Boris Herrmann faces solo end-of-year endurance test
Shortly before the end of the year, Boris Herrmann faces one last endurance test: the 42-year-old sailing pro from Hamburg will start the Retour à la Base transat regatta on November 30. It will take the solo-steered Imoca class boats from Martinique across the Atlantic to the French port city of Lorient. The fastest boats could arrive there as early as December 9.
"If everyone jumps off the boat before the start, I will be alone on the boat for the first time this year," said Boris Herrmann at a press conference two days before the starting signal, which is due to be given at 5 p.m. on Thursday. 33 skippers will be competing alone in their boats after the recently completed two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race. Among them is Munich-born Isabelle Joschke on "Macsf".
After seventh place in the Transat race, Herrmann's sporting goal remains within the framework: "I would be disappointed if I didn't finish in the top ten." The five-time circumnavigator is expecting a rough Atlantic ride that will suit his boat if the winds are right. Boris Herrmann sees the race, one year before his second participation in the Vendée Globe solo circumnavigation, as the annual summit: "I haven't sailed solo yet this year. I'm curious to see where I stand. I feel the hunger for it."
Source: www.dpa.com
