IMOCA – Malizia-Seaexplorer – Vendée Globe

This morning skipper Boris Herrmann woke to the realisation that the hook on his J2 headsail had broken. The sail is safely secured on deck and the mast’s integrity remains intact for the time being. But unless he can create a new hook system, he will have to continue the race without his most important headsail in terms of performance. Problems are piling up for the skipper. After climbing to the top of the mast to repair a rigging problem and being struck by lightning earlier this week, he finds himself facing another technical challenge.

A technical problem slowing him down

“If the Vendée Globe was easy, lots of people would do it,” he said in a video sent from Malizia-Seaexplorer. Having completed three-quarters of the course without any major difficulties, this week has been particularly challenging.  He can’t use the J2 sail because of the broken hook and yet it is indispensable. “The hook of the J2 broke, so the sail had slipped part-way down the forestay, and that also ripped the sail’s halyard”. He explained that his is “the only boat to have this hook mechanism on this sail. Ultimately, I feel it’s my responsibility to get myself out of this situation”. For now, he can’t hoist one of his most used sails.

Difficult solutions to implement

As a result he is very likely to lose ground against the competition. “I’m sailing with the J3 which is fine for the moment but I’ve lost several miles already, probably 10-12 while sorting this out,” he admitted. To solve it he must grit his teeth and climb the mast again, but has to wait for more favourable weather conditions. Malizia-Seaexplorer is slower without the J2: “Until I can hoist it again, we will probably be 30-40% slower. The worst case scenario is that I drop to 10th in the ranking”. Boris is already preparing to defend his position against the next group behind him which includes Samantha Davies, Clarisse Crémer and Benjamin Dutreux.