It’s enough to believe in Christmas miracles! In any case, it was quite a scare for Alexia Barrier aboard TSE-4myplanet when her mast bent to 90° during a maneuver! Many would have broken, but the old IMOCA resists as best as it can. It’s a story that she tells best herself:
“We didn’t talk too much about it because I was waiting to know more about the state of my mast. I was about to take my second reef, and the backstay pulley broke. The mast went to 90° forward and then came back, righting itself again. I quickly furled my J2 (second sail) and gybed. I was really scared; that’s why I headed a bit north to take time to fix the backstay pulley and give myself time to check the mast. I couldn’t climb it because there were too many waves. So, I rigged a makeshift mast traveler like in the movies to climb along the rail and film with my GoPro to see any potential damage, then I gybed again without putting too much sail to see if my tinkering holds well. My mast is an old mast, but it’s like a reed that bends but doesn’t break, which is the good news.
I’m waiting for calmer conditions to climb up and verify what the camera showed me, but there doesn’t seem to be any collateral damage, and there’s apparently not much to worry about. For three days, I’ve been in observation mode, listening, pressing my ear to the mast to hear if there are suspicious noises. It takes a little time to regain confidence, but it’s going well; everything is okay.
It’s Marc Thiercelin’s mast, so it’s not young either. The team on land called a few experts including architects, navigators who have done several Vendée Globes, people who know the subject well to get their opinions, and it’s quite unanimous to say that it’s a sturdy mast that can apparently bend without being damaged. But it’s crazy; the mast went to 90° and came back in two or three seconds as if nothing happened, it’s incredible. I slept a lot, but I had trouble eating in the 24 hours following this mishap.”
