After overtaking the Canary Islands, Tanguy de Lamotte in the Vendée Globe race saw his masthead break cleanly. A strange and rather incomprehensible break. This handicap forced the skipper to turn back and abandon the race, but he was able to bring his boat back to port on his own.
Once the boat returned to its base and dismasted, the experts and the manufacturer were able to examine the masthead in detail. For once, not a single part had gone into the water.
A very clean break
The breakage came suddenly and the masthead broke fairly cleanly above the top of the runners. It was in fact the reinforcement of the runners which prevented the halyards from tearing the mast a little more. In this area the mast is no longer held by any shrouds. It's not the breakage of a cable that is to blame, but the structure of the carbon mast.
An old mast, but still strong
This mast was already in place when Initiative Coeur bought the boat (then under the colours of Akéna Vérandas). This mast took part in the 2012/13 Vendée Globe with Arnaud Boissières. If the standing rigging is considered to be wearing parts that need to be replaced regularly, the mast is not in this case.
As is often the case, the Heart Initiative mast was checked every year by a firm of experts. It is not only mandatory, but also can be renewed in case of doubt, following a shock for example. Thanks to ultrasound, possible defects in the composite can be detected, such as disbonds or cracks in the fabric. The ultrasound passes through the material, if there is a break somewhere, the signal no longer passes through. This has never been the case on the boat.
Experts break their teeth
No fatigue. No aging. But then what happened? The experts don't know, except to say that the damage Tanguy de Lamotte suffered was not foreseeable.
So much so that the yard decided to repair the existing mast by "gluing" the broken piece back together!
