After the first stage of the Ocean Race, Boris Herrmann was almost euphoric (“super happy”) about the performance of the “Malizia” and her four-man crew. Not only the third place – behind Kevin Escoffier’s “Holcim” and Charlie Enright’s “11th Hour” – made him confident, but above all the speed potential, which the Malizians knew how to exploit better every day, so that they always had a top speed of 35 knots more open to the leadership duo.
But now Herrmann’s joy gets an unexpected damper. The four-time circumnavigator will not be able to contest the next leg to Cape Town due to a burn on his foot. The team announced this surprisingly on Monday night. In the rough conditions of the first days of racing, the extreme sailor had scalded himself with hot water. The team doctor now advised against further immediate use. Because of the high risk of infection that exists on board for such injuries.
“I’m really sad that I can’t take part in the upcoming stage,” says Herrmann, “but I don’t want to affect the team’s performance.” to prepare optimally for the next Vendée Globe, he should have made a full recovery.
Boiling water burns are a common injury on board. Although the water is heated in a tall tank for the sole purpose of pouring it into a bag of freeze-dried food, this operation is extremely dangerous on a yacht shaken by constant knocks and tossing at high speed.
Herrmann thus hands over command on board to his partner Will Harris earlier than expected. The 29-year-old Briton has been sailing at Herrmann’s side for years and was also heavily involved in the construction of the new “Malizia” building. It was planned anyway that he would take over the skipper role in the fourth stage so that Herrmann could be with his family.
The team is joined by Yann Eliès, a French ace of the Imoca scene who makes a low profile with his taciturn manner and finished fifth at the 2014/15 Vendée Globe. The three-time winner of the Figaro de Solitaire gave Herrmann valuable tips for his entry into solo sailing with the complex 18-meter racers. The fact that he is now stepping in motivates him enormously. His experience and proven competitive toughness should make the “Malizia” even more competitive in the coming passages.
Dividing the Ocean Race into seven stages also turns the race around the world into a technological race. While the Imoca sailors otherwise do not have the opportunity to compensate for disadvantages through technical corrections within a race, the development teams on land are now feverishly busy working out improvements that are implemented in the stage ports. This continues to put the stage winners from the “Holcim” team under pressure.
Nothing has even been decided yet. Nevertheless, Robert Stanjek, Philip Kasüske and their comrades-in-arms from the “Guyot” team need a bit of optimism when they reach the finish line on Cape Verde. The team around skipper Benjamin Dutreux knew that their boat would not quite correspond to the technological level of the new shipyard competition. Nevertheless, the repairs that cost valuable time accumulated, so that the backlog added up to more than a day.
On the second stage, the Imoca fleet will have to deal with ideal speed conditions right from the start. Expect the foiling five to stay close together as far as the equator. There it is then necessary to find a good passage through the low-wind doldrums. Then there’s a long trek south, which will likely be won by whichever team is the first to venture into the stormy conditions of the Southern Ocean. “We have a steep learning curve,” believes Robert Stanjek and is confident that he can improve his position.
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