Despite all these problems, Isabelle Joschke is keeping her spirits up and has set about repairing and fixing the problems in difficult sea and wind conditions. The important thing now is to sail safely towards the next major cape of this round the world race, Cape Horn.
A succession of technical problems as well as foil damage for Isabelle Joschke on MACSF
Since last Thursday Franco German Vendée Globe racer Isabelle Joschke has had a series of problems on the IMOCA MACSF. After problems with her engine Joschke has had a lot to do this weekend with a keel ram sensor problem, a tear in her mainsail, the breakage of part of her mainsail sheet track but above all the breakage of her starboard foil.
Yesterday (Saturday) was a long and difficult day. Before daybreak, I noticed inconsistent keel angle figures and I thought it was no longer canting properly. While trying to detect the source of the problem with Florian (Boat Captain of MACSF) on WhatsApp, I heard a loud, sharp but very short sound. The boat heeled over a lot, and I thought I was reliving the breakage of my keel ram (damage that occurred during its Vendée Globe in 2020). But in fact (luck or bad luck…?) it was my starboard foil that had just broken. It snapped clean off. I barely had time to register my disappointment before a major part of the mainsail sheet track (the end) broke and my mainsail was starting to tear. I took advantage of a few hours of gentler conditions to repair the mainsail. The repair has held and that is very good news. Then I replaced the keel angle sensor which turned out to be the cause of my problem. I also installed a temporary system at the end of the sheet rail.
Isabelle
Joschke
MACSF
© Isabelle Joschke / MACSF
Sailing on port tack has become tricky, because the stability provided by the keel, without that provided by the Foil, is clearly insufficient to sail serenely. The speeds have dropped drastically. Today I was caught by a strong gust of wind, fortunately I was on the right tack (starboard tack) but given the state of fatigue of my boat, I chose to sail with the greatest caution even if it meant letting my competitors go ahead of me. It is without a shadow of a doubt that I prioritize safety in this final straight towards Cape Horn.
Isabelle
Joschke
MACSF
"Since the start of the Vendée Globe, apart from the loss of a sail and one of its hydro-generators, she has has had very few technical problems. The boat is suffering, that's obvious. Isabelle was spared but it's true that it's a lot to take in at once. The story started with the engine last Thursday. Isabelle felt that it wasn't working properly and that, when it was in position to recharge the batteries, it would turn off. After an analysis by the mechanics and thanks to the help of Maître Coq who had the same problem at the start of the season, it turned out that the problem came from a power regulator inside the engine that was completely corroded. Isabelle had to dismantle the upper part of the engine in order to access this part to clean and lubricate it. Thanks to work in collaboration with the technical team, the engine was able to return to correct operation but which required a few adjustments in order to avoid relieving the engine. The crazy thing is that the engine is new," explains Alain Gautier, Team Manager of MACSF and winner of the 1992 Vendée Globe.
After spending hours in her engine hold, Isabelle had very little time to recover and yesterday Saturday, the chain of problems began.
"Then there were problems with the keel ram sensor and, while she was working on it, she felt that something was happening with the foil. This foil, which dates from 2019, broke cleanly at the elbow. There was no impact or peripheral damage to the hull. The conditions were difficult and the boat had been sailing on this tack for a long time. For the moment we don't know why it broke. Without this foil, the boat was destabilized. In the process, a piece of the mainsail sheet traveler broke cleanly and a tear appeared in the mainsail".
"The important thing for Isabelle was to secure all of these problems. She is now heading towards Cape Horn in complete safety. It will then be time to do a complete check of the boat for the return climb up the Atlantic."
