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He was supposed to arrive around midnight ... But it was about twelve hours later.
Boris Herrmann successfully sailed almost 52,000 kilometers on the Vendée Globe.
Since November.
Alone!
Once around the world.
The unbelievable happened 90 nautical miles from the destination: His yacht Seaexplorer collided with a fishing trawler.
O-Ton Boris Herrmann »I slept and something was. I woke up. I was here in the cockpit and saw the huge hull of a fishing trawler. My starboard side hung by his side. My headsail was attached to the trawler's cranes. I heard it crack. I kept bumping into the ship with the boom. Fortunately, I then slipped by and got free. But that was a real shock. "
He took a deep breath, went quickly below deck and got dressed.
O-Ton Boris Herrmann »Then I first examined the most important things. No water has penetrated. The boom is damaged. The bowsprit has been torn off. The tattered sail fluttered in the wind. "
Herrmann is working flat out to restore his Seaexplorer to the point where he can continue sailing.
He wants to finish the race.
He is making headway at a speed of just eight knots, a good 15 kilometers per hour.
Before the crash he was sailing at 20 knots.
O-Ton Boris Herrmann »I'm really down. And I'm sorry for everyone who supported me so much that this happened. It is surely the worst nightmare that ever happened to me. The positive: We are still in the race. We still have a mast. And 85 miles to the destination. I think it'll work. "
He finished fourth.
He just missed a place on the podium due to the accident.
Even victory would have been possible if he hadn't rammed the trawler.
O-Ton Boris Herrmann »What really breaks my head: How did that happen? I had turned on all the warning systems. I met many ships in the afternoon. Radar and AIS warning system worked perfectly. Oscar (a flotsam sonar device) ran smoothly. I've tested all the systems over and over again. "
He just cannot explain why there was no warning as he approached the trawler.
One guess: the AIS system on the trawler was switched off.
A detailed investigation should follow.
O-Ton Boris Herrmann »It breaks my heart. But we'll get it."
The Frenchman Charlie Dahlin was the first to cross the finish line last night.
After 80 days, six hours and 47 seconds.
However, his compatriot Yannick Bestavan won, although he crossed the finish line later.
He benefited from a time credit he received for helping on a rescue operation for shipwrecked competitor Kevin Escoffier.
It feels like a dream, says Bestavan. He has the feeling that he is living in a dream or that he is hallucinating.
We're going from total solitude to this, to this party, to these lights.
Around the world in eighty days.
This Vende Globe is history.
Boris Herrmann didn't win the race, but won a lot of sympathy.
Now the Hamburg resident wants to recover from the exertions with his wife and daughter.
