Transat Jacques Vabre: Boris Herrmann in an attacking mood
Boris Herrmann and Will Harris are back at full speed in the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre. Technical problems had taken the German-British duo off course one day after the start of the Atlantic race. Team Malizia dropped out of the top five on Wednesday due to a defect in the main compass and problems with the autopilot and slipped to twelfth place. The problems have since been rectified. "Everything is fine again and we are taking it in turns to rest. After the technical problems, we are catching up as much as possible. At the moment we're eleventh and we're still gaining miles," said Herrmann on Thursday.
At the head of the Imoca field, the favorite "Charal" is 100 nautical miles ahead of the German boat. The best Imoca women are performing conspicuously strongly in this initial phase of the Transat classic. In the Swiss Justine Mettraux and Julien Villion ("Teamwork.net"), the British Samantha Davies with Ocean Race winner Jack Bouttell ("Inititatives Cœur") and the French Clarisse Crémer with Alan Roberts ("L'Occitane en Provence"), three female skippers were in the top ten on Thursday afternoon in fourth, sixth and ninth place. In the 30-year history of the Transat, Ellen MacArthur is the first woman to finish on the Imoca podium. The British woman had finished second in 2005 with Roland Jourdain.
In the Class 40 fleet, Lennart Burke and Melwin Fink on "Sign for Com" were the only purely German duo to advance to 16th place three days after their start. The fleet of the smallest transat boats battled through calmer winds on Thursday after stormy endurance tests on course for the Azores. Burke and Fink reported that, unlike many others, their boat was "in very good condition". In Imocas as well as in the Class 40, many teams had to call at repair ports. The Class 40 field is expected to arrive in the finish port of Fort-de-France on Martinique shortly after the Imocas on November 22.
Boris Herrmann mentioned that after rectifying their technical issues, they're still gaining miles and currently in eleventh position during the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre, where they're engaged in sailing. Despite being behind the leader "Charal" by 100 nautical miles, Team Malizia is determined to make up for the lost time in the Atlantic race.
Source: www.dpa.com
