Boris Herrmann finishes second in Route du Rhum on Malizia 4, 129 days after launch

Finish off Guadeloupe

Boris Herrmann crossed the finish line off Pointe-à-Pitre on Guadeloupe at 09:10 on 12 November, taking second place in the Imoca class of the Route du Rhum. The 45-year-old sailor from Hamburg completed the 3,542 nautical mile solo race from Saint-Malo in 10 days, 20 hours, 8 minutes and 36 seconds. He finished one day after the French Imoca winner Corentin Horeau. The result is his first podium with the new Malizia 4, which was launched 129 days before the race. Herrmann is a six-time circumnavigator, and this was his third Route du Rhum.

A race of changing winds

The 13th edition started on 1 November from Saint-Malo with 115 solo skippers in six classes. When Herrmann finished, 18 of the 22 Imoca starters were still racing. Conditions were changeable and hard to predict, and the trade winds that skippers had hoped for in the final stretch barely appeared. The last miles around Guadeloupe turned into a slow crawl. Elodie Bonafous, sailing for Association Petit Princes Queguiner, pressed him closely from behind, but Herrmann held a narrow lead to the line. Earlier in the race, Tom Laperche had won the overall title in record time with the Ultim trimaran SVR-Lazartigue.

Route choices and the chase

Early on, Herrmann made a choice similar to the one Horeau made, sailing a more southerly route than several favourites who headed north. That decision lifted him to second place on the third day of racing. Sam Goodchild, sailing for Macif, briefly drew level with him, but Herrmann struck back. He came out of a large calm faster than anyone except Horeau, who was ahead of him, and he kept the silver place to the finish. Herrmann's previous best result in this race was fifth place in 2018, and he finished 22nd four years ago.

20185

202222

20262

2018

5 place

2022

22 place

2026

2 place

Data from the article text

Setbacks across the fleet

By the time of Herrmann's finish, 18 retirements had been recorded on the Atlantic course. Two podium contenders finished injured. Jérémie Beyou had suffered a head injury along with several vertebra and rib fractures. Ambrogio Beccaria ended the race after a fall in the cockpit, with severe muscle bruising and breathing difficulties. Francesca Clapcich's 11th Hour Racing, the former Malizia 3, lost its bowsprit. Goodchild retired with sail damage. Herrmann had only comparatively minor technical problems.

What comes next

Herrmann's next major target is the Ocean Race, the leading team race around the world, which starts on 17 January in Alicante, Spain, with his Team Malizia. His longer-term goal is his third Vendée Globe, the solo round-the-world race that takes place every four years in 2028/29. That race is described as perhaps the hardest sailing race in the world, covering about 45,000 kilometres without stopovers or outside help.