Boiling water tipped over - sailor Herrmann missed the second stage

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Boris Herrmann and his crew finished third on the first stage

Photo: Antoine Auriol / dpa

Sailor Boris Herrmann has to give up his participation in the second stage of the sea marathon "Ocean Race" after a mishap.

As his team Malizia announced, the 41-year-old suffered a severe burn on his foot from boiling water shortly before the end of the first section.

Pause due to high risk of infection

"I am very sad that I cannot sail this stage with my team, especially after the success of stage one," said Herrmann, who will be taking a break at sea on medical advice due to the high risk of infection: "I am more motivated than ever, but I don't want to jeopardize my participation in stage three, nor risk our performance in stage two being affected.« According to Malizia, Herrmann is »under medical treatment and recovering well«.

Frenchman Yann Elies will replace him on the second stage, while Briton Will Harris will take over the role of Herrmann's skipper.

Target third stage

Herrmann will now "travel directly to South Africa to be with my wife and daughter and to recover so that I am ready for the challenge of the third stage in the Southern Ocean." He continued: "I will use the time on land to to work closely with our performance group, analyze the boat data and prepare the debriefing for the sailors arrival in Cape Town.

I look forward to welcoming the team to South Africa in a strong position.«

The »Malizia-Seaexplorer« completed the first stage over 1900 nautical miles from Alicante to Mindelo/Cape Verde in five days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds and thus took third place.

In total, the five crews that have started have to cover 60,000 km around the world over a period of six months.

The second of seven legs of the 14th Mindelo to Cape Town Ocean Race begins on Wednesday.

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