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| Frenchwoman Overcomes Dismasting to Continue Non-Stop Circumnavigation |
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| "I took on these challenges to prove that it's not just about having big arms, but first and foremost about having the will," |
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 | | | Maud Fontenoy 85' challenges prevailing winds and currents to sail the aluminum sailing yacht L'Oréal Paris around the world westabout. |
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Frenchwoman Maud Fontenoy found fame in Europe when she became the first woman to row across the North Atlantic (Newfoundland to Spain)in 117 days in 2003 and the Pacific (Peru-Marquesas Islands) in 72 days in 2005. In 2006, she moved up from her tiny rowboat to a huge 85' aluminum sailing yacht named L'Oréal Paris and took on another long-distance challenge: to sail around the world westabout--against wind and current.
She left on October 15, 2006 from the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, passing first the Cape of Good Hope then fighting her way southwest towards Cape Horn, which she rounded after 52 days on December 6. After another 58 days of hard sailing at the bottom of the world, she passed Cape Leeuwin, the eastern tip of Australia on Feb 2.
From there on, she could expect to encounter better weather conditions than the numerous depressions and several storms that marked her passage since Cape Horn. However, on February 10, when she was 2400 miles and about 15 days away from returning to Reunion, the carbon fiber mast broke 900 miles west off Australian Coast.
"I was sailing at a speed of 7 knots in the most normal of seas with a 20 to 25 knot wind. The mast suddenly fell down and broke in half. It fell right next to me but I had time enough to jump into the cockpit and get into a safe place. Now half of it is in the water and constantly knocks against the hull. It is the middle of the night and I have no light." Fortunately, the hull of L'Oréal Paris is made of aluminum and can withstand the pounding.
Maud spoke by radio with Jean Luc Van Deen Heede, the boat's former owner and skipper, who also suffered a broken mast south of New Zealand on this arduous voyage. (He succeeded at his fourth attempt the next year.) The Frenchwoman resolutely refused any type of aid, and spent four days cleaning up the mess and raising her main boom to serve as a jury mast. "It took me exactly ten hours to raise the boom centimeter by centimeter until it was standing vertical." The boom is 10.5 meters long and weighs 100 kilos then she resumed the voyage and at the end of February was nearing Reunion to complete her journey.
Fontenoy was born to a seagoing couple and spent the first 15 years of her life more or less constantly at sea. At the age of 25, after running a real estate agency in Paris for a few years, she decided to become the first woman to row the North Atlantic. "I lost my illusions about what is needed to undertake such a challenge," she says. Not just the psychological toll of the storms, the icebergs and the rough seas, but also her encounters with whales and cargo ships, and how, with only a few days to go until the coast of Spain, her water system broke down and she was forced to drink untreated seawater. At one point on the Pacific journey, a wave capsized Fontenoy's boat, though luckily the vessel righted itself after a couple of minutes.
"I took on these challenges to prove that it's not just about having big arms, but first and foremost about having the will," she says. "People often say such adventures aren't for women. I wanted to show that it was more about mentality and determination."
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