Boris Herrmann wins IMOCA Globe Series

IMOCA – Championship 2018-2021

 

Monday 8^th February 2021. Congratulations to Boris Herrmann, 5^th in the Vendée Globe on Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco, who was pronounced the 2018-2021 IMOCA Globe Series Champion, with Yannick Bestaven and Charlie Dalin completing the podium.

The championship is calculated by accumulating the scores obtained by skippers in the major IMOCA Class races, including the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum, Transat Jacques Vabre, Bermudes 1000 Race and the new Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d’Olonne. The German skipper competed in and completed all these races, finishing 6^th in the Bermudes 1000, 7^th in the Rolex Fastnet Race and 5^th in Route du Rhum.

“In order to prepare well, be safe and create value for our sponsors and develop the project, we wanted to sail the full IMOCA programme,” he said. “We never abandoned a race which is great. Of course, there is a bit of luck involved. But not abandoning is really important for me, even more important than the results of any race in particular,” added the skipper whose Vendée Globe nearly ended 90 miles from the finish when he collided with a Spanish fishing trawler.

“On behalf of all my IMOCA colleagues, we congratulate Boris and Team Malizia who have completed a very impressive IMOCA Globe Series,” said IMOCA Class President Antoine Mermod. “Boris is a modest champion, but his achievement at the head of a very competitive ranking underlines that Team Malizia has set a high standard and we look forward to seeing them back for the new 2021-25 series”.

 

Two ambitions: sport and the environment

Passionate about the sea and environment, Boris is also a member of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The boat Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco, on which he participated in the IMOCA Championship, reflects that commitment, for example being equipped with solar panels and hydroelectric generators to avoid using fossil fuels.

On board, an automated laboratory managed by Boris was operating 24/7 collecting and measuring data from the ocean which was transmitted to scientists at the Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Géomar in Kiel and IFREMER in Brest. Air and sea temperatures, salinity, CO2 and PH levels were among the information gathered during this lap of the world in remote regions not usually traversed by scientists. His commitment extends to the boat’s name, Seaexplorer, a reference to an initiative led by Kuehne + Nagel to measure the impact of CO2 emissions in the shipping freight sector.

 

Boris to return to Monaco soon

Boris Herrmann should be returning to the Principality in March 2021 to celebrate his 5^th place in the Vendée Globe and this championship title.