Yesterday evening at around 7pm, the Briton rammed flotsam or a marine animal at full speed and then turned northwards to avoid the strong winds and swell, just like Sébastien Simon, and to investigate the damage to the boat more closely. At the position update this morning at 09:00, she was still travelling north at six knots. There are still no further details of the damage or how and where exactly the boat was hit.
Sébastien Simon is also still sailing north after his heavy crash yesterday, even at a speed of just under 3 knots. He is discussing with his team whether an emergency repair of his "Arkéa-Paprec" is possible.
"Charal", "Hugo Boss", "Arkéa Paprec", "Initiatives-Cœur" - the list of boats that have collided with unspecified objects in the sea is getting longer and longer. And this is despite the fact that many of the top teams in the masthead have the high-tech Oscar thermal imaging camera system. Boris Herrmann also uses it and is the only one in the field to have linked it to the autopilot so that it can perform evasive manoeuvres independently in an emergency.
When asked by YACHT, Boris Herrmann commented by Voice message from on board to the limits of the system on board - at least in heavy weather like now.
Go to the race tracker here
Meanwhile, Louis Burton's attack on the leading "Apivia" continues in the race. Over the course of the night, the Breton made up 50 miles on Charlie Dalin with his "Bureau Vallée 2", is now only 200 nautical miles behind and has taken over second place from Thomas Ruyant ("LinkedOut"). However, his speed has now dropped to 15 knots in the rough weather of the storm, which he has to deal with the hardest. Obviously, he is now also taking his foot off the gas. However, as he is heading almost directly east, whereas Dalin is heading north-east, he is taking almost 7 miles per hour from him in the VMG (distance in the direction of the finish). So it's going to be exciting.
Charlie Dalin philosophised about this at length in yesterday's lunchtime interview: "I've never spent so much time slowing down a boat in a regatta. Almost 50 per cent of the time I have to be careful not to push too hard so that everything stays intact. A very unusual situation for a regatta sailor!"
Boris Herrmann's team colleague Will Harris gives a good outlook on the racing action for the next few days, presenting the weather route alternatives for the various groups, including the swell forecast.
Will Harris on the weather tactics for the next few days
Andreas Fritsch
Editor Travel
