“I’m really sad”
Injury stops Boris Herrmann at Ocean Race
1/23/2023 2:33 am
Boris Herrmann has a promising start to the Ocean Race. However, he cannot contest the second stage with his team Malizia. A leg injury slows down the extreme sailor.
Sailor Boris Herrmann was injured in the Ocean Race and cannot take part in the second stage. This emerges from a message distributed on Sunday. Shortly before arriving in Mindelo on Cape Verde, Herrmann suffered a severe burn on his leg from boiling water and had to be treated in the hospital. Due to the risk of infection, Herrmann will skip the second leg to Cape Town and will be replaced as skipper by Will Harris. Frenchman Yann Eliès stands in for Hermann.
“I’m really sad that I can’t sail this stage with my team, especially after the success on the first stage,” Herrmann shared. “I’m more motivated than ever, but I don’t want to jeopardize my participation in stage three or risk blocking our performance on stage two.” Harris should have taken over as skipper on the fourth stage anyway. Herrmann now wants to rejoin his crew in South Africa.
“I will use the time on land to work closely with our performance group, analyzing the boat data and preparing the debriefing for the sailors’ arrival in Cape Town,” said Herrmann. “I look forward to welcoming the team to South Africa in a strong position.”
The “Malizia-Seaexplorer” completed the first stage over 1900 nautical miles from Alicante to Mindelo/Cape Verde in five days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds and thus took third place. All in all, the five crews that have started have to cover 60,000 km around the world over a period of six months. The second of seven legs of the 14th Mindelo to Cape Town Ocean Race begins on Wednesday.