While the Les Sables d’Olonne skipper Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil) is completing his final miles towards his home port to complete an emotional, important third place on the Vendée Globe – he should cross the finish line around midnight tonight, Germany’s Boris Herrmann (Malizia-Seaexplorer) is facing a whole new level of challenge after damaging his port foil in the small hours of the morning.
Herrmann, who is lying 10th in the race hit an unknown object or animal in the water at 02:31 UTC when he was approximately 900 nautical miles off Brazil’s northeast corner while sailing at 13.7 knots. He is safe and unharmed, and the boat remains seaworthy. The damage, however, is severe and beyond repair. After consulting with his team, he assessing whether the foil can be retracted and secured. If this is not possible, he may need to cut it off, a complex and time-consuming operation.
Despite the setback he is determined to finish the race. “It’s another difficult day, but it can always be worse. The boat is safe, I’m unharmed, and we keep going. We keep trying our best, as always.“
Herrmann was slowed to a boatspeed of a couple of knots in the middle of the afternoon.
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