Boris Herrmann finishes Vendée Globe but the fight against climate change continues

It’s done! Boris Herrmann has successfully finished the Vendée Globe on fifth place. Huge congratulations! Finishing the race – a non-stop, unassisted, single-handed round the world race via the three capes – would be impressive on its own, but there is more to the story. Boris Herrmann and Team Malizia are on a quest to raise awareness and to ensure a better and cleaner future for our oceans.

On 28 Janurary 2021, after exactly 80 days, 15 hours and 45 seconds on the sea, Boris crossed the finish line in Les Sables-d'Olonne and was welcomed by his team and reunited with his wife, little daughter and family dog. The single sailor had just finished the world’s toughest regatta from France towards the Cape of Good Hope, then east around Antarctica passing by Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn, finally tacking back to the starting point. The solo racer had to deal with not only wind, waves, swell and ice in his 18 meters long yacht, Seaexplorer, but also a handful of unexpected and dangerous situations. Not to mention lack of sleep add to the physical strain.

This was Boris’ first time participating in the Vendée Globe, but he had overall an amazing consistent race supported by his professional team that helped him to navigate and strategize. “20 years ago it was a dream to sail in this race. It became always more concrete and now I have done it. It is an unbelievably amazing feeling to have achieved this together with my team”, said Boris smiling after the race.

But the journey was not without its ups and downs. Cape Horn was only 500 miles ahead when Boris found himself with not only a faulty generator but soon also a torn mainsail. With stormy conditions and little sleep, Herrmann managed to keep a cool head and to take care of all necessary repairs while passing the South Point for the fifth time in his life. A few weeks later, and only 90 miles from the Vendée Globe finishing line, Boris had another incident when he collided with a fishing trawler. "I was sleeping and I woke up. I was in the cockpit looking up a huge wall, which was the fish trawler. That was a real shock moment,” said Boris when recapping the events. Boris was unhurt and overcame the shock within a few hours, but his ship was damaged slowing him down and stripping away the chance to win a place at the podium. “On the positive side, we are still in the race,” Boris reflected a few hours after the incident. He showed amazing strength of character and determination in staying calm under such dramatic circumstances. Certainly, something we can all learn from.

Hapag-Lloyd is a proud sponsor of Boris and his Team Malizia and we have a mutual mission to raise awareness of climate neutrality and ocean health in shipping. Even though Boris has finished the Vendée Globe itself, the fight against climate change continues. The Seaexplorer carries the message “A Race We Must Win”, on her sails – a call to protect the environment in a race against time. On all of its voyages, Boris and his team work together with scientists and climate institutes to better understand the role that the oceans play for the world’s climate. During the Vendée Globe, Boris Herrmann collected data on water temperatures, salt levels as well as pH and CO2 levels. The data will help to study the impact of climate change on the oceans. As Boris Herrmann creates transparency for science, the partners Hapag-Lloyd, Kuehne+Nagel, CMA CGM and MSC create transparency on the CO2 emissions of ocean shipping.