„I really found a hunger to sail alone again”, were some of the final words Boris said before stepping aboard the Malizia – Seaexplorer. On thursday the 30th of November 2023 Boris Herrmann, skipper of the Malizia - Seaexplorer crossed the start line of the Retour a la Base from Martinique to Brittany in France, embarking on a 3500 nautical mile journey across the Atlantic.
And this “hunger” Boris was talking about seems to have a tremendously positive effect on his sailing performance:
Now nearly a week in, Boris is safely situated in the front of the pack, currently sailing in 5th position.
With his current positioning he is therefore well on the way to achieving his personal goal for this race, which was to be in the top ten boats to cross the finish line just off the coast of Lorient, France.
Whilst several of his competitors need to successfully sail this race in order to meet the requirements for a Vendee Globe 2024/25 qualification, Boris has already secured a spot in that highly challenging race, meaning he can participate in this race with no extra pressures.
These less stressful circumstances will allow him to make different, possibly more risky and courageous decisions. Decisions that he may not have made, had he had to play it safe and needed this race to attain a Vendee Globe qualification.
The German skipper explained that he could go confidently into this race, as “everything ha[d] gone well this year. We have sailed a fantastic Ocean Race,had a good second half of the season with improvements to the boat, the boat is now sailing even faster than before. I feel well prepared and supported by an amazing team that has put in a lot of effort in the past months and I want to make them proud.”
The boats current ETA is predicted to be either Saturday the 9th or Sunday the 10th of December.
Until then, still anything could happen: the race is not over until it is over.