Sail a lot, break little: Boris Herrmann's multifaceted success can be summarised in a nutshell with this simple formula. With fifth place in his Vendée Globe premiere, Herrmann has won the multi-year Imoca series championship from 2018 to 2021. This is also a historic achievement, as the series was newly created in this form by the class association. Furthermore, no German has ever before been able to play so persistently at the top of the French-influenced Imoca concert.
Herrmann has taken part in all the relevant regattas in the series with impressive consistency in recent years. Consistency is the key to his victory. The championship is decided by the results of the skippers and their teams in selected official solo and double-handed races. Boris Herrmann took part in all the races and finished each one. That alone is an outstanding achievement, which enabled him to relegate the French Vendée Globe winner Yannick Bestaven ("Maître Coq IV") and the Vendée Globe runner-up Charlie Dalin ("Apivia") to second and third place in the final standings of the championship series. Herrmann's offensive over the years 2018 to early 2021 was based on calculation: "In order to prepare well, sail safely, create added value for our partners and further develop the project, we wanted to sail as much as possible."
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Herrmann is proud of the series victory: "We finished all the races and never cancelled one. That's great. And it's really important to me. It's more important than the result in a single race. But of course it also takes a bit of luck." Aside from the Vendée Globe, Herrmann finished seventh in the Monaco Globe series and fifth in the Route du Rhum in 2018. In 2019, he sailed to sixth place in the Bermudes 1000 and seventh place in the Rolex Fastnet Race. He finished twelfth in the Transat Jacques Vabre in the same year, before finishing seventh in the Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables-d'Olonne in the first year of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Ed Gorman, British journalist and author of the Imoca press release on Herrmann's series win, wrote that Herrmann "sailed all these races in his characteristically conservative style and made sure his boat reached the finish line".
Despite all the joy about his crowning achievement, Herrmann also remained modest: "Of course I'm delighted, but we also have to remain honest. I think that Yannick's project started later than ours and not everyone had the financial background or the planning possibilities to take part in all the races." Imoca class director Antoine Mermod congratulated Herrmann on his achievement: "On behalf of all my Imoca colleagues, I congratulate Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia, who have completed a very impressive Imoca Globe series. He is a humble champion, but his achievements and his position at the top of a very competitive classification underline that Team Malizia has set a high standard when it comes to competing in the Imoca class. We look forward to seeing the team again in the new series."
Yannick Bestaven is also a fan of the new Imoca series, which has just come to an end. It has enabled him and his team to prepare well for the Vendée Globe. Bestaven said of his own placing: "This second place rewards the work of my team over the past four years. I knew that the more I took part in regattas in the Globe series, the better equipped I would be for the race around the world." The "Maître Coq IV" skipper continued: "I also think it's great that Boris has won the series. He was already very deserving of the Vendée Globe and it's been good for the internationality of the class since 2018 to have sailors like him taking part. I hope that continues. I also believe in the partnership with The Ocean Race and hope that more international teams will join us in the Imoca class."
Boris Herrmann can serve as a positive role model and trailblazer for them, as the Hamburg native was welcomed by the class with open arms: "The French made us feel welcome. We use the same infrastructure in Lorient as they do. And we train with them at the Pôle Finistère Course au Large. Everyone there has a great sporting spirit. There is such good camaraderie. I have the feeling that part of my soul is almost French. I speak French, I live there and I also enjoy being there." Thomas Ruyant ("LinkedOut") took fourth place in the series ranking, followed by Jérémie Beyou ("Charal"), Damien Seguin ("Groupe Apicil"), Louis Burton ("Bureau Vallée 2"), Giancarlo Pedote ("Prysmian Group"), Clarisse Crémer ("Banque Populaire X") and Jean Le Cam ("Yes We Cam!").
Click here for the overall result of the Imoca Globe Series (please click!).
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
