"The back of the float jumped on the boat when the mast fell"

Just landed in Madiera Karine Fauconnier spoke to The Daily Sail about the demolition of her 60ft trimaran

On Monday Karine was finally rescued by fellow competitor Bob Escoffier on the Open 60 Adecco and was taken to Madeira. Meanwhile she had organised for a cargoship to pick up the remains of Sergio Tacchini and transport it there too.

"The boat is now Porto Santo," confirmed Karine. "The team is working on it. I saw it yesterday. We have a good float left. The main hull is okay, but needs some work. The two beams on port are okay and of course on the starboard side are broken on the arch."

She scolds herself for leaving bits behind. "I really did a big polution – I am really sorry about it. I left two pieces of carbon in the water of the mast and two pieces of float and a plastic liferaft – it was really big polutuion. I hope nobody goes into my pieces."

So was the weather exceptionally heavy or was the boat too lightly built? "The weather was big that was for sure," she says. "But we were supposed to have that kind of weather in the north Atlantic in November. I have to talk with the architect and see the different points of view. I cannot say anything for the moment."

But she adds: "The boat was quite good and handled the sea very well. I had bad weather before the Route du Rhum and it was always very solid, so I was very confident in the boat. Maybe if we rebuild the float maybe we put more material in, but I don’t know yet. I’m in Madeira, and I’m far away from the calculation. I have offered to talk to Loick [Peyron - who was less fortunate and was not able to salvage his trimaran]."

"The weather was really big – the swell was really big and the waves were breaking. So a rogue wave breaking on the hull – it can happen."

Was it a good idea to sail with the sea on the beam? "It was alright with the storm sail,"she says. "I was going 10 knots and when there were big cumulo nimbus clouds, there were some clouds with 45-50 knots of wind sometimes, but the rest of the time it wsa 35-40 knots average and with the storm sail I was really under it going 10 knots. Under the clouds I was going 20 knots. And under the clouds I was going down – I was putting 20 degrees downwind to avoid any problems. So the weather wasn’t unreasonably but I was quite reasonable in the weather. I can’t blame myself."

Significantly she adds: "I think these boats should be able to cross the Atlantic without breaking in any weather. But the problem is we are really Formula 1 and we’re light and sometimes we are really like a piece of foam on the water. I was amazed when we passed Cape Finisterre – I had 52 knots of wind and the boat was still pointing in the wind and the waves.

Fauconnier sounds okay when we speak to her. Many others less cool would be seeking therapy having experienced the ordeal she has been through. But she is matter-of-fact.

"I was really down. I was in ther ace. I wanted to go to Guadeloupe really. That was my goal. I was doing quite reasonable to get there. So I was really angry and sad. And I had a lot of work after!"

What do you think about the trimaran carnage? Email your thoughts to feedback@thedailysail.com