The German solo circumnavigator Boris Herrmann was on a podium course at the regatta Vendée Globe.
But shortly before the finish line, there was a serious accident.
Around the world in 80 days - the German sailor
Boris Herrmann
took part in the
Vendée Globe
regatta
.
On Wednesday evening,
the hamburger
collided
with a fishing boat
shortly before the finish
.
Herrmann's boat was damaged in the accident - as a result, he missed a
podium
.
Les Sables-d'Olonne - German solo circumnavigator
Boris Herrmann
was right
on course
at the
Vendée Globe regatta
- and had the best chances of a
podium place
, even victory.
But on Wednesday evening at 8:50 p.m.,
after 80 days of
sailing around the world,
the man from Hamburg
collided
with a fishing boat shortly before the destination.
Vendée Globe: Herrmann collides shortly before the goal - "The worst nightmare"
“That was
the worst nightmare
”,
Herrmann
let
his frustration run free on Thursday morning.
The chances of
landing on a podium or even winning
the
Vendée Globe *
were gone due to the accident.
With his yacht “Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco”, the 39-year-old only sailed for fourth place.
“I
fought like a lion
the days before
.
Maybe I'll never get that close to a podium again? ”
Said Herrmann *
.
Because of the
damage to his boat
, the skipper had to reduce his speed significantly.
The
morning was calculated
as the arrival time at the
destination Les Sables-d'Olonne
.
"It's pretty heartbreaking, but we'll make it," said Herrmann.
Vendée Globe: collision about 90 nautical miles from the destination - no injuries
The
German
collision
with the fishing boat happened
around 90 nautical miles
from the French coastal town - after more than 99.6 percent of the distance.
"I looked up at a huge wall,"
Herrmann
described
the moments of the accident.
Among other things, a foresail got caught in the trawler's cranes and one of its foils (wings) broke.
To do this, he heard his boom hammer several times into the side of the other boat.
"It was a
real shock,
" he said.
Why Herrmann's well-functioning
alarm systems
failed
until Wednesday evening
and did not wake him up in time, the 39-year-old did not initially know how to explain.
Fortunately for him, the
racing yacht
pushed
past the other boat, the mast stopped.
Herrmann
, who brought
Greta Thunberg
on the sailing boat across the Atlantic to the climate conference in New York in
2019
, and the
crew of the fishing boat
were
uninjured
in the accident
.
+
Boris Herrmann brought Greta Thunberg with his sailboat across the Atlantic to the climate conference in New York in 2019.
© picture alliance / dpa / AP Pool |
Kirsty Wigglesworth
Vendée Globe: Herrmann missed the podium - French Yannick Bestaven wins the race
At the time of the
collision
,
Herrmann was
in third place and even had a
chance of victory
thanks to a time credit of six hours
.
On the night of November 30th to December 1st, the German was involved in the rescue mission for a shipwrecked opponent, for which he was credited with time by the competition management.
Frenchman
Yannick Bestaven
won the
Vendée Globe
.
The 48-year-old skipper of the “Maître Coq IV” did not reach the destination until 7:43 hours after his compatriot Charlie Dalin (“Apivia”).
However, a time credit of 10:15 hours on the total sailing time was enough for him to be successful.
(ph / dpa) * Merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editors network