The change must have seemed surreal to him: After almost 35 days in the Southern Ocean and the thrilling victory in Itajaí, after a week in the Race Village between technical briefings, conversations with other skippers and a bit of kiting, Boris Herrmann is back home in Hamburg.
From there, he will follow his team on the fourth stage. He wanted to use this as a break from the start: to recharge his batteries, see his family and hold meetings with partners and sponsors. We asked him how easy the change was for him and what a professional sailor does on shore leave.
Boris, have you arrived in country life - are you already in holiday and relaxation mode, or are you still in Itaja with half your head in the clouds?í in The Ocean Race?
I have only gradually arrived in country life. In the beginning, I still had the four-hour waking rhythm in me, even ten days after crossing the finish line! I realised that I was totally tired from eight in the evening until midnight, and if I kept myself awake, I couldn't really sleep from twelve to four.
Lack of sleep after the exertions of 35 days in the Southern Ocean - how so?
I'm generally not very good at regenerating because I'm always trying to do something new. I still need to recover. It always takes longer than you think, at least for me. That's why I'm very happy to be able to take a break and I still think it's good - for the team dynamic, for family life, but also because I can have a positive influence on events here from Hamburg, for example by meeting our Hamburg partners. It's an important role for me and for the whole team.
How should we imagine a typical day for Boris Herrmann when he is not sailing?
Like a partial time-out, because I now take turns with my wife Birte and often look after our daughter. She does go to nursery in the morning, but she gets up at six in the morning. So it's not really a holiday programme where I can just chill out during the day.
I take Malou to nursery, look after her in the afternoon, put her to bed in the evening and get up at night if I have to. I try to take on an active father role during my time here in Hamburg. That's why we haven't planned any trips, we mainly stay here, only go on short excursions, and of course I take care of team matters in between.
How will you follow the start on Sunday?
That's a good question. I haven't even thought about that yet. I'd like to watch the broadcast live and maybe invite a few people.
Will you spend the next few days constantly Ocean Race Tracker look like your fans?
I actually have enough distractions, but I'll still look at it often. You live with it. When I was in Cape Town and couldn't sail on stage two because of my burnt feet, I was updating the positions every hour, to be honest. But I don't look at it at night, I'm lucky if I get any sleep at all.
What is Team Malizia's goal at the start?
I haven't spoken to the crew about this yet, but we will. The mood is pretty good so far, maybe a little stressed. They are now back in full swing. The Pro-Am race was on Wednesday, and before that they were at sea twice for tests. I think they are going into the next leg with mixed feelings because it will be tactically demanding. Every leg is a new race. We discussed the sails for a long time. On Tuesday, we spent two hours discussing it in a video conference. Not everything has been finalised yet, but we will probably start with a slightly different sail plan.
Wouldn't you secretly prefer to be on board on Sunday?
No, it fits! If I had the impression that the team would be worse off without me, I would either regret it or change my decision. But I'm sure that the four of them - Will Harris, Nico Lunven, Rosalin Kuiper and Christopher Pratt - will do just as good a job as if I were there. I also have a very good feeling about our new addition, Christopher.
How is the boat doing after the refit: is "Malizia - Seaexplorer" sailing at 100 per cent again? And how do you rate the other boats, which suffered more in the south?
I can't say anything about the others. Only time will tell. But we're in a good position!
