: "After the finish: Boris Herrmann is already planning his next race".
Boris Herrmann himself was a guest on the afternoon programme Vendée Live! on Friday - still a little tired from the party the night before with Team Malizia and Sam Davies' Team Initiatives - Cœur. In conversation with presenter Andi Robertson, Boris Herrmann summarised once again: "The result fell far short of our expectations, but apart from that I was pleasantly surprised by my state of mind. I was happy out there, I could have stayed longer."
When asked whether his next boat for the Vendée Globe would be an evolution of the current one, Boris Herrmann said: "Yes, I want even more views, more scenery, to be even more connected to the ocean." Overall, Boris Herrmann and his team want to work on a boat that is "faster, lighter, stronger, better", he said with a smile when asked about future development goals.
Team Malizia will grow again
Team Malizia's director Holly Cova confirmed a strong financial platform for skipper Boris Herrmann's campaign on course for the future. According to Cova, the media response to this Vendée Globe has increased once again. A major sporting challenge for Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia is now fast approaching with the start of the Ocean Race Europe on 10 August in Kiel.
Boris Herrmann also confirmed the ambitious plans of his team, which is also implementing many of the ideas of Pierre Casiraghi, who called Boris Herrmann nine years ago on 15 February 2016 and asked him to come to Monaco. 2016 was the founding year of Team Malizia. "He told me: 'We're starting Team Malizia. You take care of everything,'" Boris Herrmann recalled in the studio interview with Andi Robertson about the team's launch.
Pierre Casiraghi remains a strong source of ideas. Boris Herrmann said: "Many of the things we do are ideas from Pierre Casiraghi. We have a strong connection, a strong friendship with Monaco." The plans for the coming period are big and very diverse. "So much is happening with us right now," explained Boris Herrmann in the programme.
Team Malizia with three boats in future
"We will have two boats to manage in the team: the current boat and the new boat. We will continue to develop our hangar. We will have an expedition sailing ship that we are currently overhauling and with which we want to work for marine research. We are continuing to work closely with Monaco and will be there in the summer." Team Malizia's XXL regatta plans for this year include the Ocean Race Europe, the Round England and Ireland Race and the Transat Jacques Vabre. "We could hardly do more," said Boris Herrmann.
You can sympathise here even without knowing French! Arnaud Boissières shortly after breaking his mast in the Atlantic:
And here is Arnaud Boissières' answer, which he found a little later - the Liberty Kite:
