© © Anne Beaugé / Retour à La Base

When he emerged from a breezy, wet, challenging Bay of Biscay this afternoon to conclude his 3.500 miles solo race from Martinique, German skipper Boris Herrmann (Malizia-Seaexplorer) secured fourth place on the Retour à La Base. He crossed the finish line at 12:02:41hrs UTC for an elapsed time of 9d 20h 02m 41s. His delta to race winner Yoann Richomme (Paprec-Arkéa) is 19h 58m 53s and he finishes 12h 19min 20s behind Britain’s third placed Sam Goodchild (For The Planet). 

After racing on the crewed around the world race earlier this year and finishing fifth with Will Harris on the outward double-handed race to Martinique, the Transat Jacques Vabre, before he went back to singlehanded race Herrmann talked pre-start of fleeting moments of self-doubt coupled to his hunger to return to solo mode.  

But in fact Germany’s most popular sailor has conclusively proven he has the boat, the aptitude, the resilience and the mindset to perform on the next edition and go more than one place better than his 5th on the 2020-2021 Vendée Globe. 

Herrmann was in the match from the start gun off Fort-de-France on Thursday 30th November. His choice of staying offshore of the fleet allowed him to lead on the short leg to the Diamond Rock and set him up for the long northwards climb to the train of Atlantic depressions. In the top 10 on the ascent as soon as the winds built Malizia-Seaexplorer made gains and when French skipper Seb Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) had to pitstop into Flores in the Azores with a power blackout, Herrmann moved up to fourth. 

4 - Malizia – Seaexplorer
Finished:  10/12/2023 12:02:41 UTC
Elapsed time : 9d 20h 02min 41s
Delta to 1st  : 19h 58min 53s
Delta to finisher ahead : 12h 19min 20s
Theoretical course : 3 497.42 nm / 14.82 nds
Real course : 4 490.12 nm / 19.02 nds