boris herrmann yacht club de monaco

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He was briefly on the podium during the festive season, and now he’s back. Boris Herrmann is in the throes of pulling off a flawless performance on Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco off the coast of Brazil by dislodging Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) and Damien Seguin (Apicil). Balmy airs have given the German skipper wings as he reveals his boat’s full potential after his patient careful strategy in the Southern Oceans to preserve it. Today he’s the quickest of the top six.

 Grist to the mill

“We entered the final sprint in race mode. I have the conditions I dreamed off. I’m heading north at 1o. I am trying to use 100% of the boat’s potential and my foils, unlike Thomas and Charlie whose foils are damaged. With 13 knots of wind, I am currently doing 15.6 knots and am super happy,” said a delighted Boris.  

“We are very close to the others. I am 39 nautical miles from Charlie (Dalin on Apivia) and just over 16 miles from Louis (Burton on Bureau Vallée 2). It’s really exciting, with so much to play for and just under 4,000 nautical miles to the finish. But there’s still a long way to go, including two decisive stages: getting through the Doldrums and sailing up the North Atlantic. It remains wide open and promises to be a very exciting end to the race!”

With thunderstorms being legion off Salvador de Bahia, competitors have to deal with zones of light wind and sudden squalls blasting into the mainsail, making it impossible to relax. With one eye on the chart, another on the horizon, all their attention will be focused on managing sudden changes in wind strength and direction.

Hanging in there

The weather is adding spice to the final sprint. The next big challenge for the top three is the Doldrums, extending 200 to 250 miles wide with the trade winds in the Northern Hemisphere seeming to converge with those from the south hinting at a steady easterly flow. The North Atlantic is close and the slightest tactical error could determine the rest of the race to Les Sables-d’Olonne.

Placings remain fluid, as evidenced by Yannick Bestaven’s situation. The Maître CoQ IV skipper who led the race for nearly a month has slumped to 6th. Nothing is certain, even after 67 days of racing. The suspense is building and looks set to ramp up over the next ten to 12 days estimated for the first to finish.

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Boris Herrmann, Yacht Club de Monaco Completes the Vendée Globe

Like the character in “Around the World in Eighty Days” (the Jules Verne Classic published in 1872) the German, Boris Herrmann , flying the Monegasque flag finished the toughest sailing competition in the world, the Vendée Globe – solo around the world with no stopovers or assistance in just 80 days.

After over 44.000 kilometres and 80 days of sailing

Boris was lying third just 90 miles from the finish line when he had a freak accident. He was sailing across the Bay of Biscay at up to 20 knots on board SeaExplorer (Monaco Yacht Club) in the darkness when his worst nightmare came true. 

39 years old, the young skipper from near Hamburg was sleeping and relying on his radar alarm and the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to alert him of any vessels on his trajectory, when his yacht collided with a large Spanish fishing trawler. The stunned skipper awoke to discover none of his alarms had been activated. His damaged boat still managed to limp home to finish the race – a magnificent achievement. 

[Arrivée @borisherrmann 🎥]Après 80j 20h 59min 45s de course, le skipper de Seaexplorer – Yacht Club de Monaco est de retour aux Sables d’Olonne après un tour du monde. Promis à un podium après une course remarquable de régularité, il termine finalement à la 5e place. #VG2020 pic.twitter.com/sDHPQXG7c7 — Vendée Globe (@VendeeGlobe) January 29, 2021

Boris Herrmann’s Race time:  80days 14hours 59m 45s. He was placed in the final classification in the 5th place. 

“With regard to the time devoted to the rescue of Kevin Escoffier (PRB), and after evaluation of the impact on his race, the Vendée Globe international race jury had awarded 6 hours of compensation to Boris Herrmann, ” which led to the final placement of 5 th , according to the website of the race.

Urging him on during the race were personalities including Greta Thunberg and racing driver Nico Rosberg among others.

Greta, the Swedish symbol of the fight against global warming, tweeted supporting her friend, the German sailor. Together, with Pierre Casiraghi , they had crossed the Atlantic so that the young girl could go to New York without taking a polluting plane.

The Winner of the Vendée Globe

Yannick Bestaven (Maître Coq IV) crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe in third position but was declared the winner due to a timing bonus he received in compensation for having taken part in the rescue of Kevin Escoffier.

Suite à la vérification du jury, @YannickBestaven , skipper Maître CoQ IV, est officiellement sacré vainqueur du #VG2020 ! 🏆 Plus d'infos ➡️ https://t.co/caXWFhHkVq pic.twitter.com/eV157T2UEo — Vendée Globe (@VendeeGlobe) January 28, 2021

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Boris Herrmann for Yacht Club de Monaco at the Vendée Globe 2020

With the opening of the 9th Vendée Globe village in Les Sables-d’Olonne, the 33 skippers qualified for the IMOCA fleet are ready for departure on Sunday 8 November. Among them is Boris Herrmann, the first German sailor in the history of the event, representing the Yacht Club de Monaco for the Malizia team. Appointment Sunday, November 8th at 13.00 for the departure.

The skipper attended an online press conference together with the head of the Malizia team, Pierre Casiraghi , Vice-President of the Yacht Club of Monaco .

A dream come true

“The Vendée Globe is a dream, the Everest of any ocean racing career,” said Boris Herrmann , 39, almost 20 spent crossing the seas.

“I was only six weeks old when my parents took me out to sea along the coast of Germany. I have been fascinated by the Vendée Globe since I was 16 years old. Bernard Moitessier, Eric Tabarly – I devoured all the books on these famous extreme sailors, true adventurers, including Bernard Stamm, with whom I had the pleasure and privilege to sail on IDEC SPORT. The Vendée Globe is like a lighthouse that has called me back all my life,” added the man who circumnavigated the planet three times , but never alone or non-stop.

Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann

After his debut in the Mini Transat and victory in the Global Ocean Race 2008-2009, Boris achieved a series of good results in the IMOCA class: 3rd in the Fastnet Race 2017 (with Pierre Casiraghi), 4th in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2017 (with Thomas Ruyant) and 5th in the Route du Rhum 2018.

The dream became reality thanks to the impulse given by Pierre Casiraghi who founded the Malizia Team in 2016: “Compete in the Vendée Globe was the highest goal we could set ourselves. It seemed totally crazy, unreachable… But Team Malizia did a fantastic job. It is really gratifying to have maintained this level of commitment, to be ready for the start with a boat that flies the flag of the Yacht Club de Monaco and represents the Principality of Monaco”.

Great ambitions

Boris Herrmann undertakes his first Vendée Globe on Seaexplorer-Yacht Club de Monaco , the former VPLP-Verdie design Gitana. He learned how to tame the 18-meter, equipped with the latest generation foils, having covered the most miles (55,000 nautical miles, equivalent to nine transats) in the qualifying phase of the race.

“She is a very fast and reliable boat, but it is equally important that she is equipped with solar panels and hydroelectric generators to avoid the use of fossil fuels”. Boris said he feels fit and well prepared, but also aware. “Anything can happen during the Vendée Globe. In the last nine editions, of the 116 skippers who lined up at the start, only 67 have finished,” commented Boris, who hopes to enter the top ten of the fleet .

It would be a good result given the high level against contenders such as Jérémie Beyou (Charal), Charlie Dalin (Apivia), and Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut), not to mention the great favorite, British sailor Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss).

The Vendée Globe 2020 will most likely see one or more records broken , thanks to the introduction of the latest generation of foils that revolutionized the world of sailing. Only one record will remain undisputed for now: Michel Desjoyeaux is the only sailor to have won two, and in this edition, none of the competitors has yet been declared the champion.

It remains to be seen whether the record of 74 days 3 hours 35 minutes and 46 seconds , set by Armel Le Cléac’h in 2016-2017, will be broken.

Collect data on global warming

As a person who loves the sea and the marine environment and is a member of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Boris puts the protection of the ocean at the center of every race. A commitment he shares with Pierre Casiraghi, co-founder of the Malizia Ocean Challenge project that combines sailing, science, and education.

With a fully automated laboratory on board to measure oceanographic data , including sea temperature, salinity, pH and CO2, Boris will take samples from the waters of the most remote regions and transmit the data to scientists working on the Max Planck programs in Hamburg, GEOMAR, Kiel and IFREMER in Brest.

(Boris Herrmann for Yacht Club de Monaco at Vendée Globe 2020 – Barchemagazine.com – October 2020)

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Boris HERRMANN

MALIZIA - SEAEXPLORER

In 2001 Boris was the youngest and only German to participate in the Mini Transat race, a singlehanded yacht race across the Atlantic where he finished in eleventh place. In 2006 Herrmann finished second in the European Championship as well as in the German Championship in the 505 class.

In 2008 Herrmann sailed his Class 40 yacht "Beluga Racer" into second place in the Artemis Transat, the oldest transatlantic race for yachts sailed singlehanded. Boris went on to win the Portimão Global Ocean Race, a five-leg round the world race on Class 40 boats. He and his co-skipper Felix Oehme won three of the five legs of the race.

In 2010, he raced in the Barcelona World Race with co-skipper Ryan Breymaier and finished in 5th place. During 2016 Boris crewed on the GC32 Malizia as part of Pierre Casiraghi's team for the GC32 Racing Tour.

The Malizia IMOCA project was founded in 2017 by Pierre Casiraghi and Boris Herrmann with the support of the Yacht Club de Monaco in order to realise a dream of sailing in the Vendee Globe and have Monaco's commitment to the sport realised through this ambition. In August 2017, with the support of The Yacht Club de Monaco, Malizia II was founded and Boris and Pierre sailed her in the Rolex Fastnet Race and bagged the third spot on the podium. In 2018 they competed in the Monaco Globe Series and then Boris went on to compete singlehanded in the Route du Rhum 2018 securing 5th place. In 2020 Kuehne + Nagel joined the team as a joint title partner and Malizia was renamed as Seaexplorer - Yacht Club de Monaco with major updates to the boat to create a competitive edge. 

On November 8, 2020, Boris Herrmann will start the Vendée Globe. Throughout the race, the skipper will have shown his seamanship and his ability to make his boat move quickly without damaging it. His story, so beautiful, however, took a somewhat dramatic turn when, a few hours from the finish, he collided with a fishing boat. He managed to reach Les Sables d'Olonne, with a damaged boat, and thus finished his race in 80 days! 

The Malizia Ocean Challenge In 2018, Boris and Pierre founded the Malizia Ocean Challenge project.This initiative aims to combine sailing, science and education to get children fascinated about sailing and ocean topics whilst teaching them about climate change and to love our seas with our kids’ ocean challenge kit. We have got over 10,000 children involved in this topic to date. At the same time, we carry an on-board sensor to measure the CO2 in the ocean in remote, hard to reach locations and this data is then sent to our scientific partners at Geomar and the Max Planck Institute.

Sailing Highlights

2007 : Mondial 505 - 9th 2006 : Mondial 505 - 7th 2006 : EuroCup 505 - 2nd 2005 : EuroCup 505 - Winner 2001 : Transgascogne (Mini 6.50) - 4th 2001 : Mini Fastnet - 10th 2001 : Mini Transat - 11th

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1ère victoire en 8 ans pour Artemis Racing

1 ère  victoire en 8 ans pour  artemis racing, rc44 – 44cup baiona.

Artemis Racing , barré par Torbjörn Törnqvist du Yacht Club de Monaco, a prouvé qu’il était indéniablement de retour en force en remportant cinq des neuf manches réalisées lors de la 44Cup Baiona. Cette deuxième épreuve du circuit rassemblait neuf équipages. «  Je suis absolument ravi  » a déclaré Torbjörn Törnqvist. «  Je pense que c’était la régate parfaite pour nous. Tout semblait fonctionner, des réglages du bateau à la coordination à bord. Notre niveau de confiance augmente à mesure que nous progressons. Nous avons également apporté des changements bénéfiques à notre équipe, notamment avec Hamish Pepper en tant que tacticien . »  Artemis Racing  n’avait pas remporté de régate depuis 2016. L’équipage de  Team Nika  de Vladimir Prosikhin également du Y.C.M., se classe à la deuxième place, conservant ainsi sa position de leader provisoire de la saison. Le double champion du monde de la série, Nico Poons ( Charisma ) termine quant à lui 7 e . La classe se donne de nouveau rendez-vous dans quelques semaines à l’occasion de la 44Cup Marstrand qui se tiendra en Suède du 19 au 23 juin.

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Savvino-storozhevsky monastery and museum.

Zvenigorod's most famous sight is the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, which was founded in 1398 by the monk Savva from the Troitse-Sergieva Lavra, at the invitation and with the support of Prince Yury Dmitrievich of Zvenigorod. Savva was later canonised as St Sabbas (Savva) of Storozhev. The monastery late flourished under the reign of Tsar Alexis, who chose the monastery as his family church and often went on pilgrimage there and made lots of donations to it. Most of the monastery’s buildings date from this time. The monastery is heavily fortified with thick walls and six towers, the most impressive of which is the Krasny Tower which also serves as the eastern entrance. The monastery was closed in 1918 and only reopened in 1995. In 1998 Patriarch Alexius II took part in a service to return the relics of St Sabbas to the monastery. Today the monastery has the status of a stauropegic monastery, which is second in status to a lavra. In addition to being a working monastery, it also holds the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum.

Belfry and Neighbouring Churches

Located near the main entrance is the monastery's belfry which is perhaps the calling card of the monastery due to its uniqueness. It was built in the 1650s and the St Sergius of Radonezh’s Church was opened on the middle tier in the mid-17th century, although it was originally dedicated to the Trinity. The belfry's 35-tonne Great Bladgovestny Bell fell in 1941 and was only restored and returned in 2003. Attached to the belfry is a large refectory and the Transfiguration Church, both of which were built on the orders of Tsar Alexis in the 1650s.  

To the left of the belfry is another, smaller, refectory which is attached to the Trinity Gate-Church, which was also constructed in the 1650s on the orders of Tsar Alexis who made it his own family church. The church is elaborately decorated with colourful trims and underneath the archway is a beautiful 19th century fresco.

Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is the oldest building in the monastery and among the oldest buildings in the Moscow Region. It was built between 1404 and 1405 during the lifetime of St Sabbas and using the funds of Prince Yury of Zvenigorod. The white-stone cathedral is a standard four-pillar design with a single golden dome. After the death of St Sabbas he was interred in the cathedral and a new altar dedicated to him was added.

Under the reign of Tsar Alexis the cathedral was decorated with frescoes by Stepan Ryazanets, some of which remain today. Tsar Alexis also presented the cathedral with a five-tier iconostasis, the top row of icons have been preserved.

Tsaritsa's Chambers

The Nativity of Virgin Mary Cathedral is located between the Tsaritsa's Chambers of the left and the Palace of Tsar Alexis on the right. The Tsaritsa's Chambers were built in the mid-17th century for the wife of Tsar Alexey - Tsaritsa Maria Ilinichna Miloskavskaya. The design of the building is influenced by the ancient Russian architectural style. Is prettier than the Tsar's chambers opposite, being red in colour with elaborately decorated window frames and entrance.

At present the Tsaritsa's Chambers houses the Zvenigorod Historical, Architectural and Art Museum. Among its displays is an accurate recreation of the interior of a noble lady's chambers including furniture, decorations and a decorated tiled oven, and an exhibition on the history of Zvenigorod and the monastery.

Palace of Tsar Alexis

The Palace of Tsar Alexis was built in the 1650s and is now one of the best surviving examples of non-religious architecture of that era. It was built especially for Tsar Alexis who often visited the monastery on religious pilgrimages. Its most striking feature is its pretty row of nine chimney spouts which resemble towers.

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635th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment

635-й зенитно-ракетный полк

Military Unit: 86646

Activated 1953 in Stepanshchino, Moscow Oblast - initially as the 1945th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment for Special Use and from 1955 as the 635th Anti-Aircraft Missile Regiment for Special Use.

1953 to 1984 equipped with 60 S-25 (SA-1) launchers:

• Launch area: 55 15 43N, 38 32 13E (US designation: Moscow SAM site E14-1)
• Support area: 55 16 50N, 38 32 28E
• Guidance area: 55 16 31N, 38 30 38E

1984 converted to the S-300PT (SA-10) with three independent battalions:

• 1st independent Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (Bessonovo, Moscow Oblast) - 55 09 34N, 38 22 26E
• 2nd independent Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion and HQ (Stepanshchino, Moscow Oblast) - 55 15 31N, 38 32 23E
• 3rd independent Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion (Shcherbovo, Moscow Oblast) - 55 22 32N, 38 43 33E

Disbanded 1.5.98.

Subordination:

• 1st Special Air Defence Corps , 1953 - 1.6.88
• 86th Air Defence Division , 1.6.88 - 1.10.94
• 86th Air Defence Brigade , 1.10.94 - 1.10.95
• 86th Air Defence Division , 1.10.95 - 1.5.98