Setback on the first night
A defective compass is giving Boris Herrmann a hard time
November 8, 2023, 5:29 p.m
Bitter setback for Boris Herrmann and Will Harris in the Transat Jacques Vabre: In sixth place after the first night, the Malizia duo fell behind with compass problems. The plan to steer the ship with the replacement compass doesn’t work as hoped.
The Malizia team with Boris Herrmann suffered a setback in the 16th Transat Jacques Vabre. After a solid start and a good race to catch up to sixth place, Herrmann and his partner Will Harris fell back again. By early afternoon they were twelfth. A defective compass is causing problems for the German-British duo at the start of the 3,750 nautical mile race from Le Havre to Martinique.
“We’re having problems with the electronic compass this morning. We’re trying to steer the ship with a replacement compass. But that’s not going as well as we had hoped,” reported Herrmann from on board. That’s why we’re driving a little slow and have lost a lot of time in the last few hours.”
In collaboration with Team Malizia’s technicians on land, the crew on the German “Malizia – Seaexplorer” is trying to carry out repairs as quickly as possible. “We are trying to solve the problem and stay tuned,” said Herrmann. One day after the start, the two favored French boats “Charal” with Jérémie Beyou and Franck Cammas were in the lead in the Imoca class, just ahead of “For People” with defending champion Thomas Ruyant and Morgan Lagravière.
In the smaller Class 40, the “Sign for Com” skippers Lennart Buke and Melwin Fink from Hamburg passed Cape Finisterre on the west coast of Galicia at midday two days after their start in Lorient. At their Transat premiere at midday, 25-year-old Lennart Burke and 21-year-old Melwin Fink were in 18th place in the field of the remaining 40 Class 40 yachts. The young professionals hope to benefit from an expected wind shift because their boat can better exploit its strengths against the wind. Four Class 40 teams have already been eliminated.