Regatta: Vendée Globe: Drama for Boris Herrmann shortly before the finish

The accident happened only around 90 nautical miles from the longed-for finish line of his Vendée Globe premiere: Boris Herrmann had a collision with a fishing boat with his Imoca yacht "Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco" at 8.26 pm on Wednesday evening, according to his team's dashboard information. The race organisers of the regatta reported late in the evening that the starboard foil of the Imoca yacht had been damaged. There was also reportedly further damage. The news that Boris Herrmann was uninjured in the incident, according to his management, was a relief. There was initially no information on the condition of the crew of the fishing boat involved or the boat itself. Boris Herrmann has secured "Seaexplorer" to the best of his ability and has announced that he will head for the destination at a reduced speed. We will continue to update this article with further information on the course of the accident, which could deprive Herrmann of his almost certain podium place.

Shortly after the accident, "Apivia" skipper Charlie Dalin was the first skipper to cross the Vendée Globe finish line alone at sea after 80 days, 6 hours, 15 minutes and 47 minutes on the evening of 27 January at 8.35 p.m. local time. With this successful solo circumnavigation, the 36-year-old from Concarneau in Brittany has fulfilled a childhood dream. Nevertheless, the "Apivia" skipper, who was already one of the favourites for this ninth edition at the start of the Vendée Globe on 8 November, still had to wait on Wednesday evening to see whether the time he had sailed would actually be enough to win because three skippers had received time credits as a result of their participation in the rescue mission for the shipwrecked Kevin Escoffier. Whether this could help Boris Herrmann onto the podium after his collision also remained to be seen. The same applies to Yannick Bestaven's final result, who was allowed to deduct ten hours and 15 minutes from his total sailing time at the finish line and could well still jeopardise Dalin.

Click here for the tracking and the intermediate results.