Vendée Globe: "Have the courage!". Interview with solo circumnavigator Isabelle Joschke
Tatjana Pokorny
· 08.03.2024
Born in Munich, graduated from high school in Freiburg, studied in Paris and is at home in Brittany: 47-year-old Isabelle Joschke, daughter of a French mother and a German father, lives in the sailing cradle of Lorient, but has strong German roots. Like Boris Herrmann, she is preparing for her second participation in the Vendée Globe. The first turned into an odyssey after the keel suspension broke in a hellish storm. However, after a repair stop, the "Macsf" skipper finished her Vendée Globe premiere outside the classification. This time she wants more when the starting signal for the 10th Vendée Globe is given on 10 November.
Isabelle, you ended the year 2023 with a powerful boost of motivation. Return to La BaseThe race was the return race of the Transat Jacques Vabre, where you finished ninth. What does this top ten finish tell you about the Vendée Globe start year that has already begun?
The good position at the last race of the season, the Retour à La Base, made me feel totally relaxed. I started the new year with a lot of self-confidence and a good sense of security. This is also due to the secured qualification for the Vendée Globe. I was in a much more difficult situation four years ago. It was too exciting for me.
Your boat, built in 2007, is one of the oldest in the fleet. This makes your recent performances all the more impressive. Where do you rank among the competition?
With "Macsf", I am in the generation of Arnaud Boissière's "La Mie Câline", Pip Hare's "Medallia", Giancarlo Pedote's "Prysmanian Group" and also Romain Attanasio's "Fortinet - Best Western". This is Boris Herrmann's earlier "Seaexplorer". I am closest to "La Mie Câline". The boats are younger and faster than mine. My theoretical place is perhaps that of the last foiler right behind - and in front of the non-foilers.
You beat them all in the Retour à La Base. How do you do that with a boat that is slower on paper?
On the Retour à La Base, there were a lot of faster boats that finished after me. I finished in ninth place. I was very proud of that! My boat is in good shape. We are working hard on it. That is the most important goal of our team. I also know my boat very well. It's not the fastest, but I can achieve high average speeds. My strength doesn't necessarily come from the boat, but from my experience. Take Pip's "Medallia": she's become incredibly fast and has had bigger foils since 2023. But I was still faster. Romain is also faster than me with Boris' old boat. It's from 2015, but I still beat him.
What does this mean for your prospects in the tenth edition of the Vendée Globe, which starts on 10 November?
Of course, that doesn't mean I think I can win the Vendée Globe. But I have seen that I can make it into the top ten. That's my goal. I know that I can finish ahead of Pip and Romain. I can achieve a good result despite the age of my boat.
After your Vendée Globe première, you hesitated for a while before deciding to make a second attempt. What tipped the scales in favour of a second solo tour around the world after you were eliminated in such dramatic fashion in round one?
It took me a long time to find the right sense again. My first participation was logical. I had wanted to do it for a long time. The Vendée Globe is a tremendous adventure. For sailors, it's simply the Everest. You want to do it. In the end, I was happy to have done it, but it was very difficult. I suffered a lot during the race. I hadn't expected that.
What did you expect?
I had thought that I was a strong person who could cope with anything. That I could get through it without any problems. I had a deadline for the upcoming Vendée Globe and I had to make a decision because my sponsor needed an answer. When I decided to do it, I wasn't sure whether I really understood the meaning of it. A few years have passed since then and a lot has changed for the better. I'm really looking forward to taking part for the second time!
What caused this turnaround for you?
The good results recently are one thing. But I also prepare differently. Physically, of course, but above all mentally, so that I can get through difficulties better. I have various techniques such as hypnosis, which I have practised very well. They help me to get through difficult times. Every race has ups and downs. That hasn't changed. What has changed is how I experience them and how I deal with them. During the Retour à La Base, I experimented even more and introduced other techniques such as autohypnosis into sailing. I already had experience with autohypnosis and meditation, but hadn't used them in sailing. It worked well on the Retour à La Base. It gave me a lot more self-confidence.
You had arrived very late in Martinique shortly beforehand after the mainsail tear in the Transat Jacques Vabre and the restart, and only had five days to prepare for the Retour à La Base ...
That was very little. I was also very slim. For me, 55 kilograms is good. I only had about 50 kilograms left and was tired. You don't have the energy and strength to pull up sails and do other tasks. Nevertheless, I told myself that I would make the best of it. I just wanted to get there and get the miles for the Vendée Globe qualification. That way I took the pressure off myself and sailed well from start to finish. I had a very good start, was very good in the doldrums on the first evening and always stayed well. The autohypnosis helped me to make good decisions.
How does your autohypnosis work on board?
I use a simple technique: I lie down in my bunk or sit down when I feel stress or anger. I close my eyes and concentrate inside myself on what is not going well. This hypnosis technique is called monotherapy. I try to feel the situation in my gut. I let the process go through, let the tension do its thing. It takes a few minutes for the body to relax again. I do this two or three times over about ten minutes. I'm now well practised at it and feel like new afterwards. Above all, it restores my self-confidence.
Does your experience help you in this process?
Yes, for example, if a winch is broken, I can now focus positively on the fact that it's only the winch and not the boat. So I can carry on, which is good. I don't just see the negative aspect and how bad things could go. I say to myself: OK, I have a problem, but only this problem. When you're a bit older, you ask yourself questions that you don't ask yourself when you're younger. The question of meaning. Or the question of respect for yourself. I have challenged myself enormously in the past. Often too much. That didn't always work out well. For a few years now, I've been thinking: I have to respect myself. It sounds unbelievable, but it works. I respect myself and sail much better today than I did 20 years ago. You can have less strength, but much more energy. In addition to physical strength, energy comes from your mental state.
You're approaching 50 and seem to be getting better and better - proof of the theory that sailing is above all a sport of experience?
Yes, definitely.
You've lived in France for decades, in Lorient since 2011. Yet you still speak very good German ...
I did my Abitur at a bilingual grammar school. I've lived in France since then and hardly speak any German there. However, last year I spent the whole summer in the Kaiserstuhl with my family and spoke a lot of German there. My father died in September. That took a toll on me personally. I was very tired recently.
That's one of the reasons why you won't be competing in all the big Imoca races this year until the start of the Vendée Globe, to conserve your strength. But will you be at the start of the Imoca season?
Yes, I will be taking part in the Transat CIC on 28 April (Red.: the former Ostar, a 3,500 nautical mile race from Lorient to New York). I skip the subsequent New York Vendée - Les Sables-d'Olonne.
Are you planning any more updates for your almost 17-year-old boat?
Not to become faster. But we are still optimising the charging system for the batteries, for example. We are modifying the alternator. These are actually all things that make the boat more reliable.
Some Imoca teams took part in the last Ocean Race with teams. The next Ocean Race will take place in 2026/2027, followed by the Ocean Race Europe 2025. Would a team challenge like this be something for you and your team?
That was suggested to me. But I thought it was too much in a Vendée Globe programme. I needed a rest between the two Vendée Globes to regain my energy and get better.
Do you like sailing in a team?
I prefer to be a solo sailor, I have to admit that. It's down to my personality. I like to be alone. When I go to the mountains, for example, I sometimes do it with friends, but I also like being alone. I enjoy that. I think you're more in your element when you're not talking. When you just watch, listen and stay quiet. I prefer to experience adventures solo. Two-handed also suits me because you're alone a lot. One person sleeps ...
Do you have a similar private life?
I haven't always lived alone, but that's the way it is at the moment. I also like togetherness, but I wouldn't see myself in an extended family. I do have a brother, though, and we get on well.
What kind of competitor are you on the water?
When I'm sailing, I'm much more ambitious than I say I am. On land, I always say I can do it, just relax. But when the regatta starts and I don't achieve a good result, I get really annoyed.
You wrote your university thesis on "Seafarers in Antiquity". Is there a difference between them then and you today?
Back then, they had to set off. Today we want to set off.
With the organisation you founded, Horizon Mixité, you are committed to gender equality. There will probably be 34 men and six women on the starting line of the upcoming Vendée Globe. Is that good or bad?
That doesn't work at all! I think it would be normal if as many women sailed as men. That still needs a lot of work. 2023 has shown how little balance has developed. If I reduce that to a single image, then we're still in the Middle Ages.
Is that because of the men or the women?
It's not that men don't let women in. No, not at all. But it's also not that women genetically don't want to do it. There are many theories about it. For me, it all starts at home and at school. There it has to be taken for granted and shown and told that women have power. We are ambitious, have strength and a desire to win. That's how children should be brought up, but that's often not the case. Many women would like to, but don't dare.
Your motto?
Have the courage!
