TURIN, Italy, Nov. 07, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- “Despite having done it before, this remains the ultimate challenge”. Boris Herrmann, German sailor and member of Yacht Club de Monaco, is ready to participate to the 10th edition of the Vendée Globe, the single-handed, non-stop, non-assisted round-the-world sailing race, taking place every 4 years since the 1989. “There is no other race like it”, he added during a press conference held from Les Sables-d’Olonne, in France, where the race, rounding the three legendary capes (Good Hope, Leeuwin and finally Cape Horn) before returning to Les Sables d'Olonne, will set out on November 10th. Herrmann is among the 40 sailors participating in this epic 24,300 nautical mile (45,000km) and he will race aboard the Monaco-flagged IMOCA Malizia-Seaexplorer. Winner of the IMOCA 2018/2020 Championship and 5th in the previous Vendée Globe (in 80 days 15 hours 59 minutes 45 seconds), Herrmann was the first German to ever compete in the Vendée Globe. “The beauty of it is that even if you are 5,000 miles away, everything can still happen and eveything can be turned around. I’m excited, in a good mental mood, I’m prepared and feel very much connected to the boat. I feel very close to it also because I helped building it from scratch”, added Herrmann. After 45,000 construction hours, the new Malizia-Seaexplorer was launched in July 2022. With 270m2 of sail upwind and 550m2 downwind, the 60-footer has already completed nearly three round-the-worlds solo, double-handed and crewed.

Hermann is looking forward to get to Cape Horn, “which for us is the Everest of the sea and one of the reasons to do the race. To get there it’s a magical moment, a big dream”. At the start to encourage him will be HSH Prince Albert II, YCM President, Pierre Casiraghi, YCM Vice-President and founder of Team Malizia, and Bernard d’Alessandri, the Club’s General Secretary.

Over half the fleet is collaborating on a scientific project that will make a significant contribution to enriching science databases in the little-frequented areas of the Southern Ocean along the route. It is being done through the new Vendée Globe endowment fund of which HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco is Honorary President. For his part, Boris Herrmann will have the OceanPack on board, a tool to take water samples to measure salinity, temperature, oxygen and CO2 content. He is also one of eight skippers who will have a weather buoy weighing 20kg measuring atmospheric pressure, temperature and surface current. As part of its collective Monaco Capital of Advanced Yachting approach, that promotes innovation in yachting and inspires yacht-related vocations among the young, this round-the world will be followed live by YCM sailors and Monegasque supporters of Team Malizia.

For more information:
Press Office LaPresse - ufficio.stampa@lapresse.it

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/567be098-7095-4b46-95fc-272c1e6f0b1c