Shortly before the showdown on leg five of the Ocean Race, Team Malizia's skipper Boris Herrmann celebrated his 42nd birthday at sea on Whit Sunday. The first boats are expected to arrive in the Danish stage harbour of Aarhus on Monday after sunrise. On Sunday morning, however, there were no presents for Herrmann from his Ocean Race rivals in the battle for the stage win.
11th Hour Racing defends its lead in the battle for the stage win
Just over half a day before the expected finish early on Whit Monday morning between 4 and 7 a.m., the US team 11th Hour Racing continued to lead the front group. To the north of Skagen, the Swiss team Holcim followed in sustained good speeds of more than 20 knots. PRB with a gap of 18 nautical miles.
Team Malizia struggled to keep up with a gap of almost 40 nautical miles. With only 250 nautical miles to the finish for Charlie Enright and his team 11th Hour Racing, Team Malizia will have to stretch themselves enormously and almost perform a small birthday miracle to be able to intervene in the battle for the stage win once again. Even though the new 24-hour world record holders sailed towards the Kattegat at 21.5 knots in the afternoon with the fastest speed.
Here on the Norwegian coast, the wind is really picking up again." (Boris Herrmann)
Nevertheless, Boris Herrmann was delighted to receive congratulations from his team on board. "My birthday has been really nice so far. Here on the Norwegian coast, the wind is really picking up again. We'll probably need a smaller headsail again soon. When I woke up, I was woken by a birthday song, with a foghorn and a packet of chewing gum as a rattle. I also received a small present: A belt and a postcard from the team. It reminds me of previous birthdays at sea."
The Hamburg native recalls that he has already spent his day of honour at sea twice in the past: "That was during the Artemis Transat 2008 (editor's note: single-handed race for Class 40). I was just before Marblehead and a helicopter came out and filmed me. That was also a nice present." His second memory dates back eight years. Boris Herrmann says: "I was at the helm for the San Francisco-Shanghai record in 2015, with inflated balloons. I remember the photo more than the moment itself."
Memories and congratulations from all over the world
This was followed by a moment of shock for Herrmann: "Suddenly there was an island in front of us that I didn't recognise. I was the navigator. That was a bit embarrassing. It was a bit Vestas-like (editor's note: Team Vestas spectacularly ran aground on a group of islands in the Indian Ocean in the 2014/2015 Ocean Race). It was a very small rock in Japan, in the middle of the sea, but it protruded 40 metres out of the sea. That's why it was clearly visible. There was no danger at the time because we always keep a lookout, but we drove right up to it."
On board the "Malizia - Seaexplorer" and Boris Herrmann himself, birthday wishes have been arriving from all over the world since the early hours of the morning. However, the skipper doesn't have much time to enjoy them all during the final spurt on course for Aarhus. Instead, he and the Malizians are expecting a big turnout in the Danish sailing city on Whit Monday: wife Birte Lorenzen-Herrmann, daughter Malou, dog Lili, the entire shore crew, partners, friends and fans are taking advantage of the proximity to their northern German home to make a detour to neighbouring Denmark.
A birthday podcast for and with Boris Herrmann:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
