In just a few days, Boris Herrmann will once again embark on the Vendée Globe, a challenging solo and non-stop race around the world. The veteran sailor, who is arguably one of the event’s top contenders, will captain the Malizia-Seaexplorer, a high-tech yacht backed by the Yacht Club de Monaco. As well as trying to better his fifth-place finish in the 2020/21 edition, Herrmann will be collecting a range of scientific data as he travels along the epic route.
The 10th Vendée Globe is scheduled to begin on 10th November and competitors have already started to gather in the French coastal town of Les Sables-d’Olonne, which will be the departing point for the sailors taking on this incredible 24,300-nautical-mile solo race around the world.
Since its inception in 1989, the race has tested the skills and endurance of the world’s most intrepid sailors, among them Boris Herrmann, a German national with ties to the Principality of Monaco, who finished in fifth place in the 2020/21 event.
Now, he is poised and ready to take on Vendée Globe for the second time in his career and he will be at the helm of the Monaco Yacht Club-based IMOCA Malizia-Seaexplorer, the first boat developed under his own management, for this landmark race.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANGLE
Beyond the intense competition, the German captain will also take part in an environmental scientific project as he travels the epic route. Funded by the Vendée Globe Endowment Fund of which Prince Albert II of Monaco is Honorary President, Herrmann will conduct research by collecting samples from little-traveled parts of the Southern Ocean.
“The sea is deeply rooted in the DNA of the Principality of Monaco,” says Prince Albert II. “Following in the footsteps of Prince Albert I, we are perpetuating this unique relationship between Monaco and the ocean. Through exceptional adventures such as the one that Boris Herrmann is about to embark on with boldness and courage, we are also spreading my Foundation’s message in favor of the preservation of the oceans to remind us of the importance of protecting this universal heritage.”
Herrmann’s vessel has been equipped with instruments that will allow him to measure oceanic conditions such as salinity, temperature, oxygen levels and CO2 content. It has also been fitted with a high-tech weather buoy to measure atmospheric pressure, surface currents and temperature.
NEW BOAT FOR 2024/25 RACE
The 60-foot Malizia-Seaexplorer was launched in 2022 and has been designed to be both seaworthy and comfortable. With a sail area of 270m² upwind and 500m² downwind, the yacht has already proven itself in previous global races and is considered a strong contender in this year’s competition.
Pierre Casiraghi, the Vice-President of the Yacht Club de Monaco and the co-founder of Team Malizia alongside Herrmann, has expressed his utmost confidence in the yacht, saying, “We’ve designed a boat capable of maintaining high average speeds in difficult sea conditions. We chose softer hull lines and a curved bow while reinforcing the robustness of the boat and rethinking both the ergonomics and living area.”
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In picture: Prince Albert II of Monaco with members of Team Malizia, Boris Herrmann (second from right) and Pierre Casiraghi (far right)
Photo credit: Yacht Club de Monaco