Boris Herrmann back sailing on his J2 after successful mast climb and repair
by Team Malizia 11 Jan 14:57 GMT
11 January 2025
Boris Herrmann has successfully completed the repairs needed to use his J2 again © Boris Herrmann / Team Malizia
Another problem solved: Team Malizia's Boris Herrmann has successfully completed the repairs needed to use his J2 sail again. As his most frequently used headsail, restoring it was critical for the German skipper to stay competitive after a broken hook rendered the sail unusable.
With less than 4,000 miles remaining in the round-the-world Vendée Globe race, the successful repair, amidst an already strenuous week for the solo sailor, comes as a huge relief.
11 January 2025, South Atlantic - Team Malizia's skipper Boris Herrmann has successfully completed a challenging mast climb and repair, allowing him to resume sailing on his J2 headsail. The operation took several hours to prepare and execute but was critical in ensuring his Malizia - Seaexplorer racing yacht remained competitive until the finish of the Vendée Globe 2024-2025.
Yesterday morning, Boris Herrmann noticed that the hook of his J2 headsail had broken. The sail was safe on deck and the integrity of the mast was not at risk, but unless he could create a system to attach his J2, the German skipper would have had to manage the remaining two weeks or so of the race without his most important headsail. "All the IMOCA boats have by rule a fixed stay, which is a J2 stay", he explains. "Everyone lashes the J2 at the top and the bottom. In the last Vendée Globe, there were a lot of J2 issues and people needed to climb, having a hard time getting them back down and back up to repair them. So after discussion with the IMOCA class, we got permission to develop a hook to get the sail down in case of a problem. We did that over two years ago and have had it since. We discussed that we would only use it in the Vendée Globe if it's reliable and we didn't have any problems. But nothing compares to the Vendée Globe. The Vendée puts more strain on the boat and now the hook broke, and the J2 slid down the stay, which was still in place."
After having to climb the mast and the boat being struck by lightning earlier this week, the challenges had been piling up for Boris Herrmann, who, nevertheless tried to stay focussed on finding a solution. After consulting with his team on shore, who worked tirelessly all morning to find a viable solution, a detailed repair plan was made and shared with Boris Herrmann. He spent most of his day preparing himself, his gear, and tools for the mast climb necessary to put his J2 back up, all while doing short naps and sailing on his J3 sail.
Despite the sea state, the growing darkness, and his fear of heights, Boris Herrmann was determined to execute the repair as soon as possible. He could have waited until he reached the doldrums to do the repair in a better sea state, but that would have meant losing more nautical miles to competitors such as Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) and Jérémie Beyou (CHARAL). "The plan sounds pretty straightforward, but I'm not so 'à l'aise' (comfortable) with it. There's always a bit of tension climbing in these conditions", he admitted. "But anyway, we will try. Wish me luck."
As the daylight had already faded, Boris Herrmann started the climb armed with a strobe light for visibility. "I put up the sail with a halyard and then climbed up to lash the sail in various places", explains the German solo sailor. "In theory, very straightforward and easy, but it took me 3 hours to do everything, because everything takes longer alone on the boat. You need then to undo the sail at the bottom, winch it up 20 times, back and forward to winch a bit, put the zip down on the sail, close the zip that holds the sail around the head, stay, go back, winch up. Everything takes a very long time and then up the rig I had the difficulties to do my lashing correctly and it took me a while to find the perfect height for the sail." Despite his unease, he managed to fix the halyard and ensure the J2 sail was securely in place.
The operation wasn't without its complications. The J0 halyard had become tangled near the shroud, and Boris Herrmann anticipated having to do another climb in the darkness. However, he managed to resolve the issue by climbing on the outrigger. "Job done, that's good. All problems solved so far! Fingers crossed it stays up!"
Pumping with adrenaline and exhausted at the same time, Boris Herrmann reports that he fell asleep fairly quickly. "I don't really have a routine for decompressing afterwards", he remarks. "I haven't discussed it with anyone coaching-wise. The best way to get adrenaline out of the body is physical activity and motion and running actually. But I can't do that on the boat. I just sat down and I went fairly quickly to sleep. I actually called a few people afterwards and told them about the events. So that helped a bit."
Last night, Boris Herrmann was back on track, sailing confidently on his J2 sail and steaming ahead towards the Equator: "I felt relieved and tired. These things use up your energy. There was a lot of wind this morning so I went back on J3. The upcoming weather looks promising with the trade winds in play, which is nice. We still have quite a while before reaching the doldrums. However, the challenge is my position: I'm too far west, which means more headed than the boats further east. While others can hold a steady 20 knots, I'm managing at best 14, and most of the time around 13 or 12 knots. Conditions here in the west are tougher, and tacking now would essentially mean going backwards, which is hard to do mentally. This morning, my brain is busy thinking whether or not to tack eastward in search of more favorable conditions or to continue the slow battle here."
Team Malizia's A Race We Must Win - Climate Action Now! mission is only possible due to the strong and long-lasting commitment from its seven main partners: EFG International, Zurich Group Germany, Kuehne+Nagel, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, Hapag-Lloyd, Schütz, the Yacht Club de Monaco. These partners band behind Team Malizia to support its campaign, each of them working towards projects in their own field to innovate around climate solutions.
Watch the video sent by Boris Herrmann during the repair: