Just over a week into his 2024/25 Vendée Globe adventure, Malizia Seaexplorer captain Boris Herrmann has deployed a weather buoy off Cabo Verde as part of his commitment to gathering valuable scientific information from remote parts of the oceans during his around-the-world voyage.
The realms of science and sailing will converge during Boris Herrmann’s Vendée Globe adventure as the skipper of the Monaco-based Malizia Seaexplorer fulfils his environmental promises alongside his racing goals.
The German captain, one of 40 skippers competing in this world-famous event, set adrift the first of eight weather buoys northwest of Cabo Verde on 18th November, marking the start of his efforts to gather data for researchers during the around-the-world sailing race.
“With our team, we have deployed several weather buoys and other instruments like Argo floats numerous times in recent years, including the previous Vendée Globe, The Ocean Race, the Transat Jacques Vabre 2023, and The Transat CIC this spring,” said Herrmann. “These buoys are very important for meteorology but also for climatology.”
WHAT DO THE BUOYS DO?
The instruments drift with the ocean currents and record crucial information that cannot be measured by other means, such as satellites. This data includes water temperature, surface currents, and atmospheric pressure.
There are currently about 1,300 buoys in the oceans globally, with 230 of those based in the North Atlantic, where Herrmann and the other competitors are currently located.
According to Météo France’s Sébastien Péré: “The data collected by the drifter buoys improves vessel routing, helping to reduce environmental impacts. Boris was one of the pioneers among IMOCA skippers to deploy these buoys. In the Vendée Globe 2020/21, he was one of only three sailors to do so. We are pleased that he has continued to do so over the years. It is great to see that more and more sailors are now doing the same.”
The total number of captains carrying scientific devices for this year’s race has swelled from three in 2021 to 25 in 2024, showing the growing support these initiatives are receiving from the sailing community.
Team Malizia, co-founded by Boris Herrmann and Pierre Casiraghi, has a long track record of promoting ocean conservation and activism. Earlier this year, a measurement from the Malizia Seaexplorer’s data was presented in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports. Scientists determined that the data collected by the racing yacht helped estimate the ocean carbon sink—a natural or artificial reservoir that absorbs and stores atmospheric carbon through physical and biological mechanisms—particularly in under-sampled regions such as the Southern Ocean.
As of 10am on Wednesday 20th November, Herrmann is in 16th place, with 195.21 nautical miles separating the Malizia Seaexplorer from the leading vessel, Vulnerable, captained by the UK’s Sam Goodchild.
For more information on the race or to watch the buoy’s progress, click here.
Read related:
“Cracking start” for Boris Herrmann as he sets sail on his second Vendée Globe challenge
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Photo credit: Boris Herrmann / Team Malizia