Isabelle Joschke: "My joy reflects the difficulties”

It really is a crazy day. The weather is perfect with a magnificent sunrise. It's a beautiful day that's starting. There is a lot of joy and relief at the idea of ​​having finished this Vendée Globe which has not been easy. I think my joy reflects the difficulties of this race.

 It was sporty before the foil broke and even more so after. I had to fight and hang on harder and the elements weren't always in my favour in terms of where I wanted to go. Until I crossed the finish line, I never gave up, always trying to hold on to my place. I'm really proud and happy with this race.

Yes, I found a lot of things that I hadn't seen during my first participation. I experienced a totally different race with an even stronger commitment than I thought. I felt a lot more pleasure despite the difficulty. This is definitely another step forward in my journey.

We have such very different boats and we got together a lot during this round the world race. There was something of a closeness. I didn’t think I would be near Jean (Le Cam). But today finishing and finding myself right in front of him is cool. But it’s nice to have finished together because we’ve come a long way together.

When you sail close to each other, you are touch with each other because we share the experience of the same struggles. I was in contact with Alan (Roura) a lot, we stuck together when things were tough. I talked with Giancarlo when the storms were going on, but also with Damien Seguin. Once the doldrums were over, there were two days of just very tough sailing in the trade winds where we really thought we were going to break our boats. And so the communication is one of the little things that lift your spirits. When we share, we understand that we live the same realities together and that feels good. We are competitors, we do everything to finish in front of each other but we support each other a lot. That's the magic of the Vendée Globe without it being any kind of contradiction.

I learned that I could count on my team. There were moments of real harsh solitude like when my engine went down. It was a moment of real uncertainty. But when I saw how they reacted as soon as something went wrong, I could see that they were there with me at all times. Especially since the engine broke down at Christmas time! You can always feel the team's support. That's what allowed me to regain my confidence.

Four years ago, I felt like I had drawn so deeply into all my resources and didn't have anything left. Even when I was tired, I felt like I had it in me. However, this Vendée Globe was even more committed. In moments of great doubt, no longer knowing what I was doing out there and feeling lost, I felt that a part of me had gone to hell. But I gave it time, I accepted it and I got myself back in shape. I feel like I respected myself more this time. Four years ago, it took me a year to recover psychologically and physically. Now…well we will see…!