Boris Herrmann: Exceptional sailor about to be honoured with the Federal Order of Merit - "What a year!"
Tatjana Pokorny
· 13.12.2023
Five-time circumnavigator Boris Herrmann will receive the German Order of Merit. He will be honoured with the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. The award ceremony is planned by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg for 21 December at 1 p.m. in Hamburg City Hall. The Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany for services to the common good and outstanding achievements. The Cross of Merit, which is awarded by the Federal President, will be presented at Herrmann's ceremony by Hamburg's Senator for the Interior and Sports, Andy Grote.
The regatta and environmental motto: A race we must win
Boris Herrmann experienced a huge surge in popularity when he first sailed solo around the world in the Vendée Globe in 2020/2021. The 42-year-old has now sailed around the world five times. Once alone. The professional sailor, who lives with his family in Hamburg, and Team Malizia, which he founded with Monaco's princely son Pierre Casiraghi in 2016, are committed to the world's oceans and climate protection in addition to their sailing endeavours.
Team Malizia's regatta and environmental motto is deliberately ambiguous: "A race we must win". Together with his wife Birte Lorenzen-Herrmann, Boris Herrmann has been interacting intensively with schoolchildren all over the world for years as part of the "My Ocean Challenge" team campaign. The book of the same name, "My Ocean Challenge - Inspiring Children for Marine Conservation", is also used in schools.
2.62 million Google results for "Boris Herrmann"
In recent years, Boris Herrmann has often reported on this, his adventurous sailing sport and other topics in a rousing way in public. Not only has he been a welcome guest on all the well-known TV talk shows. Together with his wife Birte Lorenzen-Herrmann, he also held a half-hour conversation with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in 2021, who is now the official "sender" of the Order of Merit for Boris Herrmann.
Today, the Google search engine returns 2.62 million results when you feed it the name Boris Herrmann. Born in Oldenburg, he is Germany's best-known sailor. At the turn of the year, he enters the home straight for his second Vendée Globe participation from 10 November 2024. He believes he is well equipped for this with the racing yacht "Malizia - Seaexplorer", which he co-designed himself.
My boat is great. It can also win the Vendée Globe." Boris Herrmann
At the last solo regatta of the year, Boris Herrmann proved his stamina in the face of a series of technical problems. With fourth place, he sailed himself into the extended group of favourites for the tenth anniversary edition of the toughest solo race around the world and gained a lot of self-confidence in the process. Herrmann said: "My boat is super. It can also win the Vendée Globe."
"The most important thing for me in this race, apart from the pure placing, was the training aspect," said Herrmann at the finish of the Retour à La Base. He continued: "I wanted to learn more about the boat and myself when I sail alone. Today I feel that I have achieved this goal. And of course I'm very happy with fourth place! A top five result was very optimistic given the standard in the class - but we did it!"
I felt good again when I sailed alone." Boris Herrmann
The German skipper admitted: "Of course, many factors play a role, including the bad luck of others, but the boat worked incredibly well, I felt good again when I sailed alone. And the result shows what a great job we have done as a team this year."
Work at the end of the year, time out in the new year, refit for "Malizia - Seaexplorer"
Herrmann interprets the significance of his performance in the Retour à La Base as follows: "This was my second single-handed race on board the Malizia - Seaexplorer and a bit like revenge for my unfortunate Route du Rhum last year, when we had problems with the foils and I was no longer able to propel the boat. Now we have really shown her potential. She is really fast on downwind courses. Even when I wasn't pushing her hard, she was still half a knot or more faster than others. She also doesn't take the nosedives and stops that the other boats do. That's very promising for the round-the-world race at the Vendée Globe at the end of next year."
Back in Germany, Herrmann now wants to devote himself to business commitments and take some time out with his family at the beginning of the year. The boat will be overhauled again in winter. Herrmann said: "We will put it back into service with a new set of foils to open the 2024 season in April with the Transat CIC and the New York-Vendée transatlantic solo races. And then, in November, I'll be ready for my second Vendée Globe. 2023 was a great year for our team and we are all excited to see what 2024 has in store for us!"
