Boris, you started dreaming of the Vendée Globe three decades ago. The race was the engine that drove you throughout your career. Fans and potential successors keep asking themselves how you actually managed to make the breakthrough that you also fought so long for and that others find so difficult?
There's a nice saying that the French skipper Louis Berrehar recently said to me in conversation: 'I'm totally motivated and so are you. And where there is motivation, only good things happen.
That sounds nice, but is it really that simple?
Motivation is the main prerequisite. If you persistently follow it, good things will happen. There is a deeper thought behind this. That there are hardly any really 'hardcore' motivated people who want something so badly. So if you are the one who wants it more, then something great will come out of it. I believe in that. That was the case for me. There was this great motivation and a little bit more: that I really wanted and needed it and kept aiming for the Vendée Globe.
The roots of your desire lie in your youth?
Those books about the Vendée Globe set me on fire. The books where it says that Ellen MacArthur lives in a container or that Pete Goss changes his clothes in the car park after cycling 20 kilometres to go to a meeting. These were the stories that fascinated me. You can break boundaries and make things possible that aren't necessarily on your social horizon. That's the deeper motivation: to break these boundaries, to strive for a kind of freedom, to accept that these rules don't apply to me. Not automatically thinking that you're a child in a family of teachers and that's why you might become a vocational school teacher.
I wanted to prove it: If you dream of something, you can do it." Boris Herrmann
Not quite your goal...
For me, the Vendée Globe was the big fascination. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. People thought: 'He wants the Vendée Globe? What the fuck!". I wanted to show them: There are no limits. For me, that was the important driving force in sailing. Others, like Charlie Dalin for example, are classic competitors, totally fascinated by the art of engineering. He has never really had to look for a sponsor. He was simply always the best and so was put in the pilot's seat. With someone like Thomas Ruyant, Alex Thomson or myself, this other topic plays a major role. With Yoann Richomme a bit too.
Which people and moments have had a decisive influence on your path?
There is a string of pearls of encounters with perhaps a dozen people along the way that have had a very lasting influence and formative significance for me. From private supporters in my environment to sailors and partners and sponsors that I have found. The first was basically Matthias Beilken.
He had also done the YACHT test for the Pogo back then. That was the trigger." Boris Herrmann
He lent me quite a lot of money for my first boat. His story (editor's note: YACHT author Matthias "Matze" Beilken took part in the 1997 Mini-Transat with the prototype "Eissing" on a small budget and finished 42nd out of 52 participants) fascinated and motivated me.
He was also ambitious and a good regatta sailor, but then had a bit of bad luck. I got to know Ralf Brauner and Arno Kronenberg through him. Arno in particular was always an important supporter. It was through him that I got to know property entrepreneur Gerald Senft. Without him, there would never have been an Imoca Malizia campaign. Since the very beginning, the paths have branched out and I have met other influential people along the way.
Who is important to you today?
Our team manager Holly is the right-hand woman. The campaign already existed when she arrived. We might have had the Vendée Globe hype without her. But to manage a new campaign afterwards was the result of the binomial of Holly and me. I couldn't have done it without her.
She was cool enough to say: 'We're doing it now! We're not going to be doubters. The sky is the limit!' She wiped away my concerns and told me to forget them. The most important thing after the first Vendée Globe was her dynamism, her determination. When I was 'through', she said: 'Don't worry too much, we've already won!
At the finish line, I wondered where the gallows would be for me. When the guillotine will fall that will dismember me in the press after the crash." Boris Herrmann
Why did you have reservations?
At the finish line, I asked myself how much debt I actually had. And what were the risks? I was rather worried. We hadn't sold the boat yet. We didn't even have a buyer. I had debts. I didn't have a sponsor. I had nothing.
I didn't know what would happen next. But with Holly - and then other team members - we managed it perfectly. She said 'boy, it's going to work out'. She's always super optimistic. And that's what I needed: a strong optimist at my side who simply says: we're going to reach for the stars. We complemented each other perfectly.
Your part?
It was my idea to say: we'll keep it simple: the sponsors get a package. The packages are all the same. We need seven partners to do it over five years rather than four. These were the parameters that made the campaign so solid from the outset.
Has your attitude towards the comparison between solo and team sailing changed after the second Vendée Globe?
No, not very much. In my biography, the solo is what made the joy of team sailing possible.
Is solo sailing the means to the end of team sailing?
I wouldn't put it like that. The Vendée Globe and The Ocean Race have a symbiotic relationship. Tim Kröger's Ocean Race book fascinated me early on. I remember that very well. It was like the Vendée Globe books. But it would never have been the right path for a German outsider like me: Oh, I want to be a crew member in the Ocean Race now. For a Michi Müller, that path worked out. But for me it was always clear: if I did, then single-handed. My enthusiasm for it is unbroken.
What other factors play a role?
Also the public perception, the echo. Today, the enthusiasm for the Vendée Globe is at least ten times greater than for the Ocean Race. Our book on the first Vendée Globe has consistently sold more than the Ocean Race book, even though it has a great cover and is well written.
However, this is probably also due to the unique circumstances of your first Vendée Globe: it was the first participation of a German skipper. Until the crash with the fishing boat in the last 24 hours, you had a chance of winning and finishing on the podium. In addition, there was a great longing for freedom and adventure in those Corona times, which you were able to fulfil like no other...
Yes, there may be something to that. But it is also simply the case that the Ocean Race is struggling in the sailing nation of France. Some sponsors claim that it doesn't help. Which is not true. The Vendée Globe also happens and fascinates people beyond French borders. And has an impact in France. And when the Ocean Race goes round Cape Horn, it also has an impact in France. The attitude doesn't really make sense.
Politically and personally, the Imoca class and the Ocean Race organisation are a good fit." Boris Herrmann
The Imoca class is booming and has reached an all-time high in terms of quality and quantity. Why is this not having a more positive effect on ocean racing activities with crews, alongside the single and double-handed races that are so popular in France in particular?
But the Imoca teams find it difficult to take part in ocean racing events. The French sailing ecosystem works well in itself, but is less successful in getting out there and internationalising itself. There are apparently many skippers who are very interested in Ocean Race Europe, Ocean Race Atlantic and The Ocean Race. However, many French sponsors do not utilise the opportunities beyond French borders.
There are no major technical changes in the Imoca class before the eleventh Vendée Globe, are there?
No, not that many. A heavier machine for more propulsion in emergencies is coming, but overall Imoca development has reached a fairly high plateau. The design of the additional benefits is now on a downward curve. I hope that this will make the fleet more homogeneous by 2028. There won't be that many big steps. There will be at least half a dozen or more newbuilds again.
Do you think the organisers have the race well under control?
You can hardly break it.
Will your most important team members stay on board for 2025?
Yes, Holly Cova remains Team Director and Pifou (editor: Pierre-François Dargnies) is the Technical Director, who is also a kind of Managing Director for France. Then there's our Boat Captain Stu McLachlan as the lynchpin. Our Finance Manager Kerstin Hainke, who is also a bit of a mum to the team, is also important. Technicians who are important to me will also remain on board, as will our communications team.
You will be competing in the many regattas this year in different crew constellations...
We are currently seven men and women on the sailing list. Our co-skippers Will Harris and Cole Brauer are well known. We will introduce others in the coming weeks and months and see who will be in action and when. It's more down to them, their projects and their wishes that we can't name them all publicly just yet.
This summer, 22 years after the last edition, the Admiral's Cup is making a comeback in the historic British Solent region. Team Malizia is in action with its founder Pierre Casiraghi, you and other sailors for the team from the Yacht Club den Monaco. Exciting new territory for you?
Definitely new territory. And I'm looking forward to it. With the mix of shorter coastal races and the Rolex Fastnet Race, it's a type of sailing that I haven't done for a long time. I really enjoyed it back then, for example with Jochen Schümann on 'Esimit Europe'. But you also have to say that I can't compete there at the level of training that I think I should.
I'll describe it with a memory: when we were in Wellington after leg two of the 2008/2009 Portimão Global Race, I made a detour to Auckland. A TP52 series was running there with the New Zealand America's Cup sailors, in which Jochen Schümann was also involved. While the sailors were at a press conference, I saw their team boss Grant Dalton labouring on the boat and pulling a wet spinnaker out of the bow. That impressed me. I can also see myself playing a team role in the Admiral's Cup.
Immediately after the Admiral's Cup, the Ocean Race Europe is the highlight of the year. The starting signal will be given on 10 August in Kiel.
This is another great opportunity for us to get everything we can out of the boat.
