Victim of technical problems and an ankle injury since the start of the 2024 Vendée Globe, skipper Maxime Sorel has decided to divert to Madeira to carry out repairs.
The troubles keep coming for him. While he is participating in his 2nd Vendée Globe, after finishing in 10th place during the previous edition, Maxime Sorel did not expect to experience such an eventful start to the race with various adventures. The problems started for him shortly after the start, with a problem with his gennaker (intermediate headsail).
Although it was quickly resolved, the French skipper is now faced with a persistent problem with the mainsail hook (system allowing the sail to be blocked once hoisted to the desired position with a hook). And to top it all off, he injured his right ankle while trying to repair it.
Faced with all these worries, the Cancalais decided to divert to Madeira to take shelter and begin repairs. “I have to face the facts, the hook is broken. So I decided to jibe and head at reduced speed towards Madeira in order to shelter my Imoca. I will then go back up to the mast and try to lower the mainsail to 100%,” confided Maxime Sorel, whose ankle still hurts him.
“I’m on painkillers. It neither swelled nor subsided, explained the skipper in the morning. I check in regularly with the race doctors to monitor her,” he also indicated. And these incidents begin to affect his morale. “We prepared too well to have s….. like that from the start. This is not possible. “There’s not one thing that’s back to normal,” he said in tears in a video.
But if it is hit, it is not yet sunk. “I wasn’t expecting such a complicated start to the Vendée Globe, but I tell myself that I will find the right solutions,” assured Maxime Sorel. The only hope for regaining a smile.
