Vendée Arctique: Bitter end for Isabelle Joschke: damage to mainsail stops Joschke 40 nautical miles before the finish

Now the storm has also thrown Isabelle Joschke out of the race. The Munich-born German-French sailor had to give up a painful 40 nautical miles before the newly laid virtual finish line of the second Vendée Arctique. Her damaged mainsail made it impossible to continue without too much danger to skipper and boat. Once again, the soloist had to prove her fighting qualities. She had already had to abandon the 2020/2021 Vendée Globe with damage to the keel hydraulics. With a broken main, Joschke preferred to turn back and is now endeavouring to bring the "MACSF" safely to the start and finish port of Les Sables-d'Olonne. You can read a portrait of the Imoca sailor in the current issue of YACHT 13.

By late Saturday afternoon, Joschke was already on his way back between the 64th and 63rd parallel north. Closest to the finish harbour at this point was Louis Burton, who was already approaching the 62nd parallel north on his "Bureau Vallée". The Frenchman, who had started the second edition of the Vendée Arctique so strongly, had crossed the imaginary finish line in fifth place after losing ground in the lulls. The shortened race was won by Charlie Dalin on "Apivia" ahead of Jérémie Beyou on "Charal" and Thomas Ruyant on "LinkedOut". Arnaud Boisières on "La Mie Câline" and Manuel Cousin on "Groupe Sétin" have also retired. While some of the frontrunners chose sheltered Icelandic bays to weather the low-pressure system over the weekend, others sought their luck on the way home with the best possible positioning. The fleet has now weathered the strongest winds.

"A sky that tells you it will eat you alive"

British skipper Pip Hare repeatedly put into words just how dramatic things have been on some boats in the last 24 hours. On Friday, she wrote from on board: "This is a sky that tells you it will eat you alive." Shortly before she proudly crossed the finish line in 13th place, she said: "There are still three nautical miles to go to the finish. The swell is brutal and is building and building at the moment. I keep getting lifted by the waves before the boat hammers back hard." Manuel Cousin's team, who had already retired the day before, explained: "Faced with the huge depression that is battering part of the Arctique Vendée - Les Sables d'Olonne fleet with over 60 knots of wind, Manu has given up on exposing his Imoca to these conditions any longer." His routings after the announcement of the newly set Island finish line had also resulted in a very difficult scenario for him, as Cousin himself described: "I spent the whole night creating routings. It turned out that if I went to the Iceland finish line, the depression there would be extremely strong. It's a shame that I have to turn back, because it's my first Imoca solo since joining the class in 2017 that I have to give up. But I didn't want to risk my boat."

"This represents an impressive preparation for the Vendée Globe"

Commenting on the decision to end the race at the Island Gate, Race Director Francis Le Goff said: "We knew about these fast and brutal weather changes beforehand. But our worst fears have now been realised here. However, what everyone has experienced on this 1,500 nautical mile climb to Iceland - the difficulties of sailing and navigating, the struggle with boat management and the resilience of battling the elements - makes for an impressive preparation for the Vendée Globe." Click here for the results and the live tracker with the current positions of the boats (please click!).