Herrmann reports to a press conference via Zoom video link, around 20 journalists are allowed to ask questions briefly, 20 minutes, then he has to continue beating his "Seaexplorer" through the Indian Ocean on the way to Cape Leeuwin. From time to time, spray flies around the cockpit, which can be seen in the background.
You have a problem with your hydro generators, what exactly has happened?
The sea and wind conditions here are difficult. It's choppy and there's a short wave. It's difficult to find a good average speed. For my hydro generators, I shouldn't be travelling at more than 25 knots, but yesterday it was 30 in some places, and one of the generators suddenly broke off. I then got it back in and continued on my way. I then went into the bunk and heard a strange noise, and then the other one was also torn off. A screw had come loose. I have two generators, one upwind and one downwind. The one upwind had come loose and the waves had hit it so hard that it had also torn out of its mooring.
I now have an idea with the team about how to repair it, but I won't tackle that until the conditions are calm. I'll need an angle grinder, saws and various tools. It's too dangerous at the moment in these conditions. Sometimes the boat is still travelling at 30 knots, even though I don't want it to. But the average speeds are rather low. I haven't yet found the right settings to make progress here at a sensible speed. That makes it very difficult. During the day, the solar panels provide me with power, but at night I have to use diesel.
Four weeks down the line, how are you?
Physically, I'm fine, it's just my hands that hurt a bit. It's a permanent process of getting used to the conditions. I'm of the opinion that the human mind can get used to anything, but these are tough conditions, my goodness. Bloody hell, I'll be glad when I'm back home!
Is the swell so bad because of the Agulhas current, which is against the wind? Will it get better soon?
Yes, I think it will, the Indian Ocean is notorious for having such short, choppy seas, it should be better in the Pacific. So hopefully I'll have a two-stage improvement, firstly out of the current zone here and then out of the Indian Ocean. That's something you say to yourself here at sea anyway: "It can only get better!"
You need a lot of inner strength and patience to keep saying: "Yes, tomorrow will be a better day, the wind will calm down. I can still cope with it quite well inside. It can't get any worse. The waves are so choppy, I've never experienced anything so extreme.
Do you find it difficult not to accelerate but to slow the boat down all the time?
It's hard for me to see when I lose miles. It doesn't pass me by without a trace. I've already lost another 40 miles this morning, a lot. If you think about how you fight for every mile in other regions, for example in St Helena High, you've gained a mile in four hours and you're happy. When I think about how we've bent over backwards for four years to get a fast boat, to be fast here and then you go slow, it's hard. Of course, the perception of the race changes over time and also with the failures, so there is a certain humility. And a great hope: the desire to arrive, to make it through here in one piece. And of course the regatta is important to me, but that sometimes takes a back seat, or rather I don't want to jeopardise anything. As soon as I see an alarm going off, which I still had this morning with the foils, I have to react as quickly as possible. The foils are completely retracted at the moment.
I only have the J3 (Jib 3), I can't use the J2 at the moment, that's probably the main reason why I'm so slow, the others ride the J2. The zip on the J2 is about half open at the bottom. If I keep using it, there's a risk that it will get worse and I'll have to go up the mast to repair it. I can't take the sail down and repair it, it's not technically possible. I have a light wind zone for four days, so I should be able to repair everything. 10 knots of wind, then I'll be able to fix it.
How did you deal with Kevin Escoffier's rescue operation? Is it still a burden?
I've left that behind me. It doesn't bother me so much anymore, now I'm looking after my own destiny: how do I get through the day, how do I manage my mood, my sleep? How can I manage to improve my speed?
It kept me very busy until yesterday, I even shed a tear. It was a knife-edge situation, I don't think Kevin himself is even aware of it, he's dealing with it very positively. But I don't know if he won't realise in a month or two how close it was.
Even in Germany, the Vendée is now a hot topic everywhere. Are you getting any of the hype?
I realise that, I'm not in the tunnel. I'm very much in touch with the outside world, not a loner. If you're that type of person, it's perhaps easier to be a single-handed sailor. I sometimes feel alone, lonely, and then I turn my gaze outwards and communicate with the outside world. And then people tell me "look here, there are lots of reports, lots of nice comments". That makes me happy, of course. You simply get positive feedback.
There have already been several collisions with flotsam. Has the Oscar camera system in the masthead already warned you of a danger in the water?
Yes, I had a warning, went out and then there was a fender about 80 centimetres in the water nearby, so it worked. But the collision with Sam Davis, that could have been whales. The system wouldn't help with that; it can't see underwater. That's why we have the whale pinger, to scare them away.
There has been a lot of disruption at the moment. How do you assess the situation?
We are not yet at the normal rate of cancellations for the Vendée, which is often around 47 to 50 percent. Unfortunately, that's almost the norm, but of course you're very saddened by each individual case, and I've also written to my colleagues to express my condolences, so to speak. Every individual case is unique, you can't generalise. There's a lot of bad luck involved. I myself feel very solid in the race and I'm very sure that I'll get there - good luck, good luck, good luck.
How much work does it actually take to sail the boat fast? How much trimming work do you do?
The sails are almost maximised on this course. It's more about the autopilot settings. It has various intelligent functions that I set, but which also have to be readjusted manually if the wind gets weaker or stronger. So it's more about intervening in the autopilot that keeps you busy. But it's also the constant worried look, asking yourself, what am I doing now? Then I fall off, the boat slows down, there's no more spray on deck. That gives me the opportunity to take a look at everything, to see if it's OK.
Making something to eat, moving around on the boat, it all takes so much energy. The effort isn't just cranking the sheets or when I have to retract my foil, like this morning. Then I've had three sunny spells in the last twelve hours. I have to furl the mainsail all the way and tighten it again. It's a bit of a sprint, quite a feat of strength.
It's exhausting and, above all, not enjoyable sailing. I also wanted to enjoy this race. When the boat is pitching and pitching and undercutting like this, when you go into the wave like this, you suffer with the boat. It's just not nice, and I'm longing for a long wave, for a moderate glide, simply for better conditions.
So you spend a lot of time below deck on the computer and trim the boat using the autopilot?
Yes, I regulate via the computer and the remote control. But yesterday I still got really caught out. The boat took off into a surf, I had set an average speed to a maximum of 25 knots. But the boat accelerated in the gust, just wouldn't stop, and when I stormed out, the speedometer was at 38 knots. And the boat thundered into the next wave at this speed. Of course, with Kevin's stories, you're really worried that something will break. All the alarms went off. The computer keyboard I had on my lap flew ten metres into the foredeck, that's how strong the deceleration was. Of course, the ship then went off course and I had to furl the main. These are simply very unpleasant experiences, and that's why I'm travelling so haltingly slowly at the moment.
How do you actually relax in such conditions?
Good question. I read Whatsapp messages or listen to the voice messages. Matze Steiner sends me the Hamburg-Aktuell podcast, which helps me switch off. And when I'm lying in my bunk, I read a few more pages to fall asleep.
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
