BORIS HERRMANN TAKES ON SOLO CHALLENGE IN TRANSAT CIC

This Sunday, Team Malizia’s skipper Boris Herrmann will kick off this year’s solo racing season by competing in the Transat CIC, a 3,500 nautical mile sprint from Lorient to New York City. With a set of new foils, improved ergonomics aboard his Malizia – Seaexplorer, and the hunger to sail alone again, Boris Herrmann is ready to face the rough conditions of the North Atlantic and check off the Vendée Globe qualification from his list.

“The North Atlantic and I share a personal connection, and I’m looking forward to tackling its demanding conditions”, said Boris Herrmann a few days prior to the Transat CIC start on Sunday. The race, renowned for its meteorological and maritime challenges, will see our Team Malizia’s skipper competing against 32 IMOCA sailors from Lorient, France, to New York City. It also marks the first of two transatlantic races this year in a rigorous training regime leading up to the Vendée Globe.

“The Transat CIC, now in its 15th edition, is the oldest solo transatlantic race and its rich history dates back to 1960”, noted Boris. “When the famous French sailor Eric Tabarly won aboard Pen Duick in 1964 and 1976 against historically predominant English sailors, it laid a bit of the foundations for French offshore sailing.” Traditionally starting in Plymouth and finishing in the USA, the race is also known as the “Transat anglaise”. This year, it will kick off in Lorient with 48 boats across three classes (33 IMOCA, 13 Class40, and 2 Vintage) racing 3,500 nautical miles from East to West. The IMOCA fleet will set sail at 13:30 local time (CEST) this Sunday 28 April 2024.

With the Vendée Globe on the horizon, Boris wants to log as many solo miles as possible. “In terms of Vendée Globe qualification, I only need to cross the start line of either the Transat CIC or the New York Vendée return race”, explained our Malizia – Seaexplorer skipper at a press conference on Thursday. While some sailors opt to participate in only one, Boris chooses both races. “I want to sail solo in race mode, following a year of predominantly crewed and double-handed racing in 2023. With the previous boat, I had sailed many miles between Monaco, Bermuda, and Hamburg before the Vendée Globe. So I want to give myself the time to find the mood with my boat, gain confidence from the races, and see if I progressed since the Retour à La Base. After the Transat CIC start, there won’t be any qualification pressure, allowing me to focus on just that.”

The Transat CIC route is known for its difficulty, particularly this time of year, when a series of low-pressure systems may force the competitors to sail upwind in fairly challenging and uncomfortable conditions for several days. With no waypoints given by the race instructions, the shortest route heads north towards Newfoundland, but depending on weather conditions, it might not be the fastest.

The fleet will have to avoid two exclusion zones, near the Great Banks and the Azores, introduced by the organisers for marine mammal protection. During the race, Boris Herrmann will again carry the OceanPack, as he has done since 2018, to collect valuable CO2 data for scientists to study the Ocean’s role in the climate system. He will also be among four sailors deploying a weather buoy, which provides crucial atmospheric pressure measurements for climate research and weather forecasting.

“I also have a personal connection with the North Atlantic and this race in particular, because it was the first race of my professional career”, said Boris. “It was in 2008 and known as The Artemis Transat, where I sailed aboard the Beluga Racer Class 40 and finished second. Meeting Giovanni Soldini during that race, which he won, had a great influence on my path later on. We embarked on many adventures together over the following five years. I’ve crossed the North Atlantic with Giovanni many times, with Greta Thunberg for the last time in 2019. I’m eager to return to these waters and sail this route, this time on a foiling IMOCA race yacht.”

“The boat has become faster with the new foils”, reported the Team Malizia skipper, who won the IMOCA show race around the island of Groix on Tuesday. “At the same time, we have regained the sailing characteristics that we knew and liked. In other words, the boat is very tolerant and reacts well, even in rough seas and changing gusty winds. We completed a month of training since the winter refit, with test trips, solo sailing, and confrontations against 13 of our competitors in the Pôle Finistère 24-hour offshore session. The training went well for us and makes us want more.’

Boris Herrmann added: “We won’t be too stressed about the Transat CIC result, though naturally, we would like to be on the podium, like anyone else! But it will likely involve mostly upwind sailing, so the results shouldn’t be taken too much as an indicator for the Vendée Globe.” The New York Vendée starting on 29 May, about three weeks after the arrival in the USA, will see almost the entire IMOCA fleet race to Les Sables d’Olonne. “We can also expect downwind conditions and rough sailing, similar to the Vendée Globe, so it will be a good test”, commented the German skipper.

The Transat CIC promises a sprint across the North Atlantic, with the fastest IMOCA boats possibly completing the race in as little as 8 days. However, more likely ETAs range from 9 to 12 days. As of Friday morning, Boris hadn’t looked too thoroughly at the weather yet: “My primary concern was the conditions at the start, which should be ok. With so many boats, I am cautious about sailing at high speeds so close to each other. Foiling IMOCA yachts can easily be 14-15 metres wide, and when they heel over, it can be difficult to see outside. For now it seems good and for the rest we will have a clearer picture on Saturday when we have various weather briefings, with the race organisers, with Will Harris from our team, and then one with Pôle Finistère as well. Now, I’m really just keen to go sailing solo, to do this race first and then hopefully be even better prepared for the race back.”