La Boulangère Mini Transat: Why Lisa Berger "would love to start again straight away"
Jochen Rieker
· 07.10.2023
Lisa, you arrived in the middle of the night. How many hours have you slept since then?
Four. Somehow I'm still a bit mentally on board and in a waking rhythm.
You had set yourself a top 10 finish for the race. Now you're more than a day and a half behind the winner of the series boats, Michael Gendebien. Disappointed?
Yes, at first, and at the end too. But I took a lot of positive things with me. Sailing in the trade winds was a dream. That's why I'm already really looking forward to the second leg.
You ran two hours ahead of the wind on the second day and lost the connection as a result. What was going on?
I broke the water stay that secures the bowsprit to the bottom. It is spliced from 10 millimetre thick Dyneema and still looked like new. It's the only part of the rig that I hadn't replaced before the start. I was extremely frustrated and angry. I had really dark thoughts, but then I just worked.
Did you have to go into the water to rig a spare day?
Yes, in the middle of the Bay of Biscay! We only had 10 to 15 knots of wind, but still two metres of swell. To be honest, I started crying when I realised what that meant. Then I took all the sails down, which wasn't easy because one boat after another passed me.
In order not to lose contact with my maxi under any circumstances, I hung several lines overboard. And just as I was ready to jump, I heard the blow of a whale 100 or 200 metres away. That was of course very motivating.
But it had to be done, so I went into the water anyway. At first I couldn't breathe - whether because of the excitement or the cold I don't know, probably because of both. Then I realised: I'd forgotten my knife! So I climbed back into the cockpit, which fortunately worked really well, and started all over again. I only had four millimetre thick Dyneema with me as a replacement for the original stay. I sheared it in - not ideal, but I convinced myself that it would hold.
Has it?
I prayed until the end. And well, it worked. In the south of the Bay of Biscay, the spare stay did stretch a little; the bowsprit was a bit too high. That's why I reinforced the stay with another Dyneema braid after passing the front off Cape Finisterre, this time from the bow. That's how it went all the way to the finish.
Respect!
I'm really a bit proud that I was able to solve the problem so quickly. Fortunately, I only found out here in La Palma that a skipper had spotted a shark very close to me. If I had known that, I might not have got into the water.
You weren't able to catch up with the leading group after that. How did you cope with that?
It was frustrating. But I just focussed on sailing as well as possible. And I never stopped believing in my chance to make up places.
First you had to master the foothills of the storm front north-east of Cape Finisterre.
Wow, that was terrible: the worst weather I've ever experienced on my boat. When I lashed the genoa to the foredeck so that I could then set the storm jib, I almost went overboard. Although I was rigged, I hadn't braced myself well enough to leeward with my foot and was thrown square into the sea fence by a wave. After that, my arms were blue and black.
The sea looked really scary. I went below deck afterwards and was glad that my autopilot was coping well. You really just hope that nothing breaks - and then you hear on the radio that the mast has broken. That was tough!
Has your Maxi 6.50 suffered any damage?
No, apart from the lower backstay to leeward, which came loose in the swell and fell on deck, everything stayed intact. In principle, I could set off again tomorrow!
In the second half of the race, you didn't go as far west as the leaders at the end. Why not?
I definitely waited too long. Of course, you always sail with the local winds, take turns and delay the jibe if you can. In hindsight, that was a mistake.
Have you learnt anything else?
Yes, I kept too low in the trade wind, always travelling around 145 degrees to the true wind instead of going ten degrees higher, building up more speed and only then keeping lower. That was an important experience that will help me on the second leg.
What are you doing now? Are you going to stay in the Canary Islands or are you going to fly home to Lake Attersee first?
I'm staying here! Tomorrow I have to tidy up my boat, renew the water stay and fix the back stay. And then I want to explore the islands with a few others from my training group.
How are you approaching the next stage?
I'm really looking forward to this one! The first one is ticked off; it just went the way it went. I can't change that now. But the second leg to the Caribbean is the queen stage anyway. That counts all the more for me. I'd love to start again straight away!
