<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><!-- generator="wordpress/1.2" --><rss version="2.0" xmlns.content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns.wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"><channel><title>Maud Fontenoy</title><link></link><description>A Contre Courant</description><copyright>Copyright 2006</copyright><pubDate>Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:32:16</pubDate><generator></generator><item><title>A 5-month challenge</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>19/03/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy is coming to Paris. The young woman successfully ended her round-the-world adventure in the other direction after 151 days at sea onboard her yacht L'Oréal Paris. Her arrival put a final end to spending 5 months on the high seas marked by moments of pure delight as well as some more difficult ones... The Story.

On 15 October, from mooring number 8 of the west port of  ''pointe des galets'', the navigator cast off with the idea of sailing round three capes. ''The first hours, the first days of pain; breakages are brutal. I have just left thousands of people behind me who came to say goodbye, a world in which I didnt stop running even for a minute, making telephone calls, organizing hundreds of things and now to be by myself in this immensity, alone... and this is only the beginning. I have cried a lot, I have been sick many times, my body is rebelling and shakes all over'', Maud wrote in her first logbook. The adventure began quite straightforward, with a 35-knot wind and a sea than started off in a swell. The first two weeks at sea were difficult. The young woman had to learn how to dominate her boat and get used to the Ocean. 
On 31 October, the first symbolic stage: Maud Fontenoy and L'Oréal Paris rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa. We met with 60-knot winds, 10-metre high waves and regular sea traffic. ''I have had to assume these difficulties but the positive thing is that the boat has supported it all. This experience has made me stronger and given me self-confidence. I am really satisfied to have rounded this cape; I have still not covered a third of the voyage but it is an important stage'', the young woman related after she had just capsized in the Atlantic Ocean; an Ocean that definitely opens its doors but not without pain. Depressions multiply. The young woman was forced to sail north, separating her from the direct route. An anticyclone stopped her considerably. Maud started to grin and bear it and remembered her philosophy, ''cut the mountain into tiny pieces, and move forward but by bit''. She then sailed further south, towards Cape Horn, the maritime highway collapsed by waves. The mythical black rock was conquered on 7 December almost two months after she set sail. ''Freedom is both beautiful and cruel at the same time. You have to work hard to get any moments of peace'', the happy but vigilant Maud commented as the sea conditions confirmed the reputation of that oceanic strangulation. ''Depressions are growing right in front of me. I am too shaky and exhausted to be able to really get a taste of this magic moment. My mind is only set on moving out of these deep waters that cause such strong surges close to the cape''.

The Pacific Ocean then shows the navigator that its name has nothing to do with reality. Maud knew what was waiting for her and it was going to be the most problematic part of her adventure. The young woman sails towards New Zealand in a tunnel where the Sun hardly shows itself. ''I have endured many problems due to the weather conditions rounding Cape Horn. I have been frightened. In the end I only celebrated the event several days after having rounded it, with my favourite dish from Reunion: ''rougail'' of sausages and rice accompanied with rum laced with pineapple. In the South Pacific it is always very cold. The water is 3° and the temperature in L'Oréal Paris's cabin is 4°.'' Maud spent Christmas alone on the high seas, in the roaring forties, in the middle of that complicated ocean. ''The miracle of that afternoon was the appearance of the Sun for a couple of hours''. Maud described how ''the blue of the sky became magnificent'', while she was looking for the gifts her relatives had put inside L'Oréal Paris's cabin. The jump into 2007 was made heading towards New Zealand that she reached in the middle of January. Maud then sailed along the coast of Australia with both a promise and a dream at the same time: to round Cape Leeuwin and taste the Sun and the heat once again.

On 2 February, the young woman rounds the third cape on her voyage. ''One door closes when another one opens up towards warmer seas and the Indian Ocean,'' the young woman said. She admitted how pleased she was to have left the seas of the south behind her. ''You need to have been in that world of darkness to be able to evoke it''. Maud then starts off on her last stretch towards Reunion Island. The Sun is back and so is the smile. ''I really feel in fine form. The sky is clear and I am enjoying the fascinating nature, the first words that come into my mind are captivation and marvel. I have the feeling that I am reconciling with the ocean, and forgetting such hard waters, these cold and violent seas and making peace with all my surroundings''. At that moment her arrival was been announced for the end of February, nevertheless some changes were in store...

On 10 February: Maud loses the mast. It was 12 o'clock midday in Paris, 11:00 GMT. The young woman was sailing 900 miles east of Australia. She was sailing at a speed of 7 knots in normal sea conditions, the wind was blowing at approximately 20-25 knots when the mast suddenly came down and broke in half. ''It fell right by my side but I had time to jump into the cockpit and suffered no injuries. Now one half of the mast is in the water and is knocking against the hull. It is the middle of the night; I have no light and I cannot use the navigation instruments. I am in a state of shock''. Initially Maud was about to collapse because of the damages suffered so close to her goal. On Land, assistance was being organized. The French Navy and L'Oréal Paris mobilized their counterparts in Australia to send ships to her rescue. A German cargo-boat changed route and navigated towards Maud, the second vessel set off from Perth. After the disappointment, the action began. Maud Fontenoy decided to put up jury rigging as her adventure was definitely not going to end like that after 4 months at sea. I dont want to abandon. I will try to raise the boom to make a hanger where I can put up a small sail. The aim is to reach Reunion Island. Maud then works hard on the repairs: first she has to clear the deck of the boat, move the boom and hoist it vertically to convert it into jury rigging. On terra firma, her father, her brother and also Jean-Luc Van den Heede, the former owner of L'Oréal Paris, draw up plans so that she can try to continue on her voyage. Four days later, the young woman was back on track without having received any assistance. ''I have lived through both intense and varied experiences. I have always liked extreme situations, so here they are! The psychological shock of having seen the mast fall down at my side, the distress caused from the mast knocking against the hull the whole night and having to think about abandoning the boat without being mentally prepared for it... And finally, step by step, I managed to get to the top of the huge spiral staircase''.

With her jury rigging, the navigator made her heading towards the Island she so longed for, ''her paradise'' as she calls it from now on. Once week away from her arrival, Jeanne d'Arc, the French Navy's helicopter carrier gave her a surprise visit. The crew of 700 unfolded a banner that said: ''Good luck Maud!'' On the white sail she had put up on the mast, Maud remembered her favourite slogan with chunks of coloured adhesive: ''Make your life a dream and turn that dream into reality''. On Tuesday, 13 March, in the darkness of night, Maud caught the glimpse of the lights on land. These are her last hours in solitude with the Boudeuse by her side, a Navy patrol vessel with her father onboard. ''I will miss all this nature. The Ocean is an elixir of joy for me, although there were difficult times, I enjoyed those last moments. Now I am really prepared for the arrival. I am overwhelmed!'' Maud concluded on Wednesday morning while the countdown had already started.]]></description></item><item><title>A 5-month challenge</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>19/03/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy is coming to Paris. The young woman successfully ended her round-the-world adventure in the other direction after 151 days at sea onboard her yacht L'Oréal Paris. Her arrival put a final end to spending 5 months on the high seas marked by moments of pure delight as well as some more difficult ones... The Story.

On 15 October, from mooring number 8 of the west port of  ''pointe des galets'', the navigator cast off with the idea of sailing round three capes. ''The first hours, the first days of pain; breakages are brutal. I have just left thousands of people behind me who came to say goodbye, a world in which I didnt stop running even for a minute, making telephone calls, organizing hundreds of things and now to be by myself in this immensity, alone... and this is only the beginning. I have cried a lot, I have been sick many times, my body is rebelling and shakes all over'', Maud wrote in her first logbook. The adventure began quite straightforward, with a 35-knot wind and a sea than started off in a swell. The first two weeks at sea were difficult. The young woman had to learn how to dominate her boat and get used to the Ocean. 
On 31 October, the first symbolic stage: Maud Fontenoy and L'Oréal Paris rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa. We met with 60-knot winds, 10-metre high waves and regular sea traffic. ''I have had to assume these difficulties but the positive thing is that the boat has supported it all. This experience has made me stronger and given me self-confidence. I am really satisfied to have rounded this cape; I have still not covered a third of the voyage but it is an important stage'', the young woman related after she had just capsized in the Atlantic Ocean; an Ocean that definitely opens its doors but not without pain. Depressions multiply. The young woman was forced to sail north, separating her from the direct route. An anticyclone stopped her considerably. Maud started to grin and bear it and remembered her philosophy, ''cut the mountain into tiny pieces, and move forward but by bit''. She then sailed further south, towards Cape Horn, the maritime highway collapsed by waves. The mythical black rock was conquered on 7 December almost two months after she set sail. ''Freedom is both beautiful and cruel at the same time. You have to work hard to get any moments of peace'', the happy but vigilant Maud commented as the sea conditions confirmed the reputation of that oceanic strangulation. ''Depressions are growing right in front of me. I am too shaky and exhausted to be able to really get a taste of this magic moment. My mind is only set on moving out of these deep waters that cause such strong surges close to the cape''.

The Pacific Ocean then shows the navigator that its name has nothing to do with reality. Maud knew what was waiting for her and it was going to be the most problematic part of her adventure. The young woman sails towards New Zealand in a tunnel where the Sun hardly shows itself. ''I have endured many problems due to the weather conditions rounding Cape Horn. I have been frightened. In the end I only celebrated the event several days after having rounded it, with my favourite dish from Reunion: ''rougail'' of sausages and rice accompanied with rum laced with pineapple. In the South Pacific it is always very cold. The water is 3° and the temperature in L'Oréal Paris's cabin is 4°.'' Maud spent Christmas alone on the high seas, in the roaring forties, in the middle of that complicated ocean. ''The miracle of that afternoon was the appearance of the Sun for a couple of hours''. Maud described how ''the blue of the sky became magnificent'', while she was looking for the gifts her relatives had put inside L'Oréal Paris's cabin. The jump into 2007 was made heading towards New Zealand that she reached in the middle of January. Maud then sailed along the coast of Australia with both a promise and a dream at the same time: to round Cape Leeuwin and taste the Sun and the heat once again.

On 2 February, the young woman rounds the third cape on her voyage. ''One door closes when another one opens up towards warmer seas and the Indian Ocean,'' the young woman said. She admitted how pleased she was to have left the seas of the south behind her. ''You need to have been in that world of darkness to be able to evoke it''. Maud then starts off on her last stretch towards Reunion Island. The Sun is back and so is the smile. ''I really feel in fine form. The sky is clear and I am enjoying the fascinating nature, the first words that come into my mind are captivation and marvel. I have the feeling that I am reconciling with the ocean, and forgetting such hard waters, these cold and violent seas and making peace with all my surroundings''. At that moment her arrival was been announced for the end of February, nevertheless some changes were in store...

On 10 February: Maud loses the mast. It was 12 o'clock midday in Paris, 11:00 GMT. The young woman was sailing 900 miles east of Australia. She was sailing at a speed of 7 knots in normal sea conditions, the wind was blowing at approximately 20-25 knots when the mast suddenly came down and broke in half. ''It fell right by my side but I had time to jump into the cockpit and suffered no injuries. Now one half of the mast is in the water and is knocking against the hull. It is the middle of the night; I have no light and I cannot use the navigation instruments. I am in a state of shock''. Initially Maud was about to collapse because of the damages suffered so close to her goal. On Land, assistance was being organized. The French Navy and L'Oréal Paris mobilized their counterparts in Australia to send ships to her rescue. A German cargo-boat changed route and navigated towards Maud, the second vessel set off from Perth. After the disappointment, the action began. Maud Fontenoy decided to put up jury rigging as her adventure was definitely not going to end like that after 4 months at sea. I dont want to abandon. I will try to raise the boom to make a hanger where I can put up a small sail. The aim is to reach Reunion Island. Maud then works hard on the repairs: first she has to clear the deck of the boat, move the boom and hoist it vertically to convert it into jury rigging. On terra firma, her father, her brother and also Jean-Luc Van den Heede, the former owner of L'Oréal Paris, draw up plans so that she can try to continue on her voyage. Four days later, the young woman was back on track without having received any assistance. ''I have lived through both intense and varied experiences. I have always liked extreme situations, so here they are! The psychological shock of having seen the mast fall down at my side, the distress caused from the mast knocking against the hull the whole night and having to think about abandoning the boat without being mentally prepared for it... And finally, step by step, I managed to get to the top of the huge spiral staircase''.

With her jury rigging, the navigator made her heading towards the Island she so longed for, ''her paradise'' as she calls it from now on. Once week away from her arrival, Jeanne d'Arc, the French Navy's helicopter carrier gave her a surprise visit. The crew of 700 unfolded a banner that said: ''Good luck Maud!'' On the white sail she had put up on the mast, Maud remembered her favourite slogan with chunks of coloured adhesive: ''Make your life a dream and turn that dream into reality''. On Tuesday, 13 March, in the darkness of night, Maud caught the glimpse of the lights on land. These are her last hours in solitude with the Boudeuse by her side, a Navy patrol vessel with her father onboard. ''I will miss all this nature. The Ocean is an elixir of joy for me, although there were difficult times, I enjoyed those last moments. Now I am really prepared for the arrival. I am overwhelmed!'' Maud concluded on Wednesday morning while the countdown had already started.]]></description></item><item><title>Back on dry land</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>16/03/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[This Thursday, 15 March, one day after having crossed the line of arrival, Maud Fontenoy is back on land. The young lady docked in the port of Pointe des Galets, On Reunion Island, where thousands of people had gathered. Maud reached the harbour 151 days (5 months day after day) after her departure on 15 October last year. 

Commotion started at the sugar Terminal of Pointe des Galets. It was 11:00 in Reunion (7:00 GMT, 8:00 in Paris), when Maud Fontenoy and her yacht made their entry into the port where thousands of persons were waiting for them. Ship sirens sounded to welcome the boat dressed in the jury rigging that the young woman had to put up after the mast came down a little over one month ago. 

Maud Fontenoy, full of smiles, was waving her arms. Before the crowds could see her, the young lady was receiving a tribute from the sailors onboard Jeanne d'Arc. The French Navy's helicopter carrier is in the same port where Maud ended her Challenge against the Current. It arrived at Reunion Island on Monday after having met Maud a few days earlier. The 700-crew members assembled on deck and hoisted a banner while L'Oréal Paris crossed with the military vessel: ''Well done, Maud''.

The navigator then docked at the pontoon planned for receiving her boat. It was a triumphal reception. Shouts of joy and tears, Maud hugged her mother. On the coloured posters held by the children, you could read, ''Well done, Maud'' or ''We love you''. About 1,500 small adventurers ''have accompanied me on my round-the-world voyage'', said the young woman, overjoyed with happiness. Her first words were for them: ''Don't let anybody ever tell you that your dreams are impossible!'' Maud was delighted to be back amongst those young children who have given her such happiness during her radio connections throughout her adventure. ''Today I can listen to their shouts of joy. It is the nicest sound in the world. Over these 5 months, I have dreamed of this moment when I was going to meet all of you again''.

''All those moments of hell are behind me now'', Maud Fontenoy said, smiling and dancing on the podium that had been installed in front of the crowds. A childrens choir had gathered around it to sing Jean-Jacques Goldmanns song ''J'irai au bout de mes rêves'' (''I will go to the end of my dreams''). 

Overjoyed, the navigator was enjoying her first moments on dry land. Yesterday, after having crossed the line of arrival, she stayed onboard her boat to spend a last night there until morning when she finally returned to the island that she loves so much.]]></description></item><item><title>Back on dry land</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>16/03/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[This Thursday, 15 March, one day after having crossed the line of arrival, Maud Fontenoy is back on land. The young lady docked in the port of Pointe des Galets, On Reunion Island, where thousands of people had gathered. Maud reached the harbour 151 days (5 months day after day) after her departure on 15 October last year. 

Commotion started at the sugar Terminal of Pointe des Galets. It was 11:00 in Reunion (7:00 GMT, 8:00 in Paris), when Maud Fontenoy and her yacht made their entry into the port where thousands of persons were waiting for them. Ship sirens sounded to welcome the boat dressed in the jury rigging that the young woman had to put up after the mast came down a little over one month ago. 

Maud Fontenoy, full of smiles, was waving her arms. Before the crowds could see her, the young lady was receiving a tribute from the sailors onboard Jeanne d'Arc. The French Navy's helicopter carrier is in the same port where Maud ended her Challenge against the Current. It arrived at Reunion Island on Monday after having met Maud a few days earlier. The 700-crew members assembled on deck and hoisted a banner while L'Oréal Paris crossed with the military vessel: ''Well done, Maud''.

The navigator then docked at the pontoon planned for receiving her boat. It was a triumphal reception. Shouts of joy and tears, Maud hugged her mother. On the coloured posters held by the children, you could read, ''Well done, Maud'' or ''We love you''. About 1,500 small adventurers ''have accompanied me on my round-the-world voyage'', said the young woman, overjoyed with happiness. Her first words were for them: ''Don't let anybody ever tell you that your dreams are impossible!'' Maud was delighted to be back amongst those young children who have given her such happiness during her radio connections throughout her adventure. ''Today I can listen to their shouts of joy. It is the nicest sound in the world. Over these 5 months, I have dreamed of this moment when I was going to meet all of you again''.

''All those moments of hell are behind me now'', Maud Fontenoy said, smiling and dancing on the podium that had been installed in front of the crowds. A childrens choir had gathered around it to sing Jean-Jacques Goldmanns song ''J'irai au bout de mes rêves'' (''I will go to the end of my dreams''). 

Overjoyed, the navigator was enjoying her first moments on dry land. Yesterday, after having crossed the line of arrival, she stayed onboard her boat to spend a last night there until morning when she finally returned to the island that she loves so much.]]></description></item><item><title>Victory !</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>15/03/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[On Wednesday, 14 March, Maud Fontenoy crossed the line of arrival of her Challenge against the Current. It was 11:30 GMT (15:30 in Reunion Island and 12:30 in Paris) when the young woman finally ended her adventure. The virtual line of arrival marking the end of the voyage had been laid at Saint-Denis, in Reunion, the Island from where the young lady and her yacht, L'Oréal Paris, set sail on 15 October last year. Maud Fontenoy has spent 5 months at sea; 150 days 23 hours and 48 minutes was the time it took her to cover over 21,300 nautical miles (38,340 kilometres).

''I am overwhelmed, it's the happiest day of my life, the greatest moment!'' Maud Fontenoy commented, absolutely euphoric, only a few minutes after having crossed the line of arrival. A small fleet accompanying her and sounding their foghorns took to the sea to meet the young helmswoman. L'Oréal Paris covered the last few miles in radiant sunshine, with forceful winds and some waves almost two metres high, watched by the people from Reunion who were assembled on Land to applaud the end of the navigator's voyage. Dressed in a red T-shirt, the beaming young lady was responding to numerous displays of affection from her escort with an enormous smile across her face, a flare gun in her hand to celebrate her victory, and greeted by the smoking shots coming from the SNSM boats, among applause, noises from engines and helicopters. 

''These 5 months have had numerous hellish moments but I don't regret a thing. It really has been worthwhile. The arrival has been a very intense moment, a mixture of extremely strong emotions. I have reached the conclusion that I have now come to my limit. It is not a question of strength but of determination'', Maud explained.

Now she is going to have to set foot on Land again. The last stage will take place tomorrow morning. The navigator wanted to spend the last night onboard before setting foot on the pontoon. Thousands of inhabitants from Reunion will come to celebrate this huge achievement with her, while gigantic effervescence has already taken hold of the Island. Hundreds of children are waiting to give her a warm and festive reception with their songs. ''Now I am really longing to have a shower and dress up like a girl. I will go back to my habits when on land, drink pure water out of a glass; it will be true happiness'', the young woman said. ''This trip has opened me up towards others. I think it will very probably be the last one I do by myself. I have thought a lot about it and have the answers. Now I want to devote myself to others''.

Maud's arrival marks the end of a voyage full of happy moments and the most painful ones.]]></description></item><item><title>Victory !</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>15/03/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[On Wednesday, 14 March, Maud Fontenoy crossed the line of arrival of her Challenge against the Current. It was 11:30 GMT (15:30 in Reunion Island and 12:30 in Paris) when the young woman finally ended her adventure. The virtual line of arrival marking the end of the voyage had been laid at Saint-Denis, in Reunion, the Island from where the young lady and her yacht, L'Oréal Paris, set sail on 15 October last year. Maud Fontenoy has spent 5 months at sea; 150 days 23 hours and 48 minutes was the time it took her to cover over 21,300 nautical miles (38,340 kilometres).

''I am overwhelmed, it's the happiest day of my life, the greatest moment!'' Maud Fontenoy commented, absolutely euphoric, only a few minutes after having crossed the line of arrival. A small fleet accompanying her and sounding their foghorns took to the sea to meet the young helmswoman. L'Oréal Paris covered the last few miles in radiant sunshine, with forceful winds and some waves almost two metres high, watched by the people from Reunion who were assembled on Land to applaud the end of the navigator's voyage. Dressed in a red T-shirt, the beaming young lady was responding to numerous displays of affection from her escort with an enormous smile across her face, a flare gun in her hand to celebrate her victory, and greeted by the smoking shots coming from the SNSM boats, among applause, noises from engines and helicopters. 

''These 5 months have had numerous hellish moments but I don't regret a thing. It really has been worthwhile. The arrival has been a very intense moment, a mixture of extremely strong emotions. I have reached the conclusion that I have now come to my limit. It is not a question of strength but of determination'', Maud explained.

Now she is going to have to set foot on Land again. The last stage will take place tomorrow morning. The navigator wanted to spend the last night onboard before setting foot on the pontoon. Thousands of inhabitants from Reunion will come to celebrate this huge achievement with her, while gigantic effervescence has already taken hold of the Island. Hundreds of children are waiting to give her a warm and festive reception with their songs. ''Now I am really longing to have a shower and dress up like a girl. I will go back to my habits when on land, drink pure water out of a glass; it will be true happiness'', the young woman said. ''This trip has opened me up towards others. I think it will very probably be the last one I do by myself. I have thought a lot about it and have the answers. Now I want to devote myself to others''.

Maud's arrival marks the end of a voyage full of happy moments and the most painful ones.]]></description></item><item><title>Twentieth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>07/03/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[At the begining of the week, Maud Fontenoy received some rather special guests at dawn ; it was a very exciting ''surprise'' visit on the last stretch of her Challenge against the Current. 

The encounter took place in the middle of the Indian Ocean at least 1300 miles away from Reunion Island. It was the morning when L'Oréal Paris and Maud Fontenoy were given a welcome from Jeanne d'Arc, the French Navy vessel that decided to give the navigator a surprise. ''At daybreak I was on deck when a grey mass appeared on the horizon that was heading straight towards me. Over my VHF radio I could immediately hear: 'This is Captain Gilles Tillette de Mautort, the commander of the ship Jeanne d'Arc. We are heading towards you'', Maud Fontenoy told the agency France Presse via satellite connection. The helicopter carrier and her crew of 600 were returning from a mission in South-east Asia and they seized the opportunity to greet the navigator, as the French Navy has always been a faithful collaborator of hers. ''She wasn't easy to find'', the ''pasha'' of Jeanne dArc, Gilles Tillette de Mautort, explained. '''We had to organize a small pursuit to find her, one of our helicopters located her in a very remote part of the Indian Ocean.'' The ship, which is 7 times bigger that Maud Fontenoy's yacht, kept a prudent distance away so that the waves did not bother the navigator. On board, the crew gathered on the bulwalk and unravelled a streamer that said: ''Good luck Maud!'' ''After 4 and a half months at sea, being put to the test and very much alone, this made me cry with emotion. It encourages me, calms me and makes me feel happy. It is France who is coming to support and encourage me on my challenge. It is a wonderful show of solidarity from sea folk'', the young woman commented, and she is going to be able to enjoy that human company for a few days, ''even more so when a new tropical depression is building up further north. We are monitoring her and we will be ready to lend a hand if she needs it'', Gilles Tillette de Mautort added.

In short, she had two visits over the last 48 hours: the one from Jeanne d'Arc and a second one from the wind. Maud covered 152 nautical miles on the one Sunday, her best daily distance of the week. They needed 7 days to avoid cyclone Humba. Maud had to change her route and sail further north while the hurricane showed her presence, licking the sides of her monohull. ''The temperature of the water suddenly rose to over 26 degrees around the boat. That was when the cyclone really got close; the sea began to swell as the winds in the centre reached more than 100 knots, thats over 200 km/hour! The sky became very dark and there were many storms'', the helmswoman reported, happy to have escaped from the storm and nevertheless expressing affection for the wounded island. Reunion Island that will soon be receiving Maud and her vessel was in turn suffering the fantasies of another cyclone called Gamède. The tragic balance amounted to 2 dead as well as important damages. During her weekly radio connection, Gérard Andrieux, the president of the North Station of the SNSM in Reunion was able to recount those dreadful days. ''The people of Reunion are accustomed to cyclones. We had already made our provisions in advance so we stayed indoors as soon as the red alert was given. After that, it is civil solidarity that is working ; everyone helps each other. On every boat everyone is helping someone else to repair the damage and be able to cast off again.''

The route North has diverted Maud from her final destination but the young woman is again on course for ''Paradise Island''. There is no prediction yet with regard to a possible date of arrival, this is the lesson learned from difficult vivid experiences, but she does live through exclusive moments under the Sun that has appeared again after Humba moved away from L'Oréal Paris; the visit from a tortoise on deck, ''a wink at the fable of La Fontaine'', the young woman comments maliciously, already impatient to set foot on land.]]></description></item><item><title>Twentieth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>04/03/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[At the begining of the week, Maud Fontenoy received some rather special guests at dawn ; it was a very exciting ''surprise'' visit on the last stretch of her Challenge against the Current. 

The encounter took place in the middle of the Indian Ocean at least 1300 miles away from Reunion Island. It was the morning when L'Oréal Paris and Maud Fontenoy were given a welcome from Jeanne d'Arc, the French Navy vessel that decided to give the navigator a surprise. ''At daybreak I was on deck when a grey mass appeared on the horizon that was heading straight towards me. Over my VHF radio I could immediately hear: 'This is Captain Gilles Tillette de Mautort, the commander of the ship Jeanne d'Arc. We are heading towards you'', Maud Fontenoy told the agency France Presse via satellite connection. The helicopter carrier and her crew of 600 were returning from a mission in South-east Asia and they seized the opportunity to greet the navigator, as the French Navy has always been a faithful collaborator of hers. ''She wasn't easy to find'', the ''pasha'' of Jeanne dArc, Gilles Tillette de Mautort, explained. '''We had to organize a small pursuit to find her, one of our helicopters located her in a very remote part of the Indian Ocean.'' The ship, which is 7 times bigger that Maud Fontenoy's yacht, kept a prudent distance away so that the waves did not bother the navigator. On board, the crew gathered on the bulwalk and unravelled a streamer that said: ''Good luck Maud!'' ''After 4 and a half months at sea, being put to the test and very much alone, this made me cry with emotion. It encourages me, calms me and makes me feel happy. It is France who is coming to support and encourage me on my challenge. It is a wonderful show of solidarity from sea folk'', the young woman commented, and she is going to be able to enjoy that human company for a few days, ''even more so when a new tropical depression is building up further north. We are monitoring her and we will be ready to lend a hand if she needs it'', Gilles Tillette de Mautort added.

In short, she had two visits over the last 48 hours: the one from Jeanne d'Arc and a second one from the wind. Maud covered 152 nautical miles on the one Sunday, her best daily distance of the week. They needed 7 days to avoid cyclone Humba. Maud had to change her route and sail further north while the hurricane showed her presence, licking the sides of her monohull. ''The temperature of the water suddenly rose to over 26 degrees around the boat. That was when the cyclone really got close; the sea began to swell as the winds in the centre reached more than 100 knots, thats over 200 km/hour! The sky became very dark and there were many storms'', the helmswoman reported, happy to have escaped from the storm and nevertheless expressing affection for the wounded island. Reunion Island that will soon be receiving Maud and her vessel was in turn suffering the fantasies of another cyclone called Gamède. The tragic balance amounted to 2 dead as well as important damages. During her weekly radio connection, Gérard Andrieux, the president of the North Station of the SNSM in Reunion was able to recount those dreadful days. ''The people of Reunion are accustomed to cyclones. We had already made our provisions in advance so we stayed indoors as soon as the red alert was given. After that, it is civil solidarity that is working ; everyone helps each other. On every boat everyone is helping someone else to repair the damage and be able to cast off again.''

The route North has diverted Maud from her final destination but the young woman is again on course for ''Paradise Island''. There is no prediction yet with regard to a possible date of arrival, this is the lesson learned from difficult vivid experiences, but she does live through exclusive moments under the Sun that has appeared again after Humba moved away from L'Oréal Paris; the visit from a tortoise on deck, ''a wink at the fable of La Fontaine'', the young woman comments maliciously, already impatient to set foot on land.]]></description></item><item><title>Nineteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>27/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[134 days of navigation for Maud Fontenoy. The young woman, who is trying to reach Reunion Island with her jury rigging, is learning to domesticate her recently repaired boat. And all this with unreliable weather conditions: a mix between total calm and the tropical cyclones she must avoid. Now L'Oréal Paris still has less than 2000 nautical miles to cover before being able to secure this round-the-world challenge in the other direction. 

L'Oréal Paris is playing hide and seek with Humba and Gamède ; these are the names of the two tropical cyclones that they currently raging around La Reunion and at a height of Maud Fontenoy's boat. ''We are on the outskirts of Humba. It's so sultry; the air is unbreathable. The weather charts are frightful'', the young woman commented on Sunday in her log book. Avoid the cyclones come what may ; this is the navigator's objective two weeks after her boat suffered damages. Maud is heading north in the hopes that the hurricane does not change track and can be avoided. ''It would appear that the cyclone season is especially active this year in the Indian Ocean. This news for me was like receiving a second blow on the head''.

The weather changes very rapidly around the helmswoman and her boat. At the beginning of the week, it was difficult for that red dot they symbolize on the map of the Challenge against the current to move out of a very narrow perimeter. The wind had decided to keep silent in the boat's sails. ''After these months of putting up with depression after depression, I was glad thinking ahead about a few more favourable conditions that would allow me to put up full sail and get the maximum speed out of L'Oréal Paris. Now, with a third of the mast and little wind, it's no easy job at all to make the boat move forward'', Maud explained on Thursday in her weekly connection. It is difficult to feel I am getting closer to La Reunion and put up with such a sluggish pace: ''4 knots at speed top''. Nevertheless, before tacking to avoid the cyclones and their immoderate winds, Maud was able to rest. There is no lack of worries for her on board, especially with regard to the provisions that are available. This weekend the young woman had planned to get out the fishing tackle and catch something to eat. She was also expecting a little rain so she can replenish the water tanks. 

In this adventure hindered with obstacles in which every week seems to be the beginning of a new Challenge, Maud was able to experience sparkling moments of joy thanks to some pictures given to her by the Ocean. They were a sweet consolation after all those weeks of insipid grey colours that had accompanied her throughout her voyage in the austral seas. ''Vermillion red, golden yellow, magenta pink, Episcopal purple ; I feel hypnotized by this incandescent scene. I have the feeling of having had to open a thousand doors to be present at this magic moment. A valuable cure for our wounded wings''.]]></description></item><item><title>Nineteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>25/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[134 days of navigation for Maud Fontenoy. The young woman, who is trying to reach Reunion Island with her jury rigging, is learning to domesticate her recently repaired boat. And all this with unreliable weather conditions: a mix between total calm and the tropical cyclones she must avoid. Now L'Oréal Paris still has less than 2000 nautical miles to cover before being able to secure this round-the-world challenge in the other direction. 

L'Oréal Paris is playing hide and seek with Humba and Gamède ; these are the names of the two tropical cyclones that they currently raging around La Reunion and at a height of Maud Fontenoy's boat. ''We are on the outskirts of Humba. It's so sultry; the air is unbreathable. The weather charts are frightful'', the young woman commented on Sunday in her log book. Avoid the cyclones come what may ; this is the navigator's objective two weeks after her boat suffered damages. Maud is heading north in the hopes that the hurricane does not change track and can be avoided. ''It would appear that the cyclone season is especially active this year in the Indian Ocean. This news for me was like receiving a second blow on the head''.

The weather changes very rapidly around the helmswoman and her boat. At the beginning of the week, it was difficult for that red dot they symbolize on the map of the Challenge against the current to move out of a very narrow perimeter. The wind had decided to keep silent in the boat's sails. ''After these months of putting up with depression after depression, I was glad thinking ahead about a few more favourable conditions that would allow me to put up full sail and get the maximum speed out of L'Oréal Paris. Now, with a third of the mast and little wind, it's no easy job at all to make the boat move forward'', Maud explained on Thursday in her weekly connection. It is difficult to feel I am getting closer to La Reunion and put up with such a sluggish pace: ''4 knots at speed top''. Nevertheless, before tacking to avoid the cyclones and their immoderate winds, Maud was able to rest. There is no lack of worries for her on board, especially with regard to the provisions that are available. This weekend the young woman had planned to get out the fishing tackle and catch something to eat. She was also expecting a little rain so she can replenish the water tanks. 

In this adventure hindered with obstacles in which every week seems to be the beginning of a new Challenge, Maud was able to experience sparkling moments of joy thanks to some pictures given to her by the Ocean. They were a sweet consolation after all those weeks of insipid grey colours that had accompanied her throughout her voyage in the austral seas. ''Vermillion red, golden yellow, magenta pink, Episcopal purple ; I feel hypnotized by this incandescent scene. I have the feeling of having had to open a thousand doors to be present at this magic moment. A valuable cure for our wounded wings''.]]></description></item><item><title>Eighteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>19/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[On Monday Maud Fontenoy will have been at sea for 127 days. The navigator is again heading towards Reunion Island after the mast of her vessel came down. Last week she concentrated on setting up jury rigging, a successful operation that allowed her to hoist the sails again. 

''Total tranquillity. WE ARE NOT MAKING ANY HEADWAY!'' After a busy week, Maud Fontenoy and her vessel are bogged down in an anticyclone in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Australia and Reunion Island. There is not a breath of wind and only a handful of miles covered each day. Advantages and disadvantages of this new situation: Maud can take advantage to rest and break in her newly repaired boat with the new mast. ''But unfortunately, time is slipping away, provisions (mainly water) are dwindling'', the young woman explains. ''These long hours and days of waiting are becoming a punishment for me. I feel as if I am 'shut out' in the rain''. 

On Wednesday, Maud achieved a mission that was by no way an easy one at all. The navigator managed to put up the jury rigging that was going to allow her to continue her round-the-world Challenge against the Current. The operation was accomplished in several stages: first of all she had to clean the remains of the mast, carbon, mainsail, and all the waste coming from the fallen mast that were to be found on the deck of the boat. Immediately afterwards she had to free the boom that had been caught on the starboard side by conjuring up all kinds of tricks and astute manoeuvres; Maud even used shampoo to make it slide. Finally she had to put the boom, which weighs approximately one hundred kilos and measures some 11 metres, in a vertical position. The operation took 4 days during which Maud was in permanent contact with her team on land and with Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, the boat's former owner. The sailor had of course contemplated this event might happen and which the navigator did in fact experience. L'Oréal Paris's boom could be converted into jury rigging thanks to a specific piece of iron-work. Thankfully, that piece was on board. 

After feeling such disappointment and then returning to the challenge, Maud Fontenoy's voice of satisfaction could be heard to explode during her radio connection last Wednesday. ''I feel absolutely super, I am really pleased with the events on board ! I have had to reflect a lot. I stopped a thousand times thinking I wasn't going to make it. It took me ten hours to get the boom into place and I thought it was going to fall on top of me at any moment''. After having spent 4 months by myself, Maud recaptured contact with Man in a surprising context. While she was repairing her vessel, a German container ship was in permanent contact with the French National Navy had changed course at the request of the Australian Navy. When the freighter reached L'Oréal Paris, it was a surrealistic encounter between a wounded yacht and a mountain of containers measuring more than 200 metres in length. Maud refused to leave her vessel and after spending a night in the area, the German freighter continued on its route. Meanwhile a ship chartered by the L'Oréal Group related to their Australian subsidiary left Perth and was heading towards the navigator. The weather conditions are becoming complicated for navigation and are delaying the ship. Maud is back on course whereas the ship has had to turn back. Without receiving any assistance, the young woman continues on her course.

From now on there is the question of the water reserves, fuel, clean clothes and provisions. ''I am even going to have to ration the toothpaste'', Maud explained. ''My next challenge'' the navigator said, ''will be to get out the tackle and start fishing''. In the first logbook that she sent after the accident, the young woman gave her thanks to everyone who had been so kind: in one week almost 1,500 messages of support had been sent to her website.]]></description></item><item><title>Eighteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>18/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[On Monday Maud Fontenoy will have been at sea for 127 days. The navigator is again heading towards Reunion Island after the mast of her vessel came down. Last week she concentrated on setting up jury rigging, a successful operation that allowed her to hoist the sails again. 

''Total tranquillity. WE ARE NOT MAKING ANY HEADWAY!'' After a busy week, Maud Fontenoy and her vessel are bogged down in an anticyclone in the middle of the Indian Ocean between Australia and Reunion Island. There is not a breath of wind and only a handful of miles covered each day. Advantages and disadvantages of this new situation: Maud can take advantage to rest and break in her newly repaired boat with the new mast. ''But unfortunately, time is slipping away, provisions (mainly water) are dwindling'', the young woman explains. ''These long hours and days of waiting are becoming a punishment for me. I feel as if I am 'shut out' in the rain''. 

On Wednesday, Maud achieved a mission that was by no way an easy one at all. The navigator managed to put up the jury rigging that was going to allow her to continue her round-the-world Challenge against the Current. The operation was accomplished in several stages: first of all she had to clean the remains of the mast, carbon, mainsail, and all the waste coming from the fallen mast that were to be found on the deck of the boat. Immediately afterwards she had to free the boom that had been caught on the starboard side by conjuring up all kinds of tricks and astute manoeuvres; Maud even used shampoo to make it slide. Finally she had to put the boom, which weighs approximately one hundred kilos and measures some 11 metres, in a vertical position. The operation took 4 days during which Maud was in permanent contact with her team on land and with Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, the boat's former owner. The sailor had of course contemplated this event might happen and which the navigator did in fact experience. L'Oréal Paris's boom could be converted into jury rigging thanks to a specific piece of iron-work. Thankfully, that piece was on board. 

After feeling such disappointment and then returning to the challenge, Maud Fontenoy's voice of satisfaction could be heard to explode during her radio connection last Wednesday. ''I feel absolutely super, I am really pleased with the events on board ! I have had to reflect a lot. I stopped a thousand times thinking I wasn't going to make it. It took me ten hours to get the boom into place and I thought it was going to fall on top of me at any moment''. After having spent 4 months by myself, Maud recaptured contact with Man in a surprising context. While she was repairing her vessel, a German container ship was in permanent contact with the French National Navy had changed course at the request of the Australian Navy. When the freighter reached L'Oréal Paris, it was a surrealistic encounter between a wounded yacht and a mountain of containers measuring more than 200 metres in length. Maud refused to leave her vessel and after spending a night in the area, the German freighter continued on its route. Meanwhile a ship chartered by the L'Oréal Group related to their Australian subsidiary left Perth and was heading towards the navigator. The weather conditions are becoming complicated for navigation and are delaying the ship. Maud is back on course whereas the ship has had to turn back. Without receiving any assistance, the young woman continues on her course.

From now on there is the question of the water reserves, fuel, clean clothes and provisions. ''I am even going to have to ration the toothpaste'', Maud explained. ''My next challenge'' the navigator said, ''will be to get out the tackle and start fishing''. In the first logbook that she sent after the accident, the young woman gave her thanks to everyone who had been so kind: in one week almost 1,500 messages of support had been sent to her website.]]></description></item><item><title>Maud Fontenoy is back on course</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>14/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[After four days of hard effort, ingeniousness and also a few doubts, Maud Fontenoy, alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, has managed to set up jury rigging after her mast came down last Saturday when she was only approximately 15 days away from reaching Reunion Island. Today, still very moved, she was able to announce that finally she is on course again to her final destination.

''I am very satisfied because these last 48 hours have been really productive and finally I have been able to hoist the boom using all kinds of stratagems to put it up vertically and prevent it from coming back down on the first occasion'', the young helmswoman confessed to us over the radio at 12:00 p.m. ''Ten minutes ago I hoisted the foresail and it is very exciting to see how the boat moves after these four days of hell when I didn't know whether I was going to be able to continue or not. It took me exactly ten hours to raise the boom centimetre by centimetre until it was standing vertical.''

We should not forget that the boom measures 10.50 metres and weighs 100 kilos. You could imagine the tears from Maud's voice. ''It's my nerves that are failing me a bit'', she admitted modestly. She speaks about her body as if it were a ''machine that has been asked to give its all''.  Her hands hurt and her whole body is aching from so much effort. 

Nevertheless once again her determination and strength of character have let her excel herself and overcome the hardest obstacle of her round-the-world voyage. ''I have lived through intense and varied experiences over these last three days. I just love extreme adventures, and there have been more than enough here! What with the psychological shock of seeing the mast fall down alongside me, the distress caused by the blows of the mast knocking against the hull during the first night, the thought of having to abandon ship without being mentally prepared for it and in the end, step by step I have managed to climb this endless spiral staircase. But thats not all, now I have to set up a ''mini'' mainsail to increase the speed a little because at the moment I am sailing at only 3 knots on a direct course to Reunion Island''.

Maud Fontenoy is still 2400 miles from the island. Of course it is difficult to estimate what navigation time is still left. It will depend not only on the weather conditions she is going to encounter but also the average speed L'Oréal Paris is capable of keeping up as soon as the jury rigging has been optimized.]]></description></item><item><title>Maud Fontenoy is back on course</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>14/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[After four days of hard effort, ingeniousness and also a few doubts, Maud Fontenoy, alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean, has managed to set up jury rigging after her mast came down last Saturday when she was only approximately 15 days away from reaching Reunion Island. Today, still very moved, she was able to announce that finally she is on course again to her final destination.

''I am very satisfied because these last 48 hours have been really productive and finally I have been able to hoist the boom using all kinds of stratagems to put it up vertically and prevent it from coming back down on the first occasion'', the young helmswoman confessed to us over the radio at 12:00 p.m. ''Ten minutes ago I hoisted the foresail and it is very exciting to see how the boat moves after these four days of hell when I didn't know whether I was going to be able to continue or not. It took me exactly ten hours to raise the boom centimetre by centimetre until it was standing vertical.''

We should not forget that the boom measures 10.50 metres and weighs 100 kilos. You could imagine the tears from Maud's voice. ''It's my nerves that are failing me a bit'', she admitted modestly. She speaks about her body as if it were a ''machine that has been asked to give its all''.  Her hands hurt and her whole body is aching from so much effort. 

Nevertheless once again her determination and strength of character have let her excel herself and overcome the hardest obstacle of her round-the-world voyage. ''I have lived through intense and varied experiences over these last three days. I just love extreme adventures, and there have been more than enough here! What with the psychological shock of seeing the mast fall down alongside me, the distress caused by the blows of the mast knocking against the hull during the first night, the thought of having to abandon ship without being mentally prepared for it and in the end, step by step I have managed to climb this endless spiral staircase. But thats not all, now I have to set up a ''mini'' mainsail to increase the speed a little because at the moment I am sailing at only 3 knots on a direct course to Reunion Island''.

Maud Fontenoy is still 2400 miles from the island. Of course it is difficult to estimate what navigation time is still left. It will depend not only on the weather conditions she is going to encounter but also the average speed L'Oréal Paris is capable of keeping up as soon as the jury rigging has been optimized.]]></description></item><item><title>60 kilos vs 100 kilos of carbon</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>13/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Yesterday Maud Fontenoy lived through a ghostly encounter with the German container ship Adelaïde Express, a 200 metre long giant that came up to assist her. Psychologically such as appointment in the middle of nowhere turned out to be unsettling for the navigator, after having told them that she did not want to receive any assistance. For a few seconds she wondered if she had taken the right decision.  

''This morning I was psychologically at rock bottom. The freighter, with all those men on board, broke my protective shell. Nevertheless I am longing to see my friends From Reunion Island even more. I am in a hurry to arrive and stand on firm land'', Maud confessed to us in her radio connection on Monday morning. 
    
She has to move the carbon boom, which weighs 100 kilos and measures 10.50 metres in length, as it is now caught in the lifelines, bring it to the middle of the boat, lift it onto the top of the cabin and finally put it up vertically. Thankfully, Jean Luc Van Den Heede had foreseen a system, the famous ''piece of aluminium'' that Maud spoke about and which allows her to convert the boom into jury rigging. Then there is only the issue of keeping it in position.

Maud expects this operation to be tedious and annoying. ''This is going to take a long time, it is not a question of hours but of days. I will have to think out every little detail, think hard about it and try to be crafty to compensate for these ''little arms'' of mine''. 

Simultaneously feeling very moved and galvanized by the numerous messages of support she has received, more than ever Maud Fontenoy wants to overcome this new obstacle: ''Now I am going to try to eat something to build up my strength and get back out there; later on I will sit down in the cockpit and think through what I can do. Even though it will be millimetre by millimetre, I promise I am going to try to move this boom.'' 

L'Oréal Paris is currently adrift. ''And not precisely in the right direction. I am moving further eastward at an approximate speed of one knot. It's not much but it is another reason for me to get the rigging up as soon as possible and get back on course to the northwest.'' 

Maud will only be in charge of her heading when she has managed to put up the jury rigging. From then on, she will have to grin and bear it, as she will be sailing at a very limited pace: she still has several more weeks at sea before finally reaching her destination.]]></description></item><item><title>60 kilos vs 100 kilos</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>13/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Yesterday Maud Fontenoy lived through a ghostly encounter with the German container ship Adelaïde Express, a 200 metre long giant that came up to assist her. Psychologically such as appointment in the middle of nowhere turned out to be unsettling for the navigator, after having told them that she did not want to receive any assistance. For a few seconds she wondered if she had taken the right decision.  

''This morning I was psychologically at rock bottom. The freighter, with all those men on board, broke my protective shell. Nevertheless I am longing to see my friends From Reunion Island even more. I am in a hurry to arrive and stand on firm land'', Maud confessed to us in her radio connection on Monday morning. 
    
She has to move the carbon boom, which weighs 100 kilos and measures 10.50 metres in length, as it is now caught in the lifelines, bring it to the middle of the boat, lift it onto the top of the cabin and finally put it up vertically. Thankfully, Jean Luc Van Den Heede had foreseen a system, the famous ''piece of aluminium'' that Maud spoke about and which allows her to convert the boom into jury rigging. Then there is only the issue of keeping it in position.

Maud expects this operation to be tedious and annoying. ''This is going to take a long time, it is not a question of hours but of days. I will have to think out every little detail, think hard about it and try to be crafty to compensate for these ''little arms'' of mine''. 

Simultaneously feeling very moved and galvanized by the numerous messages of support she has received, more than ever Maud Fontenoy wants to overcome this new obstacle: ''Now I am going to try to eat something to build up my strength and get back out there; later on I will sit down in the cockpit and think through what I can do. Even though it will be millimetre by millimetre, I promise I am going to try to move this boom.'' 

L'Oréal Paris is currently adrift. ''And not precisely in the right direction. I am moving further eastward at an approximate speed of one knot. It's not much but it is another reason for me to get the rigging up as soon as possible and get back on course to the northwest.'' 

Maud will only be in charge of her heading when she has managed to put up the jury rigging. From then on, she will have to grin and bear it, as she will be sailing at a very limited pace: she still has several more weeks at sea before finally reaching her destination.]]></description></item><item><title>''I dont want to abandon''</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>12/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Yesterday, Maud Fontenoy was feeling very downhearted a few hours after L'Oréal Paris's mast came down but today she is back in control and has exorcised evil by battling on deck for about 10 hours to set free the chunk of mast that was hitting against the hull and putting the vessel in danger. Exhausted but satisfied, Maud can now contemplate the future with a more positive outlook; she is going to try to reach Reunion Island with jury rigging. 

Since yesterday, L'Oréal Paris's team and the French National Navy, in collaboration with the Australian Navy, have been working on the possibility of going to assist Maud Fontenoy. A German freighter has changed its course and arrived in the area at around 15:00 GMT on sunday afternoon (16:00 French time) whereas a tugboat sent by L'Oréal Paris left Perth this morning. On the other hand, the men of the National Navy are ready to intervene from Reunion Island, Corvette Captain Serge Soulanille indicated.
 
Meanwhile, the navigator who is over 900 miles off Australia and 2,000 miles away from Reunion has decided to get back into control. 

''I didn't sleep at all last night. But with the break of day, I set to work to free my boat of the rigging with a metal cutter. I took me 10 hours; I ended up absolutely exhausted. I had to slash the whole mainsail with a cutter ! But I am really satisfied ; the job has been done. I have passed the cleaning test; I now have a healthy boat in which I feel safe'', Maud told us by phone at the end of the morning. 

If everything is OK, the ships that went out to assist Maud might limit themselves to giving her provisions and fuel if she needs them so that the electronic equipment on board, and especially the automatic pilot, can work. ''I am going to speak to the men on the freighter and tell them that I am not going to abandon the boat but continue on course. In any event, I am truly grateful for the solidarity of the people at sea.''

After having overcome the shock, the navigator decided to keep going; she is about to get to work in making some jury rigging. ''I don't want to abandon. Tomorrow morning (Monday), I will try to raise the boom to make a hanger and put up a small sail. My aim is to reach Reunion Island.'' 

For the time being Maud Fontenoy, who is visibly exhausted, is going to rest, drink and feed herself so that on Monday she can put up the jury rigging, a task that is more than likely to be hard work. Thankfully, the relatively benevolent weather conditions will be on her side for the next 2 to 3 days. 
She will then try to sail at a reduced speed towards the line of arrival. ''I should arrive in about 10 days time. I will have to summon up patience () I am not a superhero but I have managed to organize myself and I will try to do everything I can to get there. I feel relieved in that I know my project has not come to a complete standstill.'' 

Patrick Rabain, deputy president of L'Oréal Paris, who was marshalled to organize assistance from his Australian counterparts, intervened in the radio connection to encourage Maud and tell her how much the L'Oréal Paris team admired her.]]></description></item><item><title>''I don't want to abandon''</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>12/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Yesterday, Maud Fontenoy was feeling very downhearted a few hours after L'Oréal Paris's mast came down but today she is back in control and has exorcised evil by battling on deck for about 10 hours to set free the chunk of mast that was hitting against the hull and putting the vessel in danger. Exhausted but satisfied, Maud can now contemplate the future with a more positive outlook; she is going to try to reach Reunion Island with jury rigging. 

Since yesterday, L'Oréal Paris's team and the French National Navy, in collaboration with the Australian Navy, have been working on the possibility of going to assist Maud Fontenoy. A German freighter has changed its course and arrived in the area at around 15:00 GMT on sunday afternoon (16:00 French time) whereas a tugboat sent by L'Oréal Paris left Perth this morning. On the other hand, the men of the National Navy are ready to intervene from Reunion Island, Corvette Captain Serge Soulanille indicated.
 
Meanwhile, the navigator who is over 900 miles off Australia and 2,000 miles away from Reunion has decided to get back into control. 

''I didn't sleep at all last night. But with the break of day, I set to work to free my boat of the rigging with a metal cutter. I took me 10 hours; I ended up absolutely exhausted. I had to slash the whole mainsail with a cutter ! But I am really satisfied ; the job has been done. I have passed the cleaning test; I now have a healthy boat in which I feel safe'', Maud told us by phone at the end of the morning. 

If everything is OK, the ships that went out to assist Maud might limit themselves to giving her provisions and fuel if she needs them so that the electronic equipment on board, and especially the automatic pilot, can work. ''I am going to speak to the men on the freighter and tell them that I am not going to abandon the boat but continue on course. In any event, I am truly grateful for the solidarity of the people at sea.''

After having overcome the shock, the navigator decided to keep going; she is about to get to work in making some jury rigging. ''I don't want to abandon. Tomorrow morning (Monday), I will try to raise the boom to make a hanger and put up a small sail. My aim is to reach Reunion Island.'' 

For the time being Maud Fontenoy, who is visibly exhausted, is going to rest, drink and feed herself so that on Monday she can put up the jury rigging, a task that is more than likely to be hard work. Thankfully, the relatively benevolent weather conditions will be on her side for the next 2 to 3 days. 
She will then try to sail at a reduced speed towards the line of arrival. ''I should arrive in about 10 days time. I will have to summon up patience () I am not a superhero but I have managed to organize myself and I will try to do everything I can to get there. I feel relieved in that I know my project has not come to a complete standstill.'' 

Patrick Rabain, deputy president of L'Oréal Paris, who was marshalled to organize assistance from his Australian counterparts, intervened in the radio connection to encourage Maud and tell her how much the L'Oréal Paris team admired her.]]></description></item><item><title>L'Oréal Paris Broke her mast</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>10/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[It was yesterday, Saturday, 10th February, at about 12:00 (11h00 GMT) when L'Oréal Paris broke her mast. Maud Fontenoy is safe and sound on board her boat and is currently 900 miles (approximately 1600 km) off the Australian coast. It was possible to speak to her at 16:30 local time. In a state of shock and feeling extremely disappointed, she is waiting for dawn to break to take stock of the damage. The whole L'Oréal team and the countrys Navy are at present mobilized to study the possibility of going out to help the salvage teams. 

''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 nor any navigation instruments. I am in a state of shock''. 

''It was getting dark when it happened, the helmswoman had very little time to assess the damage and try to set the mast free to prevent it hitting against the vessel. Thankfully, L'Oréal Paris's hull is made of aluminium and is highly resistant.''
 
Maud Fontenoy got in touch with Jean Luc Van Deen Heede, the boats former owner and skipper, to examine among others things the possibility of putting up some jury rigging.  
At the moment, the priority is her safety: ''I have the life raft ready with water cans and some food. My thermal suit is also to hand, ready to receive me.''

The whole L'Oréal Paris team and the National Navy are studying the possibility of going out to help the salvage team but let us not forget that at the moment Maud Fontenoy is safe inside her boat and that she has not set off the alarm beacon. ''Every hour I get news of what is happening on land. No decision has been taken for the time being.'' 

Weather conditions in the area (at present approximately 30 knot westerly winds) are going to improve, Richard Silvani of Météo France revealed to us. The wind is progressively going to die down and blow in the required direction, from the south and towards the east. 

After 119 days at sea, Maud Fontenoy is only about 10 days away from Reunion Island and the line of arrival. Very disappointed, she will nevertheless wait for dawn to break to analyze the situation and take a decision regarding the development of her adventure Against the Current.]]></description></item><item><title>L'Oréal Paris broke her mast</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>10/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[It was yesterday, Saturday, 10th February, at about 12:00 (11h00 GMT) when L'Oréal Paris broke her mast. Maud Fontenoy is safe and sound on board her boat and is currently 900 miles (approximately 1600 km) off the Australian coast. It was possible to speak to her at 16:30 local time. In a state of shock and feeling extremely disappointed, she is waiting for dawn to break to take stock of the damage. The whole L'Oréal team and the countrys Navy are at present mobilized to study the possibility of going out to help the salvage teams. 

''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 nor any navigation instruments. I am in a state of shock''. 

''It was getting dark when it happened, the helmswoman had very little time to assess the damage and try to set the mast free to prevent it hitting against the vessel. Thankfully, L'Oréal Paris's hull is made of aluminium and is highly resistant.''
 
Maud Fontenoy got in touch with Jean Luc Van Deen Heede, the boats former owner and skipper, to examine among others things the possibility of putting up some jury rigging.  
At the moment, the priority is her safety: ''I have the life raft ready with water cans and some food. My thermal suit is also to hand, ready to receive me.''

The whole L'Oréal Paris team and the National Navy are studying the possibility of going out to help the salvage team but let us not forget that at the moment Maud Fontenoy is safe inside her boat and that she has not set off the alarm beacon. ''Every hour I get news of what is happening on land. No decision has been taken for the time being.'' 

Weather conditions in the area (at present approximately 30 knot westerly winds) are going to improve, Richard Silvani of Météo France revealed to us. The wind is progressively going to die down and blow in the required direction, from the south and towards the east. 

After 119 days at sea, Maud Fontenoy is only about 10 days away from Reunion Island and the line of arrival. Very disappointed, she will nevertheless wait for dawn to break to analyze the situation and take a decision regarding the development of her adventure Against the Current.]]></description></item><item><title>Sixteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>05/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy has been at sea for 113 days. An important event highlighted this week: rounding Cape Leeuwin. Maud has just left behind her the three capes she had planned to sail round (Good Hope, Cape Horn and Cape Leeuwin). 
Now her objective is to reach Reunion Island that is approximately 4,000 nautical miles away from the stem of her boat. 

''We are stuck in the anticyclone. But don't let's start shouting about it in case the storms hear us and take avenge''. That's a change of tone for Maud Fontenoy. After the tunnel of depressions that attacked her in the South, she is now at a standstill in subdued meteorology. These are the first impressions following Cape Leeuwin. At midnight (23 hours GMT) of the night between Thursday and Friday, the navigator and her vessel L'Oréal Paris overturned on the last stretch of her voyage, heading towards Reunion Island that she sailed out of on 15 October last year. 

For Maud, rounding the last Cape was a relief. The navigator admits in all sincerity that she will not miss the southern seas or ''the recurrent storms responsible for that lump in my throat''. The depressions have died down and Maud decided to go up L'Oréal Paris's mast to try to repair the faulty traveller skates. The sail got caught in the rail that joins it to the mast: Maud could not hoist it when needed nor get it down in the gusts of wind. 

On Thursday, a few hours before rounding Cape Leeuwin, Maud received in advance the first glimpses of the smiles, which will soon overcome her from the islanders. The handball player, Jackson Richardson, who was born on Reunion Island, came to encourage her over the radio. Gérard d'Aboville was there too; he was the first person to row cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1980. ''I can see that your mind is equally as brave, this is the most important thing. Success is in your mind, temperament and will. This is the common denominator for a voyage by oar'', he told the navigator to raise her spirits and give her back some of the energy the austral seas had taken out of her.
 
That same Friday night, only a few hours after having rounded her third Cape, Maud spoke of her new sensations, promises of a renascent and sweet sea, which she was ready to enjoy until the end of her adventure, planned for within a few weeks. ''Tonight, we are serenely sailing through this channel of light given to us by the full moon. Clouds continue to extinguish the stars but new clarity disperses the semidarkness like the wind banishes black smoke. Protected by the white star, I feel like I am living through my reconciliation with the dark night. I am soaking up this magic as if it were an allied and soothing perfume that I never want to forget''.]]></description></item><item><title>Sixteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>04/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy has been at sea for 113 days. An important event highlighted this week: rounding Cape Leeuwin. Maud has just left behind her the three capes she had planned to sail round (Good Hope, Cape Horn and Cape Leeuwin). 
Now her objective is to reach Reunion Island that is approximately 4,000 nautical miles away from the stem of her boat. 

''We are stuck in the anticyclone. But don't let's start shouting about it in case the storms hear us and take avenge''. That's a change of tone for Maud Fontenoy. After the tunnel of depressions that attacked her in the South, she is now at a standstill in subdued meteorology. These are the first impressions following Cape Leeuwin. At midnight (23 hours GMT) of the night between Thursday and Friday, the navigator and her vessel L'Oréal Paris overturned on the last stretch of her voyage, heading towards Reunion Island that she sailed out of on 15 October last year. 

For Maud, rounding the last Cape was a relief. The navigator admits in all sincerity that she will not miss the southern seas or ''the recurrent storms responsible for that lump in my throat''. The depressions have died down and Maud decided to go up L'Oréal Paris's mast to try to repair the faulty traveller skates. The sail got caught in the rail that joins it to the mast: Maud could not hoist it when needed nor get it down in the gusts of wind. 

On Thursday, a few hours before rounding Cape Leeuwin, Maud received in advance the first glimpses of the smiles, which will soon overcome her from the islanders. The handball player, Jackson Richardson, who was born on Reunion Island, came to encourage her over the radio. Gérard d'Aboville was there too; he was the first person to row cross the Atlantic Ocean in 1980. ''I can see that your mind is equally as brave, this is the most important thing. Success is in your mind, temperament and will. This is the common denominator for a voyage by oar'', he told the navigator to raise her spirits and give her back some of the energy the austral seas had taken out of her.
 
That same Friday night, only a few hours after having rounded her third Cape, Maud spoke of her new sensations, promises of a renascent and sweet sea, which she was ready to enjoy until the end of her adventure, planned for within a few weeks. ''Tonight, we are serenely sailing through this channel of light given to us by the full moon. Clouds continue to extinguish the stars but new clarity disperses the semidarkness like the wind banishes black smoke. Protected by the white star, I feel like I am living through my reconciliation with the dark night. I am soaking up this magic as if it were an allied and soothing perfume that I never want to forget''.]]></description></item><item><title>Maud Fontenoy rounds Cape Leeuwin</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>02/02/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[The last gateway is already behind her. Maud Fontenoy has rounded Cape Leeuwin. It was today, Friday, at 11.00 pm GMT when the helmswoman and her boat L'Oréal Paris crossed the southwest tip of Australia. From now on, Maud Fontenoy expects to encounter better weather conditions than the numerous depressions that have marked her voyage since Cape Horn.

It is not difficult for her to admit: she will not miss that area of incessant storms nor that ''lump in her throat'' that it caused. ''To recall it, you must have lived in that universe of darkness'', the navigator said. 

After 110 days at sea, Maud Fontenoy has set her course for Reunion Island, where in a few weeks time, she will cross the arrival line of her Challenge Against the Current.]]></description></item><item><title>Maud Fontenoy rounds Cape Leeuwin</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>01/02/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[The last gateway is already behind her. Maud Fontenoy has rounded Cape Leeuwin. It was today, Friday, at 11.00 pm GMT when the helmswoman and her boat L'Oréal Paris crossed the southwest tip of Australia. From now on, Maud Fontenoy expects to encounter better weather conditions than the numerous depressions that have marked her voyage since Cape Horn.

It is not difficult for her to admit: she will not miss that area of incessant storms nor that ''lump in her throat'' that it caused. ''To recall it, you must have lived in that universe of darkness'', the navigator said. 

After 110 days at sea, Maud Fontenoy has set her course for Reunion Island, where in a few weeks time, she will cross the arrival line of her Challenge Against the Current.]]></description></item><item><title>Fifteenth week at Sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>28/01/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Cape Leeuwin is coming up. This week Maud Fontenoy should round the third cape on her challenge Against the current. At least that is what is planned. This Monday the navigator will already have spent 106 days at sea. The weather conditions definitely punished L'Oréal Paris a great deal. Depressions came after the storms. Nevertheless it seems that a little ray of hope is on the horizon (will it be a positive sign for the future?); this week has ended better than expected. 

''Exhausted from weariness, my legs fail me in the cockpit. I have tied the helm and finally throw myself into the berth, absolutely tired out. Its time to rest for a while''. This is how Maud Fontenoy finished off her logbook yesterday. The navigator was finally able to find a moment to recover because, ever since she rounded Cape Horn, she has been hard at it, getting no rest. ''The depression is far behind me, the wind is nothing more than an indolent murmur that negligently wiggles the flags on the stay. L'Oréal floats along a river like an autumnal leaf. Slowly, without being scared, the boat lets herself be taken without any resistance by the sea which for the first time seems to want to relieve her of her weight''. On board L'Oréal Paris that is sailing south of Australia, the atmosphere is changing. At the beginning of the week Maud interrogated herself. Had she reached her limit? Victim of the wind and the wild waves, the navigator suffered tendonitis in every arm. Weighing it up was hard: ''One hundred days at sea and practically half of them with storms'', the helmswoman of L'Oréal Paris wrote last Tuesday.

During those melancholic moments and in spite of everything, Maud remembers some of Coluche's jokes and manages to find time to laugh. There are also small day-to-day pleasures, those that announce better days are ahead: a starry night, a pleasant surprise after a few moments of difficulty on deck, with 60-knot winds, and the mono-hull licking the sea on one of her sides ; when suddenly the sky lights up. ''It is surprising how sometimes, without expecting it, you are overcome by a wave of joy'', Maud wrote this Saturday. A shy beam of sunshine makes a victorious escape through the clouds. Little by little the storm dies down, I listen to Ray Charles to relax, life never seemed to be so beautiful. The doors open on us again, for a few seconds the reluctant mountain discovers part of its summit. L'Oréal and I recover our breath. Our horizon is clear; heading west, full steam ahead !'' The Sun offers us its first function before reaching the promised Land of Reunion Island. The so longed for Sun should soon rise on a daily basis for our navigator and her boat as soon as they have rounded Cape Leeuwin. 

After Good Hope and Cape Horn, after the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, Maud is getting ready to enter the Indian Ocean whose reputation is more benevolent. ''Day and night I think, no, I dream rather, of Cape Leeuwin, as the wonderland where it is warm, where the birds sing and where the sea finally hangs up its war axe ! The first thing I think I shall do is to lie down on the bow and let the burning sunbeams peck at me...'' There is only one step from this dream to reality: if she keeps up the current average, Maud should round the Cape between Thursday and the end of the week.]]></description></item><item><title>Fifteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>27/01/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Cape Leeuwin is coming up. This week Maud Fontenoy should round the third cape on her challenge Against the current. At least that is what is planned. This Monday the navigator will already have spent 106 days at sea. The weather conditions definitely punished L'Oréal Paris a great deal. Depressions came after the storms. Nevertheless it seems that a little ray of hope is on the horizon (will it be a positive sign for the future?); this week has ended better than expected. 

''Exhausted from weariness, my legs fail me in the cockpit. I have tied the helm and finally throw myself into the berth, absolutely tired out. Its time to rest for a while''. This is how Maud Fontenoy finished off her logbook yesterday. The navigator was finally able to find a moment to recover because, ever since she rounded Cape Horn, she has been hard at it, getting no rest. ''The depression is far behind me, the wind is nothing more than an indolent murmur that negligently wiggles the flags on the stay. L'Oréal floats along a river like an autumnal leaf. Slowly, without being scared, the boat lets herself be taken without any resistance by the sea which for the first time seems to want to relieve her of her weight''. On board L'Oréal Paris that is sailing south of Australia, the atmosphere is changing. At the beginning of the week Maud interrogated herself. Had she reached her limit? Victim of the wind and the wild waves, the navigator suffered tendonitis in every arm. Weighing it up was hard: ''One hundred days at sea and practically half of them with storms'', the helmswoman of L'Oréal Paris wrote last Tuesday.

During those melancholic moments and in spite of everything, Maud remembers some of Coluche's jokes and manages to find time to laugh. There are also small day-to-day pleasures, those that announce better days are ahead: a starry night, a pleasant surprise after a few moments of difficulty on deck, with 60-knot winds, and the mono-hull licking the sea on one of her sides ; when suddenly the sky lights up. ''It is surprising how sometimes, without expecting it, you are overcome by a wave of joy'', Maud wrote this Saturday. A shy beam of sunshine makes a victorious escape through the clouds. Little by little the storm dies down, I listen to Ray Charles to relax, life never seemed to be so beautiful. The doors open on us again, for a few seconds the reluctant mountain discovers part of its summit. L'Oréal and I recover our breath. Our horizon is clear; heading west, full steam ahead !'' The Sun offers us its first function before reaching the promised Land of Reunion Island. The so longed for Sun should soon rise on a daily basis for our navigator and her boat as soon as they have rounded Cape Leeuwin. 

After Good Hope and Cape Horn, after the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, Maud is getting ready to enter the Indian Ocean whose reputation is more benevolent. ''Day and night I think, no, I dream rather, of Cape Leeuwin, as the wonderland where it is warm, where the birds sing and where the sea finally hangs up its war axe ! The first thing I think I shall do is to lie down on the bow and let the burning sunbeams peck at me...'' There is only one step from this dream to reality: if she keeps up the current average, Maud should round the Cape between Thursday and the end of the week.]]></description></item><item><title>Fourteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>22/01/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[After having sailed past New Zealand, MAud Fontenoy is just off the coast of Australia and her objective is to round Cape Leeuwin at the end of January. Maud and L'Oréal Paris, who left Reunion Island on 15 October, continue to put up with storms and dream about the sunshine to end this challenge Against the Current. 
 
Maud Fontenoy's week ended much the same as it started, with strong winds that continue to attack the boat. Since rounding Cape Horn, the weather conditions have not been on the navigator's side and she has been caught up in a dance of never-ending storms. ''But I chose it, I signed up Against the Current. If only I hadn't signed the contract before leaving!'', Maud said with a smile on her face during her radio connection last Thursday. Sailing past New Zealand and the next few days have not been easy. Due to the typical deep waters south of this country, Maud had to sail as least north as possible. That meant she had to sail towards the depression and into violent 60-knot winds that have been rather hard on L'Oréal Paris. ''They caused the boat several problems, especially with the mainsail travellers, the pieces that join the sail to the mast. They gave way under the violence of the jerks'', the navigator said. But what was more worrying was that water started filtering into the boat, ''approximately ten buckets of water came out in one single day'', due to a leak in the boats starboard bilge. 

Maud has had to put on her mechanic's clothes again to repair it. Using epoxy resin and fibreglass reinforcement, the situation is under control. ''Thankfully the crack is not 5,000 metres deep, which is what is below me, but on the starboard bilge! It's emptying itself into the bottom of the boat, it's not at all funny (there are 3,000 litres) but I'm more relaxed to think that it is not seawater filtering inside'' Maud explained. For Gilles Vatton, that is quite normal. ''You have just spent several weeks in areas where boat racers generally stay only for a few days. The boat is under much request'', L'Oréal Paris naval engineer and boat builder explained to Maud on Thursday by radio. Maud feels how there are strong links between her and her companion L'Oréal, built more to break the waves that strike against her hull than to slide through them. These are the conditions that accompany an adventure of sailing round the world the other way. ''I talk to my boat, probably because there is no one else I can speak to. I encourage her when everything is going well onboard. We talk a lot together. The boat and I are living a very intense adventure''.

The sailor and her mount continue on their route, with caution. ''The sky becomes a phantom, I get goose-pimples when I hear its breath roaring in the shrouds. I clutch the helm forcefully; L'ORÉAL understands my anxiety and intensifies her surveillance. I half-close my eyes so as to see better, but that doesnt help, everything is still blurred. I get the sensation that I am disappearing, becoming invisible. I sink my feet into the deck, making myself as heavy as possible, the breathing of the sky gets increasingly closer. I can feel its freezing breath on the back of my neck. I close my eyes'', Maud relates. ''I am putting up with it all but longing to get into less depressive seas''. This moment will probably arrive after Cape Leeuwin or maybe before then. Maud expects to round the cape before the end of the month. It will be the last of the three capes on the route of her challenge Against the Current. Crossing it will mark the entrance into the Indian Ocean, which is far more ''Pacific'' than the Ocean that bears that name.]]></description></item><item><title>Fourteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>21/01/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[After having sailed past New Zealand, MAud Fontenoy is just off the coast of Australia and her objective is to round Cape Leeuwin at the end of January. Maud and L'Oréal Paris, who left Reunion Island on 15 October, continue to put up with storms and dream about the sunshine to end this challenge Against the Current. 
 
Maud Fontenoy's week ended much the same as it started, with strong winds that continue to attack the boat. Since rounding Cape Horn, the weather conditions have not been on the navigator's side and she has been caught up in a dance of never-ending storms. ''But I chose it, I signed up Against the Current. If only I hadn't signed the contract before leaving!'', Maud said with a smile on her face during her radio connection last Thursday. Sailing past New Zealand and the next few days have not been easy. Due to the typical deep waters south of this country, Maud had to sail as least north as possible. That meant she had to sail towards the depression and into violent 60-knot winds that have been rather hard on L'Oréal Paris. ''They caused the boat several problems, especially with the mainsail travellers, the pieces that join the sail to the mast. They gave way under the violence of the jerks'', the navigator said. But what was more worrying was that water started filtering into the boat, ''approximately ten buckets of water came out in one single day'', due to a leak in the boats starboard bilge. 

Maud has had to put on her mechanic's clothes again to repair it. Using epoxy resin and fibreglass reinforcement, the situation is under control. ''Thankfully the crack is not 5,000 metres deep, which is what is below me, but on the starboard bilge! It's emptying itself into the bottom of the boat, it's not at all funny (there are 3,000 litres) but I'm more relaxed to think that it is not seawater filtering inside'' Maud explained. For Gilles Vatton, that is quite normal. ''You have just spent several weeks in areas where boat racers generally stay only for a few days. The boat is under much request'', L'Oréal Paris naval engineer and boat builder explained to Maud on Thursday by radio. Maud feels how there are strong links between her and her companion L'Oréal, built more to break the waves that strike against her hull than to slide through them. These are the conditions that accompany an adventure of sailing round the world the other way. ''I talk to my boat, probably because there is no one else I can speak to. I encourage her when everything is going well onboard. We talk a lot together. The boat and I are living a very intense adventure''.

The sailor and her mount continue on their route, with caution. ''The sky becomes a phantom, I get goose-pimples when I hear its breath roaring in the shrouds. I clutch the helm forcefully; L'ORÉAL understands my anxiety and intensifies her surveillance. I half-close my eyes so as to see better, but that doesnt help, everything is still blurred. I get the sensation that I am disappearing, becoming invisible. I sink my feet into the deck, making myself as heavy as possible, the breathing of the sky gets increasingly closer. I can feel its freezing breath on the back of my neck. I close my eyes'', Maud relates. ''I am putting up with it all but longing to get into less depressive seas''. This moment will probably arrive after Cape Leeuwin or maybe before then. Maud expects to round the cape before the end of the month. It will be the last of the three capes on the route of her challenge Against the Current. Crossing it will mark the entrance into the Indian Ocean, which is far more ''Pacific'' than the Ocean that bears that name.]]></description></item><item><title>Thirteenth week of sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>15/01/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[15 October  15 January: Maud Fontenoy has already been at sea for three months. This is an important week for the navigator who has spent these last few days south of New Zealand, the symbolic mark of 10,000 theoretical miles she still has to sail, as well as the Antimeridian that indicates the change of date. L'Oréal Paris's skipper, eagerly undertaking her challenge Against the Current, has already got Cape Leeuwin in her sights, the door into the Indian Ocean, towards the Sun and the last straight heading to the Reunion Island 

Deep waters and strong 40 to 50 knot winds: this was the explosive cocktail Maud encountered sailing past New Zealand against wind and current, without mentioning the impressive waves that were waiting for her to the south of that country. Yesterday, the navigator decided to sail round New Zealand and set her course towards Cape Leeuwin to the south of Australia. ''It is the most southern point of the voyage and theoretically I should already be approaching slightly more hospitable and warmer navigating zones'', Maud explained yesterday evening, already with the prospect of entering into the Indian Ocean. Promises of Reunion Island and finally promises of sunshine. The navigator has been fighting successive storms since she headed round Cape Horn, ''I am longing for the moment when I can enjoy more than 2 hours of sunshine a month!'' she said ironically last Thursday during her weekly radio connection. At the moment there is no change in the programme: cloudy skies and bad weather. ''Right now I am longing to get there, all these storms have physically and morally exhausted me! My fingers are crossed to get to the end of February and end my round-the-world voyage''.

L'Oréal Paris continues her progression but Maud still cannot see the moment of arrival. She still has over 9,000 nautical miles to cover. Less than 10,000, that's true, but that gives the navigator no emotion whatsoever, as it is a theoretical number that can increase due to the tacking she has to make. Nevertheless, if we look at the route of her voyage, Maud is already on the other side  of the map, of the Antimeridian that from now on will mark the longitude not of the West but of the East. ''It's anecdotal but amusing, from now on the longitude will decrease to Reunion Island'', Maud commented, worried above all about the oppressive weather conditions.

A lovely picture Maud gave us in her logbook with the entry of a new person, that of Groseille (Currant), on the day-to-day Challenge Against the Current. ''Pick up an ant, call it Groseille. Put it delicately on the table. Choose a cloud; pick one that is grey in colour and quite full of rain. Place it in Groseille's way and let it bravely overcome the obstacle. And when you see it appear on the other side, ask it to tell you what it was like!'' This little ant under the heavy storm clouds is Maud, who last Thursday staggered through the most terrible storms on her round-the-world voyage: ten days ago she encountered 70-knot winds and 9-metre high waves and at the beginning of this thirteenth week at sea, she still has to face tenacious 45 to 50 knot winds. ''The hours are like days and the days like weeks. I have been really scared and in terrible pain. I have shouted out of desperation. With 70-knot winds, Nature shows you who is in charge.

You also realize the colossal strength you have inside yourself.'']]></description></item><item><title>Thirteenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>13/01/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[15 October  15 January: Maud Fontenoy has already been at sea for three months. This is an important week for the navigator who has spent these last few days south of New Zealand, the symbolic mark of 10,000 theoretical miles she still has to sail, as well as the Antimeridian that indicates the change of date. L'Oréal Paris's skipper, eagerly undertaking her challenge Against the Current, has already got Cape Leeuwin in her sights, the door into the Indian Ocean, towards the Sun and the last straight heading to the Reunion Island 

Deep waters and strong 40 to 50 knot winds: this was the explosive cocktail Maud encountered sailing past New Zealand against wind and current, without mentioning the impressive waves that were waiting for her to the south of that country. Yesterday, the navigator decided to sail round New Zealand and set her course towards Cape Leeuwin to the south of Australia. ''It is the most southern point of the voyage and theoretically I should already be approaching slightly more hospitable and warmer navigating zones'', Maud explained yesterday evening, already with the prospect of entering into the Indian Ocean. Promises of Reunion Island and finally promises of sunshine. The navigator has been fighting successive storms since she headed round Cape Horn, ''I am longing for the moment when I can enjoy more than 2 hours of sunshine a month!'' she said ironically last Thursday during her weekly radio connection. At the moment there is no change in the programme: cloudy skies and bad weather. ''Right now I am longing to get there, all these storms have physically and morally exhausted me! My fingers are crossed to get to the end of February and end my round-the-world voyage''.

L'Oréal Paris continues her progression but Maud still cannot see the moment of arrival. She still has over 9,000 nautical miles to cover. Less than 10,000, that's true, but that gives the navigator no emotion whatsoever, as it is a theoretical number that can increase due to the tacking she has to make. Nevertheless, if we look at the route of her voyage, Maud is already on the other side  of the map, of the Antimeridian that from now on will mark the longitude not of the West but of the East. ''It's anecdotal but amusing, from now on the longitude will decrease to Reunion Island'', Maud commented, worried above all about the oppressive weather conditions.

A lovely picture Maud gave us in her logbook with the entry of a new person, that of Groseille (Currant), on the day-to-day Challenge Against the Current. ''Pick up an ant, call it Groseille. Put it delicately on the table. Choose a cloud; pick one that is grey in colour and quite full of rain. Place it in Groseille's way and let it bravely overcome the obstacle. And when you see it appear on the other side, ask it to tell you what it was like!'' This little ant under the heavy storm clouds is Maud, who last Thursday staggered through the most terrible storms on her round-the-world voyage: ten days ago she encountered 70-knot winds and 9-metre high waves and at the beginning of this thirteenth week at sea, she still has to face tenacious 45 to 50 knot winds. ''The hours are like days and the days like weeks. I have been really scared and in terrible pain. I have shouted out of desperation. With 70-knot winds, Nature shows you who is in charge.

You also realize the colossal strength you have inside yourself.''

]]></description></item><item><title>Twelfth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>08/01/2007</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[For Maud Fontenoy, 2007 began with 65-knot winds and waves 9 metres high. This Monday the navigator will have been 85 days at sea. L'Oréal Paris continues on her sea route in the South Pacific; the next objective for Maud and her boat: New Zealand. 
 
It was the middle of the night last Thursday for Maud, midday in Paris, when in the National Navy Museum the navigator gave her twelfth radio communication about her adventure Against the Current, locked in her cell of life onboard her boat, being violently shaken between the metre-high waves and the almost 140 km per hour winds. In fact Maud had to hang up several times. ''I've already put up with quite a few hours of rough treatment by the waves. Several huge depressions have raged the elements leaving the sea in extremely difficult conditions. At the moment I move around like a crab, the boat is under difficulty to head against the wind and the current. I am only flying a little bit of the mainsail so that the boat is not knocked over. I had hoped 2007 was going to start off a bit better!'' This weekend at last the wind really began to lighten, letting more bearable conditions come through that the constant rains had so far deprived the sky of any light, whether by day or by night. Not even the albatross dare come into this area, Maud explained, totally alone in the middle of the Ocean. 
 
For Maud, the Sun came as a surprise on New Year's Eve. ''It shone for a few hours. That's not very common in this environment. I have been living in a world of shade for a whole month. Thanks to this meteorological truce, I have been able to prepare some crepes for myself. The result was nothing extraordinary. They came out a bit like chewing gum but they were a change from my everyday dried food'', Maud said with a smile on her face. A beautiful night reinforced by the feeling of having crossed a symbolic line: the one that marks the halfway mark of the adventure and Maud explains how she spent the first day of 2007. Now her new goal is to cross the line of arrival ''at the end of February''. 
 
Guffaws of laughter were to be heard in that wild sea where Maud was spending her twelfth week. The navigator was able to talk to Raphaël Mezrahi, the humorist, who was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to ''this mad and incredible woman'' from the National Navy Museum''; he offered her a quieter job  ''selling plasma screens, there's quite a demand for them and its less dangerous ''. Nevertheless, apparently Maud is better at formidable adventures, encouraged by hundreds of messages written in the book of gold on her website, messages loaded with humanity that help her to keep going. The new target of her adventure: New Zealand that Maud hopes to reach in a few days before being able to sail around the third and finally the last cape on her adventure, after the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. ''I hope Cape Leeuwin comes soon!'' Maud said impatiently wanting to see the Sun again that it waiting for her further north.]]></description></item><item><title>Twelfth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>07/01/2007</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[For Maud Fontenoy, 2007 began with 65-knot winds and waves 9 metres high. This Monday the navigator will have been 85 days at sea. L'Oréal Paris continues on her sea route in the South Pacific; the next objective for Maud and her boat: New Zealand. 
 
It was the middle of the night last Thursday for Maud, midday in Paris, when in the National Navy Museum the navigator gave her twelfth radio communication about her adventure Against the Current, locked in her cell of life onboard her boat, being violently shaken between the metre-high waves and the almost 140 km per hour winds. In fact Maud had to hang up several times. ''I've already put up with quite a few hours of rough treatment by the waves. Several huge depressions have raged the elements leaving the sea in extremely difficult conditions. At the moment I move around like a crab, the boat is under difficulty to head against the wind and the current. I am only flying a little bit of the mainsail so that the boat is not knocked over. I had hoped 2007 was going to start off a bit better!'' This weekend at last the wind really began to lighten, letting more bearable conditions come through that the constant rains had so far deprived the sky of any light, whether by day or by night. Not even the albatross dare come into this area, Maud explained, totally alone in the middle of the Ocean. 
 
For Maud, the Sun came as a surprise on New Year's Eve. ''It shone for a few hours. That's not very common in this environment. I have been living in a world of shade for a whole month. Thanks to this meteorological truce, I have been able to prepare some crepes for myself. The result was nothing extraordinary. They came out a bit like chewing gum but they were a change from my everyday dried food'', Maud said with a smile on her face. A beautiful night reinforced by the feeling of having crossed a symbolic line: the one that marks the halfway mark of the adventure and Maud explains how she spent the first day of 2007. Now her new goal is to cross the line of arrival ''at the end of February''. 
 
Guffaws of laughter were to be heard in that wild sea where Maud was spending her twelfth week. The navigator was able to talk to Raphaël Mezrahi, the humorist, who was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to ''this mad and incredible woman'' from the National Navy Museum''; he offered her a quieter job  ''selling plasma screens, there's quite a demand for them and its less dangerous ''. Nevertheless, apparently Maud is better at formidable adventures, encouraged by hundreds of messages written in the book of gold on her website, messages loaded with humanity that help her to keep going. The new target of her adventure: New Zealand that Maud hopes to reach in a few days before being able to sail around the third and finally the last cape on her adventure, after the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. ''I hope Cape Leeuwin comes soon!'' Maud said impatiently wanting to see the Sun again that it waiting for her further north.]]></description></item><item><title>Eleventh week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>31/12/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy swings into 2007 in the southern Pacific Ocean. The navigator continues her challenge Against the Current. Maud, who sailed from Reunion Island on 15 October last year and has already spent 78 days at sea, hopes to cross the line of arrival ''at the end of February''. 

''I'm prepared to see the New Year in doing something I really like as this is my dream come true. I have a bottle of champagne on board. I will open it at the bow of L'Oréal Paris on the morning of 1 January. I shall be thinking about my family, knowing they are enjoying the dinner including foie gras and other delicious delicacies. My mouth is watering at the thought''. This is what Maud Fontenoy was imagining for the New Year's Eve dinner just a few days before stepping over from 2006 into 2007. 

One week before celebrating New Year, the navigator spent Christmas in the open sea, in the South Pacific where she continues on the route that will take her back to Reunion Island. ''It was quite a painful moment as I was on board by myself. Luck was with me that afternoon and gave me two hours of sunshine, a small Christmas miracle''. Maud then called her relatives to share that special night with them before opening the presents stowed on board before her departure : '' A beautiful watch, a gift from her partner, perfumed sachets, a blackberry-scented candle  So many good smells on board''.

Since sailing round Cape Horn, the Sun hardly shines in those uniform grey landscapes. In the South Pacific the colours change very little but Maud already knew what to expect. Huddling under ''two fleeces, three pairs of socks and blankets, Maud explains her strategy to us, which involves sailing further north to avoid the icebergs measuring 100 metres long by 20 metres high'' forecast by the Chilean Navy. ''Its still as cold as ever but as I am farther north, the water is warmer. Its about 7 or 8 degrees. I hope I don't find any ice when sailing down towards New Zealand and Australia''. 

For some days the low pressures have been less oppressive and the wind not so strong. But the accumulated tiredness was felt in the storm tunnel, which she had to endure over these last weeks. The navigator tried to recover as best she could but once again at the beginning of the weekend, L'Oréal Paris had to face winds of over 30 knots and rough seas. 

''Our only masters are the wind and the waves. Time goes by slowly without a clock or any haste. Obedient, probably a little resigned, I don't even count the minutes it takes me to do a manoeuvre, or the hours I spend in the cold, whether by day or by night. The ocean has washed away all our habits; we make progress each day according to the rhythm, appreciating a non- superfluous existence, close to nature, undoubtedly with a more sincere look at our own virtues and faults. Here, with the distance and in spite of the suffering, curiously I feel quite calm''.

2007 is a symbolic year for Maud; it is the year of her awaited return to terra firma; 7 is the navigator of L'Oréal Paris's lucky number, she was born on 7 September 1977 at 7 a.m. in the city of Meraux in the French department the postal code of which is  77.]]></description></item><item><title>Eleventh week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>30/12/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy swings into 2007 in the southern Pacific Ocean. The navigator continues her challenge Against the Current. Maud, who sailed from Reunion Island on 15 October last year and has already spent 78 days at sea, hopes to cross the line of arrival ''at the end of February''. 

''I'm prepared to see the New Year in doing something I really like as this is my dream come true. I have a bottle of champagne on board. I will open it at the bow of L'Oréal Paris on the morning of 1 January. I shall be thinking about my family, knowing they are enjoying the dinner including foie gras and other delicious delicacies. My mouth is watering at the thought''. This is what Maud Fontenoy was imagining for the New Year's Eve dinner just a few days before stepping over from 2006 into 2007. 

One week before celebrating New Year, the navigator spent Christmas in the open sea, in the South Pacific where she continues on the route that will take her back to Reunion Island. ''It was quite a painful moment as I was on board by myself. Luck was with me that afternoon and gave me two hours of sunshine, a small Christmas miracle''. Maud then called her relatives to share that special night with them before opening the presents stowed on board before her departure : '' A beautiful watch, a gift from her partner, perfumed sachets, a blackberry-scented candle  So many good smells on board''.

Since sailing round Cape Horn, the Sun hardly shines in those uniform grey landscapes. In the South Pacific the colours change very little but Maud already knew what to expect. Huddling under ''two fleeces, three pairs of socks and blankets, Maud explains her strategy to us, which involves sailing further north to avoid the icebergs measuring 100 metres long by 20 metres high'' forecast by the Chilean Navy. ''Its still as cold as ever but as I am farther north, the water is warmer. Its about 7 or 8 degrees. I hope I don't find any ice when sailing down towards New Zealand and Australia''. 

For some days the low pressures have been less oppressive and the wind not so strong. But the accumulated tiredness was felt in the storm tunnel, which she had to endure over these last weeks. The navigator tried to recover as best she could but once again at the beginning of the weekend, L'Oréal Paris had to face winds of over 30 knots and rough seas. 

''Our only masters are the wind and the waves. Time goes by slowly without a clock or any haste. Obedient, probably a little resigned, I don't even count the minutes it takes me to do a manoeuvre, or the hours I spend in the cold, whether by day or by night. The ocean has washed away all our habits; we make progress each day according to the rhythm, appreciating a non- superfluous existence, close to nature, undoubtedly with a more sincere look at our own virtues and faults. Here, with the distance and in spite of the suffering, curiously I feel quite calm''.

2007 is a symbolic year for Maud; it is the year of her awaited return to terra firma; 7 is the navigator of L'Oréal Paris's lucky number, she was born on 7 September 1977 at 7 a.m. in the city of Meraux in the French department the postal code of which is  77.]]></description></item><item><title>Tenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>25/12/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy is still fighting it out in the South Pacific, a compulsory stretch on her challenge against wind and current, the maritime loop from and to Reunion Island. These have been two difficult weeks since sailing from Cape Horn. 
The Sun hides itself while the waves rise up. 

Today is 25 December. Maud Fontenoy is spending Christmas away from Meaux, her hometown; somewhere else in the world, in the South Pacific Ocean, L'Oréal Paris's skipper will not fail tradition, even though there will be no tree or decorations in the cabin. ''The concept of Christmas is hard for me'', Maud told us during her last radio connection on Thursday. ''I have presents onboard and I will prepare some good food. I will probably twinge in my heart when thinking it is party time when everyone gets together. I am bound to feel a bit lonely'' Maud has put her Christmas gifts on one of the berths in the boat. They are presents her relatives and friends gave her a few moments before setting sail, ''they smell of dried flowers and my mother's perfume'', the navigator explained. For her this day is already the promise of 2007 that will mark her return voyage to Reunion Island. 

Before seeing the blue sky of the promised island again, Maud and L'Oréal Paris will have to continue making progress under a grey coloured sky that does not want to wake up. ''As soon as I lift my head to see the landscape surrounding me, one of these huge waves reefs invades my cabin and submerges the helm. Since sailing in Cape Horn, I am under the impression that I am free diving. Under this heavy concrete sky, Maud re-learns how to appreciate the simple things of nature, this harmony she went in search of far away from everything, the indispensable need of the blue and the Sun. ''I had never realized that light is really what gives life to colours. L'Oréal and I have already spent long weeks in a black and white world. Standing at the helm, I scour the horizon without even blinking, determined not to let the tiniest beam of light escape.''

Even in on the other side of the world, the current events of Meaux, Maud's hometown, include following the navigator. Maud has been affected by the death of little Karl, the 12-year-old teenager who died after a fight coming out of school in Meaux last week.

''My thoughts are with his family. It is my wish that these strong winds from the Pacific Ocean reach you with all my love and support. I want to pay homage to all those teachers, educators and municipal workers, as well as Mrs. Busson who works in the Pierre Collinet neighbourhood, with unlimited generosity, and who fight on a daily basis in those 'sensitive' neighbourhoods so that things change. Because they never stop fighting, and thanks to them, many children find a new life. I admire them very much and thank them from my heart for everything they do.'']]></description></item><item><title>Tenth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>23/12/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy is still fighting it out in the South Pacific, a compulsory stretch on her challenge against wind and current, the maritime loop from and to Reunion Island. These have been two difficult weeks since sailing from Cape Horn. 
The Sun hides itself while the waves rise up. 

Today is 25 December. Maud Fontenoy is spending Christmas away from Meaux, her hometown; somewhere else in the world, in the South Pacific Ocean, L'Oréal Paris's skipper will not fail tradition, even though there will be no tree or decorations in the cabin. ''The concept of Christmas is hard for me'', Maud told us during her last radio connection on Thursday. ''I have presents onboard and I will prepare some good food. I will probably twinge in my heart when thinking it is party time when everyone gets together. I am bound to feel a bit lonely'' Maud has put her Christmas gifts on one of the berths in the boat. They are presents her relatives and friends gave her a few moments before setting sail, ''they smell of dried flowers and my mother's perfume'', the navigator explained. For her this day is already the promise of 2007 that will mark her return voyage to Reunion Island. 

Before seeing the blue sky of the promised island again, Maud and L'Oréal Paris will have to continue making progress under a grey coloured sky that does not want to wake up. ''As soon as I lift my head to see the landscape surrounding me, one of these huge waves reefs invades my cabin and submerges the helm. Since sailing in Cape Horn, I am under the impression that I am free diving. Under this heavy concrete sky, Maud re-learns how to appreciate the simple things of nature, this harmony she went in search of far away from everything, the indispensable need of the blue and the Sun. ''I had never realized that light is really what gives life to colours. L'Oréal and I have already spent long weeks in a black and white world. Standing at the helm, I scour the horizon without even blinking, determined not to let the tiniest beam of light escape.''

Even in on the other side of the world, the current events of Meaux, Maud's hometown, include following the navigator. Maud has been affected by the death of little Karl, the 12-year-old teenager who died after a fight coming out of school in Meaux last week.

''My thoughts are with his family. It is my wish that these strong winds from the Pacific Ocean reach you with all my love and support. I want to pay homage to all those teachers, educators and municipal workers, as well as Mrs. Busson who works in the Pierre Collinet neighbourhood, with unlimited generosity, and who fight on a daily basis in those 'sensitive' neighbourhoods so that things change. Because they never stop fighting, and thanks to them, many children find a new life. I admire them very much and thank them from my heart for everything they do.'']]></description></item><item><title>Ninth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>17/12/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[The sixty-fourth day at sea for Maud Fontenoy. Exactly as forecast by the navigator, the week after sailing round Cape Horn was tough. With bitter cold and a relentless sea, Maud is still en route towards Reunion Island ; L'Oréal Paris's navigation is now rhythmically set for the pursuit of icebergs.

It happened at the beginning of last week, an e-mail arrived in the messages for Maud Fontenoy's team on Land. It was written by a member of the Chilean Navy in charge of carefully watching the sea and notifying any boats so they can avoid the ice that is so dangerous for their hulls. ''Iceberg in sight'' was the message. Blocks of ice measuring 100 metres long and 20 metres high. ''I'll have to be very watchful'', Maud pointed out during her radio connection last Thursday. The icebergs are very much to the north this year. I don't know if it's due to global warming but the austral summer is late''. However, what Maud is really afraid of is not precisely the giant ''ice-cubes''. ''You can see those, whereas the little blocks that become detached, the growlers, are much more perfidious and impossible to foresee. So I can feel a new worry brewing up inside me. I monitor the temperature of the water, the nights are going to be quite long until we are out of these dangerous latitudes''. 

During this cold and dark week, Maud saw a glimpse of light in a true and figurative sense. Almost one week after she sailed around Cape Horn, she ended up by celebrating the event. The menu included: ''rougail'' of sausages with rice, L'Oréal Paris' skippers favourite dish and a Reunion Island speciality, washed down with pineapple rum. ''As soon as the storm was over, a little patch of blue sky appeared right above as if it were a miracle. It was the awaited sign, L'Oréal Paris and I are going to celebrate Cape Horn!'' And also a session to get myself cleaned up... The temperature of the water is 4°C.

Before being able to enjoy this tiny moment of tranquillity, several storms blew up with winds varying from 40 to 50 knots. ''Inside the boat, everything went upside down, from my little bottle of olive oil to the jerry cans of water, my small fire-extinguishers and the other containers where my clothes were stored'', Maud told us. ''The boat bangs against the waves with such violence that it is impossible to be comfortable in the berth and get some rest. I sleep terribly badly in ten minute shifts''.

The programme for the weekend is just the same: strong winds, a wild sea, typical of navigating in the South Pacific. But that's no reason for Maud not to keep her Thursday morning appointment and connect with her team by telephone. There were two guests at the National Navy Museum: Jean-François Copé, the mayor of Meaux and Nicolas Hulot. The first mentioned expressed ''his emotion when talking live to Maud and for the first time since her departure. In Meaux we are finding difficulties like in any other part of France, but thanks to this type of challenge, we are also full of fantastic hope''. As for Nicolas Hulot, he came to encourage Maud, also committed in the fight for the conservation of the environment. The navigator told how she has collected waste with a fishing net in uninhabited areas. ''The planet needs strong symbols like your challenge'', Nicolas Hulot replied, explaining to Maud how in France ''a little undercurrent was being formed in favour of the ecological commitment''.

Finally Maud was also able to talk to the small adventurers of the Guynemer School in Meaux and their teacher, Mrs. Busson, her favourite children with whom she is closely attached when on Land. There were many emotions flying in the headquarters. Nicolas Hulot threw out an invitation to Maud: ''The wine is nice and cool, we are waiting for you!'' ''I also have a bottle put aside for you onboard, Maud replied. At the moment I can assure you it is uncorked, the cabin does not smell of wine!'']]></description></item><item><title>Ninth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>17/12/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[The sixty-fourth day at sea for Maud Fontenoy. Exactly as forecast by the navigator, the week after sailing round Cape Horn was tough. With bitter cold and a relentless sea, Maud is still en route towards Reunion Island ; L'Oréal Paris's navigation is now rhythmically set for the pursuit of icebergs.

It happened at the beginning of last week, an e-mail arrived in the messages for Maud Fontenoy's team on Land. It was written by a member of the Chilean Navy in charge of carefully watching the sea and notifying any boats so they can avoid the ice that is so dangerous for their hulls. ''Iceberg in sight'' was the message. Blocks of ice measuring 100 metres long and 20 metres high. ''I'll have to be very watchful'', Maud pointed out during her radio connection last Thursday. The icebergs are very much to the north this year. I don't know if it's due to global warming but the austral summer is late''. However, what Maud is really afraid of is not precisely the giant ''ice-cubes''. ''You can see those, whereas the little blocks that become detached, the growlers, are much more perfidious and impossible to foresee. So I can feel a new worry brewing up inside me. I monitor the temperature of the water, the nights are going to be quite long until we are out of these dangerous latitudes''. 

During this cold and dark week, Maud saw a glimpse of light in a true and figurative sense. Almost one week after she sailed around Cape Horn, she ended up by celebrating the event. The menu included: ''rougail'' of sausages with rice, L'Oréal Paris' skippers favourite dish and a Reunion Island speciality, washed down with pineapple rum. ''As soon as the storm was over, a little patch of blue sky appeared right above as if it were a miracle. It was the awaited sign, L'Oréal Paris and I are going to celebrate Cape Horn!'' And also a session to get myself cleaned up... The temperature of the water is 4°C.

Before being able to enjoy this tiny moment of tranquillity, several storms blew up with winds varying from 40 to 50 knots. ''Inside the boat, everything went upside down, from my little bottle of olive oil to the jerry cans of water, my small fire-extinguishers and the other containers where my clothes were stored'', Maud told us. ''The boat bangs against the waves with such violence that it is impossible to be comfortable in the berth and get some rest. I sleep terribly badly in ten minute shifts''.

The programme for the weekend is just the same: strong winds, a wild sea, typical of navigating in the South Pacific. But that's no reason for Maud not to keep her Thursday morning appointment and connect with her team by telephone. There were two guests at the National Navy Museum: Jean-François Copé, the mayor of Meaux and Nicolas Hulot. The first mentioned expressed ''his emotion when talking live to Maud and for the first time since her departure. In Meaux we are finding difficulties like in any other part of France, but thanks to this type of challenge, we are also full of fantastic hope''. As for Nicolas Hulot, he came to encourage Maud, also committed in the fight for the conservation of the environment. The navigator told how she has collected waste with a fishing net in uninhabited areas. ''The planet needs strong symbols like your challenge'', Nicolas Hulot replied, explaining to Maud how in France ''a little undercurrent was being formed in favour of the ecological commitment''.

Finally Maud was also able to talk to the small adventurers of the Guynemer School in Meaux and their teacher, Mrs. Busson, her favourite children with whom she is closely attached when on Land. There were many emotions flying in the headquarters. Nicolas Hulot threw out an invitation to Maud: ''The wine is nice and cool, we are waiting for you!'' ''I also have a bottle put aside for you onboard, Maud replied. At the moment I can assure you it is uncorked, the cabin does not smell of wine!'']]></description></item><item><title>Eigth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>12/12/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy and her yacht L'Oréal Paris are sailing in the Pacific Ocean  which definitely has nothing pacific about it in view of the most difficult sailing conditions. Last Thursday they sailed round Cape Horn, the second cape en route on the Challenge against the current, on a return trip to Reunion Island. 

It is a symbolic stage, a moment that is both magical and difficult: Maud Fontenoy has just sailed round Cape Horn. It was 21:00 GMT, 22:00 local time in Paris, last Thursday when the navigator crossed the black rock, the tip of South America and the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Pacific. Its really wonderful and I truly feel I have achieved something, Maud explained that night after that unforgettable moment. In fact Cape Horn was at the height of her reputation. Winds reaching 45 knots and 6-metre high waves received L'Oréal Paris.

Since then, Maud has to face successive depressions. There is no let-up. They happen after days without any sleep. How difficult it is to sail so much to the south! The cold, the storms with violent gusts, the most dangerous sea, the constant black sky, the omnipresent stress, yes, the truth of the matter is that I feel on top of the world, crossing a hostile universe which I have to save myself from. 
Maud has to be more watchful than ever. Fatigue builds up, the cold becomes increasingly overwhelming and it is difficult to me to carry out the numerous manoeuvres that I must do. Its hard. The little time I have left is spent hanging on and taking care of L'Oréal. I dream about finally getting some sleep. Tradition has it that whoever sails round Cape Horn uncorks a bottle of Champagne. But Maud has postponed that moment, well aware that the next two weeks might be quite complicated.   

The problem of a challenge against wind and current is that you leave Cape Horn after having had an awful time but the hardest bit of it is yet to come in the south Pacific, Philippe Monnet commented last Thursday during the weekly radio connection with Maud. The sailor, who six years ago beat the record for going round the world the wrong way, came to share his experience with Maud. From her living cell, the navigator described what it was like crossing Cape: The sea looks like an immense metal tablecloth, restricted on all sides. The waves dash themselves violently against the hull of L'Oréal Paris. It is cold, the winds lash and are freezing, without mentioning the permanent damp. 

In this violent sea, Maud has to be constantly alert. Inside the berth, the temperature is never above 5°. Now the navigator is ever hopeful of reaching the austral summer, every day is a step towards more merciful conditions; at least that is what she is hoping for. I have already sailed round two capes successfully. I am involved in a difficult challenge. From the very beginning I have had to face many storms. Today I have to accept it. I knew it would be difficult and yet I still have a long way to go. I must be watchful. From now on, L'Oréal Paris's new target is Cape Leeuwin to the south of Australia, the third symbolic point on Maud Fontenoy's voyage. But before this, the navigator will have to sail through the storms that will put pressure on L'Oréal Paris without letting up for another week.]]></description></item><item><title>Eigth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>10/12/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud FOntenoy and her yacht L'Oréal Paris are sailing in the Pacific Ocean  which definitely has nothing pacific about it in view of the most difficult sailing conditions. Last Thursday they sailed round Cape Horn, the second cape en route on the Challenge against the current, on a return trip to Reunion Island. 

It is a symbolic stage, a moment that is both magical and difficult: Maud Fontenoy has just sailed round Cape Horn. It was 21:00 GMT, 22:00 local time in Paris, last Thursday when the navigator crossed the black rock, the tip of South America and the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Pacific. Its really wonderful and I truly feel I have achieved something, Maud explained that night after that unforgettable moment. In fact Cape Horn was at the height of her reputation. Winds reaching 45 knots and 6-metre high waves received L'Oréal Paris.

Since then, Maud has to face successive depressions. There is no let-up. They happen after days without any sleep. How difficult it is to sail so much to the south! The cold, the storms with violent gusts, the most dangerous sea, the constant black sky, the omnipresent stress, yes, the truth of the matter is that I feel on top of the world, crossing a hostile universe which I have to save myself from. 
Maud has to be more watchful than ever. Fatigue builds up, the cold becomes increasingly overwhelming and it is difficult to me to carry out the numerous manoeuvres that I must do. Its hard. The little time I have left is spent hanging on and taking care of L'Oréal. I dream about finally getting some sleep. Tradition has it that whoever sails round Cape Horn uncorks a bottle of Champagne. But Maud has postponed that moment, well aware that the next two weeks might be quite complicated.   

The problem of a challenge against wind and current is that you leave Cape Horn after having had an awful time but the hardest bit of it is yet to come in the south Pacific, Philippe Monnet commented last Thursday during the weekly radio connection with Maud. The sailor, who six years ago beat the record for going round the world the wrong way, came to share his experience with Maud. From her living cell, the navigator described what it was like crossing Cape: The sea looks like an immense metal tablecloth, restricted on all sides. The waves dash themselves violently against the hull of L'Oréal Paris. It is cold, the winds lash and are freezing, without mentioning the permanent damp. 

In this violent sea, Maud has to be constantly alert. Inside the berth, the temperature is never above 5°. Now the navigator is ever hopeful of reaching the austral summer, every day is a step towards more merciful conditions; at least that is what she is hoping for. I have already sailed round two capes successfully. I am involved in a difficult challenge. From the very beginning I have had to face many storms. Today I have to accept it. I knew it would be difficult and yet I still have a long way to go. I must be watchful. From now on, L'Oréal Paris's new target is Cape Leeuwin to the south of Australia, the third symbolic point on Maud Fontenoy's voyage. But before this, the navigator will have to sail through the storms that will put pressure on L'Oréal Paris without letting up for another week.]]></description></item><item><title>Seventh week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>04/12/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy has already been at sea for fifty days. The Cape Horn is getting closer. The navigator is sailing off Argentina on course for the tip of South America. L'Oréal Paris's programme: storms and surprises.
 
Thirty-five to forty knot winds at the beginning of the week. And between fifty and sixty a few days later, with 7-metre waves. These are the conditions Maud Fontenoy faced on her voyage towards Cape Horn. She spoke of the difficult moments at L'Oréal Paris's helm: ''As the wind got up, I reduced the sail. I was so frozen that I ended up shutting myself in the cabin and just waiting. Mixed between tears and worries, I looked out of the porthole to watch the waves smash onto the deck of L'Oréal, praying they would not knock the boat over too much''.

Maud is now in the thickest fog, she sleeps quarter of an hour shifts. There is no other alternative, I must ''reduce the sails and I have no other option than to get soaked and frozen. When I get too cold, I go inside the boat''. Nine degrees in the cabin, nine degrees in the water and no heating on board  ''I decided to build an ecological boat and as I could not find any acceptable solution for this type of heating, I preferred not to put any on board'' Maud explains. ''Blows and more blows, jolts and all the rest, this is never going to stop  'Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth, do some yoga exercises' my mother advised me. In fact at this point, it is the only thing still left to bear the navigator told us. What comes into your mind in these cases? ''I was scared and was thinking that this must be more bearable when in someone's company, you dont know how happy it is to be on Land when you are not running any real risks. I wanted to feel protected between four walls, huddled up on a sofa, sipping a mug of hot tea''. 

The force of the wind and the rage of the waves do not lack fascination. The weekend is more forgiving and the dolphins showed their snouts at the bow of the yacht, playing with this visitor dressed in red. ''They infect me with their smile, I can feel how my body gets warmer''. The Sun paints the crests of the waves silver. The water purrs under the hull like a cat wanting to be petted''. And surprise surprise: ''I am lost in thought when suddenly a gold coloured butterfly arrives quite spontaneously and settles on a small winch. I am left speechless''. I hardly have time to admire this insect that has been dragged far from the coastline by the westerly winds and it flies away again. 

Maud knows there are more storms coming in the next few days. One of them is likely to accompany her when she sails round Cape Horn. While she expresses her apprehension about sailing around the second symbolic point, indicated on the map of the voyage of her challenge against the current, Maud is longing to reach the Pacific Ocean. Heading south, full steam ahead !]]></description></item><item><title>Seventh week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>03/12/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy has already been at sea for fifty days. The Cape Horn is getting closer. The navigator is sailing off Argentina on course for the tip of South America. L'Oréal Paris's programme: storms and surprises.
 
Thirty-five to forty knot winds at the beginning of the week. And between fifty and sixty a few days later, with 7-metre waves. These are the conditions Maud Fontenoy faced on her voyage towards Cape Horn. She spoke of the difficult moments at L'Oréal Paris's helm: ''As the wind got up, I reduced the sail. I was so frozen that I ended up shutting myself in the cabin and just waiting. Mixed between tears and worries, I looked out of the porthole to watch the waves smash onto the deck of L'Oréal, praying they would not knock the boat over too much''.

Maud is now in the thickest fog, she sleeps quarter of an hour shifts. There is no other alternative, I must ''reduce the sails and I have no other option than to get soaked and frozen. When I get too cold, I go inside the boat''. Nine degrees in the cabin, nine degrees in the water and no heating on board  ''I decided to build an ecological boat and as I could not find any acceptable solution for this type of heating, I preferred not to put any on board'' Maud explains. ''Blows and more blows, jolts and all the rest, this is never going to stop  'Breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth, do some yoga exercises' my mother advised me. In fact at this point, it is the only thing still left to bear the navigator told us. What comes into your mind in these cases? ''I was scared and was thinking that this must be more bearable when in someone's company, you dont know how happy it is to be on Land when you are not running any real risks. I wanted to feel protected between four walls, huddled up on a sofa, sipping a mug of hot tea''. 

The force of the wind and the rage of the waves do not lack fascination. The weekend is more forgiving and the dolphins showed their snouts at the bow of the yacht, playing with this visitor dressed in red. ''They infect me with their smile, I can feel how my body gets warmer''. The Sun paints the crests of the waves silver. The water purrs under the hull like a cat wanting to be petted''. And surprise surprise: ''I am lost in thought when suddenly a gold coloured butterfly arrives quite spontaneously and settles on a small winch. I am left speechless''. I hardly have time to admire this insect that has been dragged far from the coastline by the westerly winds and it flies away again. 

Maud knows there are more storms coming in the next few days. One of them is likely to accompany her when she sails round Cape Horn. While she expresses her apprehension about sailing around the second symbolic point, indicated on the map of the voyage of her challenge against the current, Maud is longing to reach the Pacific Ocean. Heading south, full steam ahead !]]></description></item><item><title>Sixth week at seea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>28/11/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy has already spent 44 days at sea. The navigator, who left Reunion Island on 15 October to sail round the world against wind and current, has lived through a divided week, alternating between periods of total calm and forceful winds. The good news of the week is that L'Oréal Paris has already set course for Cape Horn, heading to sail down towards the south of the Atlantic Ocean. Maud is currently in the Roaring Forties.

Summary of the previous events : after having sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, Maud Fontenoy decided to change course from the most direct route towards Cape Horn, mainly forced by the horrific weather conditions that were waiting for L'Oréal Paris. This week, the skipper has begun her descent towards the tip of South America, along the coasts of this continent. ''We are in the so-called 'roaring forties', the wind is blowing at approximately 35 / 40 knots, the temperature of the water has dropped by approximately 11° (I don't want to shower anymore!)'', Maud explained yesterday in her logbook. ''The menacing and black mass of clouds overhead are so dense, they look as if they are on the verge of exploding. They are as low as the roof of a loft and I permanently get the impression that L'ORÉAL's mast is going to touch them and get trapped there. We cower our heads and painfully flee scaling the waves. Sudden and violent attacks do not stop shaking us''.

Since Thursday, L'Oréal Paris is once again in heavy seas. The return of the wind has been like a mouthful of oxygen for the navigator who, from the beginning of the week, was bogged down in an oily sea. Maud Fontenoy was not in the most propitious environment for sailing. ''L'Oréal is a prisoner; everything seems to be petrified, the victim of a spell, and we dont even have an oar on board to help us get out of this desert'', Maud related. In addition, the Sun had also apparently decided not to shine on L'Oréal Paris, it was absent, and the sky was painted a uniform tone of grey.  By taking advantage of the circumstances, Maud decided to recuperate, dress her wounds, put the boat shipshape and repair the small damages to the machine. Her aerogenerators are working again, furling the mainsail three times that allows its surface to be reduced to a maximum has been repaired. The boat is ready to make her entrance into the Pacific Ocean and sail round the second mythical point of this cross-current voyage that will involve crossing the three capes.

The sky would seem to be waiting for this moment to billow out the sails again. Tossed in 30 to 35 knot winds, this ''make the small Tibetan praying rugs dance about'' that Maud hung in her cabin, and evolving into a very rough sea, L'Oréal Paris should sail round Cape Horn in approximately 15 days. An important stage heavily laden with apprehension: ''Everything unknown that enthrals this mythical point is at the same time terribly attractive and really distressing''.

To keep her spirits high, Maud can always think about all the lovely things that will await her on her return to terra firma. Last Thursday, she was able to talk to Jean Galfione, live during her radio session that is held every week. The Olympic pole vault champion is one of the winchers in the Areva Challenge team that is preparing for the America's Cup.  From Valencia in Spain, two marine universes have exchanged impressions and invitations, intrigued, respectful of each other. ''It must be fascinating to be in a team taking part in the America's Cup'', Maud explained on the phone. ''I admit that on a solo adventure, sometimes you forget the fundamental thing which is managing a team of people, their capacities, changes of humour involved in achieving the project. You cannot undertake challenges like mine by yourself. Later on, I would also like to tackle group projects, and be surrounded by people''. Jean Galfione is waiting for Maud on board Areva Challenge, ''in admiration of her challenge''. As for Maud Fontenoy, she is longing to have the champion on board her L'Oréal Paris.]]></description></item><item><title>Sixth week at seea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>26/11/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy has already spent 44 days at sea. The navigator, who left Reunion Island on 15 October to sail round the world against wind and current, has lived through a divided week, alternating between periods of total calm and forceful winds. The good news of the week is that L'Oréal Paris has already set course for Cape Horn, heading to sail down towards the south of the Atlantic Ocean. Maud is currently in the Roaring Forties.

Summary of the previous events : after having sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, Maud Fontenoy decided to change course from the most direct route towards Cape Horn, mainly forced by the horrific weather conditions that were waiting for L'Oréal Paris. This week, the skipper has begun her descent towards the tip of South America, along the coasts of this continent. ''We are in the so-called 'roaring forties', the wind is blowing at approximately 35 / 40 knots, the temperature of the water has dropped by approximately 11° (I don't want to shower anymore!)'', Maud explained yesterday in her logbook. ''The menacing and black mass of clouds overhead are so dense, they look as if they are on the verge of exploding. They are as low as the roof of a loft and I permanently get the impression that L'ORÉAL's mast is going to touch them and get trapped there. We cower our heads and painfully flee scaling the waves. Sudden and violent attacks do not stop shaking us''.

Since Thursday, L'Oréal Paris is once again in heavy seas. The return of the wind has been like a mouthful of oxygen for the navigator who, from the beginning of the week, was bogged down in an oily sea. Maud Fontenoy was not in the most propitious environment for sailing. ''L'Oréal is a prisoner; everything seems to be petrified, the victim of a spell, and we dont even have an oar on board to help us get out of this desert'', Maud related. In addition, the Sun had also apparently decided not to shine on L'Oréal Paris, it was absent, and the sky was painted a uniform tone of grey.  By taking advantage of the circumstances, Maud decided to recuperate, dress her wounds, put the boat shipshape and repair the small damages to the machine. Her aerogenerators are working again, furling the mainsail three times that allows its surface to be reduced to a maximum has been repaired. The boat is ready to make her entrance into the Pacific Ocean and sail round the second mythical point of this cross-current voyage that will involve crossing the three capes.

The sky would seem to be waiting for this moment to billow out the sails again. Tossed in 30 to 35 knot winds, this ''make the small Tibetan praying rugs dance about'' that Maud hung in her cabin, and evolving into a very rough sea, L'Oréal Paris should sail round Cape Horn in approximately 15 days. An important stage heavily laden with apprehension: ''Everything unknown that enthrals this mythical point is at the same time terribly attractive and really distressing''.

To keep her spirits high, Maud can always think about all the lovely things that will await her on her return to terra firma. Last Thursday, she was able to talk to Jean Galfione, live during her radio session that is held every week. The Olympic pole vault champion is one of the winchers in the Areva Challenge team that is preparing for the America's Cup.  From Valencia in Spain, two marine universes have exchanged impressions and invitations, intrigued, respectful of each other. ''It must be fascinating to be in a team taking part in the America's Cup'', Maud explained on the phone. ''I admit that on a solo adventure, sometimes you forget the fundamental thing which is managing a team of people, their capacities, changes of humour involved in achieving the project. You cannot undertake challenges like mine by yourself. Later on, I would also like to tackle group projects, and be surrounded by people''. Jean Galfione is waiting for Maud on board Areva Challenge, ''in admiration of her challenge''. As for Maud Fontenoy, she is longing to have the champion on board her L'Oréal Paris.]]></description></item><item><title>Fifth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>20/11/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy and L'OREAL's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean is on course. Cape Horn is getting closer although the helmswoman has to grin and bear it before being able to sail round the second of the three capes on her voyage round the world against wind and current, with the departure and arrival at Reunion Island.

Maud Fontenoy has had quite a divided week : the first few days were complicated, the storm was not lenient with her, but the Sun finally shone and the weather was more forgiving. On Monday, there was no logbook. Maud concentrates on her boat, battling with 55-knot winds and 9-meters waves in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The following day, the navigator told us: ''As soon as I bring down the sail and have no other option than to go inside and sit it out, I huddle in my berth, snuggling up like an animal, trying to get warm''. The boat hits against the waves, ''I put up with the blows, L'OREAL seems to be in a boxing ring''. She had to bear this for three days and two nights. It was not easy but the rising barometer gave the navigator back her confidence in her boat and in her project.

Maud has sailed further north, changing course from the direct route south that goes from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn. ''I don't always do what I want'', she pointed out. ''I have to go zigzagging between the depressions''. According to her routers, true alchemists that are capable of reading the clouds, L'OREAL's aim was to go round an enormous depression where she would have met some 70-knot winds, approximately 130 km an hour. Thanks to that decision, Maud finally found the Sun again. ''I took advantage to sort out some problems such as the energy on board. The aerogenerators are certainly difficult to repair. I was also able to tidy myself up, the water is a bit cold''. The blue sky changes her daily routine. Maud Fontenoy came out of her hiding place and was reborn, ''as if these sunbeams gave each of my movements sense''. The beauty of the sea and contemplation can do anything.''Tonight the stars have finally made an appearance!'' she wrote on Friday. ''They look like precious stones embroidered on a black velvet garment. The great lady of the celestial vault is wearing her gala dress.''

At the base on Land, dozens of messages of encouragement are arriving at the web page of this challenge against the current, helping Maud to continue in her battle and putting a smile back on her face. The navigator said that in spite of the clown's red nose hanging in her cabin, ''the faces'' she tried to put on or the stories she told herself, we now not capable of making her smile during the storm. In her golden book, the joke competition has already begun  

So, in high spirits, in spite of the rain that came back again yesterday, Maud is sailing towards Cape Horn, a mythical point that she expects to cross ''between 6 and 20 December''.]]></description></item><item><title>Fifth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>19/11/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy and L'OREAL's voyage across the Atlantic Ocean is on course. Cape Horn is getting closer although the helmswoman has to grin and bear it before being able to sail round the second of the three capes on her voyage round the world against wind and current, with the departure and arrival at Reunion Island.

Maud Fontenoy has had quite a divided week : the first few days were complicated, the storm was not lenient with her, but the Sun finally shone and the weather was more forgiving. On Monday, there was no logbook. Maud concentrates on her boat, battling with 55-knot winds and 9-meters waves in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The following day, the navigator told us: ''As soon as I bring down the sail and have no other option than to go inside and sit it out, I huddle in my berth, snuggling up like an animal, trying to get warm''. The boat hits against the waves, ''I put up with the blows, L'OREAL seems to be in a boxing ring''. She had to bear this for three days and two nights. It was not easy but the rising barometer gave the navigator back her confidence in her boat and in her project.

Maud has sailed further north, changing course from the direct route south that goes from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn. ''I don't always do what I want'', she pointed out. ''I have to go zigzagging between the depressions''. According to her routers, true alchemists that are capable of reading the clouds, L'OREAL's aim was to go round an enormous depression where she would have met some 70-knot winds, approximately 130 km an hour. Thanks to that decision, Maud finally found the Sun again. ''I took advantage to sort out some problems such as the energy on board. The aerogenerators are certainly difficult to repair. I was also able to tidy myself up, the water is a bit cold''. The blue sky changes her daily routine. Maud Fontenoy came out of her hiding place and was reborn, ''as if these sunbeams gave each of my movements sense''. The beauty of the sea and contemplation can do anything.''Tonight the stars have finally made an appearance!'' she wrote on Friday. ''They look like precious stones embroidered on a black velvet garment. The great lady of the celestial vault is wearing her gala dress.''

At the base on Land, dozens of messages of encouragement are arriving at the web page of this challenge against the current, helping Maud to continue in her battle and putting a smile back on her face. The navigator said that in spite of the clown's red nose hanging in her cabin, ''the faces'' she tried to put on or the stories she told herself, we now not capable of making her smile during the storm. In her golden book, the joke competition has already begun  

So, in high spirits, in spite of the rain that came back again yesterday, Maud is sailing towards Cape Horn, a mythical point that she expects to cross ''between 6 and 20 December''.]]></description></item><item><title>Fourth week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>13/11/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy and L'OREAL París are crossing the Atlantic Ocean heading for Cape Horn. The navigator set sail from Reunion Island on 15 October to conquer her world voyage round the three capes, against wind and current. An adventure full of wonderful and unfortunate moments.  

Since this weekend, Maud is being shaken on board L'OREAL. The elements leave her very few quiet moments. ''This morning the sky is blacker than ever. I have rechecked the weather files again: 55-knot winds and 9-metre waves, that is what is waiting for me!'' she wrote on Saturday in her logbook. In spite of these tremendously tough conditions and worse are expected for today, the helmswoman continues on her heading and is still feeling encouraged: ''My boat and I form one block and I am spurring her to go forward''.

Maud has a small consolation; she is not crossing the oceans by herself. She now has a companion called Sacha. Certainly he gives no help with the manoeuvres but from a motivation and dream point of view that push Maud to take to the sea, it is a symbol. Sacha is an albatross that does not move away from the navigator. He has chosen to live on board of L'OREAL and if he occasionally goes off to fish, ''he always comes back to his hiding place in the foresail, an unbeatable place'', Maud says, quite fascinated by the animal.  
 
Several albatross fly around the boat. That's not surprising at all. L'OREAL is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in the region of the island of Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic rock located in the south of the Ocean, ''a tiny bit of land swept by the winds where 300 souls live and where albatrosses reproduce'' Maud explains. The environment this week is rather grey in colour. ''Its been about 3 or 4 days since I saw the Sun'', she told us last Thursday by radio. ''The atmosphere is rather depressing, with a grey and cloudy sky. It hasn't stopped raining. This affects morale a bit and my solar plates cannot charge any energy at all''. A few little problems have also darken these last days. Maud detected some infiltrations in the stern of the boat. Nothing serious at first sight, but the navigator did not manage to find out where they were coming from. On the other hand it is also difficult for her to resolve the problem with her painful finger and her foot that is healing slowly. ''My big toe must be badly broken. It is still splinted. My foot is healing although it is a bit twisted, I am afraid that I am not going to be able to wear high-heeled shoes'' the helmswoman says jokingly, although indeed ''I do not lose heart as I am an optimist''.
Certainly her injuries do not affect her Adventure Against the Current whatsoever. 

The weeks go by, it has already been 4 out of an approximate 5 or 6 months at sea that are programmed for this adventure. Maud tries not to think about the time, ''I try not to calculate nor to make too many predictions as this can make go you completely mad. I have to struggle to live day by day without thinking too much about the next''. The nights are short, interrupted by the alarm clock that is programmed to ring every hour. Maud then monitors the container vessels  ''lit up like buildings, eight or ten times the size of my boat. They look like locomotives and nothing can stop nor move them off their tracks. I see them go by, breaking the surface of the sea with their powerful jaws and then disappear in the same way as they appeared. The Ocean hurriedly wipes out their wake''.

Nevertheless in the middle of this cloudy environment, a beam of sunshine appeared ; that was last Thursday when a chunk of blue sky opened up over L'OREAL. Maud was on the radio just like every week. Another sunbeam for her state of mind: the children of Reunion Island and those at the school of Léonard de Vincy d'Herblay near Paris were able to ask the navigator several questions and they ended by singing the chorus lines of the song entitled ''Hissez haut !''. It was 12:55. Maud who was already smiling could hang up and return full-heartedly to her challenge.]]></description></item><item><title>Fourth week at see</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>12/11/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy and L'OREAL París are crossing the Atlantic Ocean heading for Cape Horn. The navigator set sail from Reunion Island on 15 October to conquer her world voyage round the three capes, against wind and current. An adventure full of wonderful and unfortunate moments.  

Since this weekend, Maud is being shaken on board L'OREAL. The elements leave her very few quiet moments. ''This morning the sky is blacker than ever. I have rechecked the weather files again: 55-knot winds and 9-metre waves, that is what is waiting for me!'' she wrote on Saturday in her logbook. In spite of these tremendously tough conditions and worse are expected for today, the helmswoman continues on her heading and is still feeling encouraged: ''My boat and I form one block and I am spurring her to go forward''.

Maud has a small consolation; she is not crossing the oceans by herself. She now has a companion called Sacha. Certainly he gives no help with the manoeuvres but from a motivation and dream point of view that push Maud to take to the sea, it is a symbol. Sacha is an albatross that does not move away from the navigator. He has chosen to live on board of L'OREAL and if he occasionally goes off to fish, ''he always comes back to his hiding place in the foresail, an unbeatable place'', Maud says, quite fascinated by the animal.  
 
Several albatross fly around the boat. That's not surprising at all. L'OREAL is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, in the region of the island of Tristan da Cunha, a volcanic rock located in the south of the Ocean, ''a tiny bit of land swept by the winds where 300 souls live and where albatrosses reproduce'' Maud explains. The environment this week is rather grey in colour. ''Its been about 3 or 4 days since I saw the Sun'', she told us last Thursday by radio. ''The atmosphere is rather depressing, with a grey and cloudy sky. It hasn't stopped raining. This affects morale a bit and my solar plates cannot charge any energy at all''. A few little problems have also darken these last days. Maud detected some infiltrations in the stern of the boat. Nothing serious at first sight, but the navigator did not manage to find out where they were coming from. On the other hand it is also difficult for her to resolve the problem with her painful finger and her foot that is healing slowly. ''My big toe must be badly broken. It is still splinted. My foot is healing although it is a bit twisted, I am afraid that I am not going to be able to wear high-heeled shoes'' the helmswoman says jokingly, although indeed ''I do not lose heart as I am an optimist''.
Certainly her injuries do not affect her Adventure Against the Current whatsoever. 

The weeks go by, it has already been 4 out of an approximate 5 or 6 months at sea that are programmed for this adventure. Maud tries not to think about the time, ''I try not to calculate nor to make too many predictions as this can make go you completely mad. I have to struggle to live day by day without thinking too much about the next''. The nights are short, interrupted by the alarm clock that is programmed to ring every hour. Maud then monitors the container vessels  ''lit up like buildings, eight or ten times the size of my boat. They look like locomotives and nothing can stop nor move them off their tracks. I see them go by, breaking the surface of the sea with their powerful jaws and then disappear in the same way as they appeared. The Ocean hurriedly wipes out their wake''.

Nevertheless in the middle of this cloudy environment, a beam of sunshine appeared ; that was last Thursday when a chunk of blue sky opened up over L'OREAL. Maud was on the radio just like every week. Another sunbeam for her state of mind: the children of Reunion Island and those at the school of Léonard de Vincy d'Herblay near Paris were able to ask the navigator several questions and they ended by singing the chorus lines of the song entitled ''Hissez haut !''. It was 12:55. Maud who was already smiling could hang up and return full-heartedly to her challenge.]]></description></item><item><title>Third week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>06/11/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy is now sailing in the Atlantic Ocean on course to Cape Horn, the second symbolic point on her challenging voyage against the current. The navigator set sail from Reunion Island three weeks ago. She has now left Madagascar, the Cape of Good Hope, Africa and the Indian Ocean behind her.

Maud Fontenoy has already achieved one of the three. It was 18:15 (Universal time) last Tuesday, when the navigator sailed round the first of three capes planned on her voyage round the world against wind and current, an itinerary that began from Reunion on 15 October and that will finish on the same island. The Cape of Good Hope was a difficult objective for L'Oréal and her skipper to achieve. On Monday, when she was approaching the tip of Africa, Maud Fontenoy had to fight against 50-knot winds and 10-metre waves ; in such conditions it was impossible to deliver the daily logbook to her team. The following day, she told us about the Cape of Storms, the nickname that is normally given to the Cape of Good Hope. ''L'Oréal beats into the waves head-on. I put up with it. Nothing was expected about this at all. We listed a lot. Plunged into the waves that roll over the deck, I quickly made a furling, it's pouring down. Water is running down my back, I'm frozen''.
 
During her weekly radio connection that takes place every Thursday, Maud confessed that sailing round the Cape of Good Hope would not bring back happy memories. But the navigator continues to be positive. ''This experience has strengthened me even more. Today I am already in the Atlantic Ocean and it is as if I have been given an opportunity to reach Cape Horn''. The storm, huge waves, waves that flood the boat and then immediately afterwards the sky becomes merciful. Maud balances up the situation, the state of her body, of the boat. Her left hand is very painful. She hurt herself when carrying out a manoeuvre while sailing round the southern tip of Africa. ''On tacking, the rope of the staysail got jammed. It was so taut'', L'Oréal's skipper explained. ''I then decided to bring the sail down. In a few seconds, the wind went mad, making the ropes slash against my hands and forearm. Trembling with fear, I realized that the thumb of my left hand was not responding. It turned purple and gave me shooting pains''. But in the end, my fear was greater than the damage. Maud put on a bandage with a splint and was able to continue carrying out the manoeuvres, repair the aerogenerator that had suffered several breakdowns while sailing round the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
After having rounded the Cape, a truce allowed her to tidy up and dress her wounds. Her foot is getting better. Harmony with Nature becomes stronger than anything else and compensates for the tough times. Maud has made a friend who she calls Sacha. It's an albatross that is following her boat, ''with his aristocratic manner, his nobility and the way he holds his head up high, he has decided to be our escort through these austral and hostile oceans'', the young woman tells us. ''With this exceptional boat and the truce granted by the sea, returning to everything essential is wonderful. An immense and splendid vault surrounds me. There is no hierarchy with regard to marine animals. This harmony with Nature and the valuing effort gives me deep pleasure''. Maud knew there would be difficult moments but when she overcomes them, she submerges back into moments of deep gratitude. ''Come on!'' she says heading towards Cape Horn, before giving us a magic picture of her surroundings and of her fabulous adventure against the current: ''And to conclude this day of renaissance, the setting Sun said goodbye by exploding into thousands of acidulated colours. Before disappearing, it seemed to wink at me; suddenly the sea was dressed in red and dazzled me, reinforcing me with renewed energy''.]]></description></item><item><title>Third week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>05/11/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy is now sailing in the Atlantic Ocean on course to Cape Horn, the second symbolic point on her challenging voyage against the current. The navigator set sail from Reunion Island three weeks ago. She has now left Madagascar, the Cape of Good Hope, Africa and the Indian Ocean behind her.

Maud Fontenoy has already achieved one of the three. It was 18:15 (Universal time) last Tuesday, when the navigator sailed round the first of three capes planned on her voyage round the world against wind and current, an itinerary that began from Reunion on 15 October and that will finish on the same island. The Cape of Good Hope was a difficult objective for L'Oréal and her skipper to achieve. On Monday, when she was approaching the tip of Africa, Maud Fontenoy had to fight against 50-knot winds and 10-metre waves ; in such conditions it was impossible to deliver the daily logbook to her team. The following day, she told us about the Cape of Storms, the nickname that is normally given to the Cape of Good Hope. ''L'Oréal beats into the waves head-on. I put up with it. Nothing was expected about this at all. We listed a lot. Plunged into the waves that roll over the deck, I quickly made a furling, it's pouring down. Water is running down my back, I'm frozen''.
 
During her weekly radio connection that takes place every Thursday, Maud confessed that sailing round the Cape of Good Hope would not bring back happy memories. But the navigator continues to be positive. ''This experience has strengthened me even more. Today I am already in the Atlantic Ocean and it is as if I have been given an opportunity to reach Cape Horn''. The storm, huge waves, waves that flood the boat and then immediately afterwards the sky becomes merciful. Maud balances up the situation, the state of her body, of the boat. Her left hand is very painful. She hurt herself when carrying out a manoeuvre while sailing round the southern tip of Africa. ''On tacking, the rope of the staysail got jammed. It was so taut'', L'Oréal's skipper explained. ''I then decided to bring the sail down. In a few seconds, the wind went mad, making the ropes slash against my hands and forearm. Trembling with fear, I realized that the thumb of my left hand was not responding. It turned purple and gave me shooting pains''. But in the end, my fear was greater than the damage. Maud put on a bandage with a splint and was able to continue carrying out the manoeuvres, repair the aerogenerator that had suffered several breakdowns while sailing round the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
After having rounded the Cape, a truce allowed her to tidy up and dress her wounds. Her foot is getting better. Harmony with Nature becomes stronger than anything else and compensates for the tough times. Maud has made a friend who she calls Sacha. It's an albatross that is following her boat, ''with his aristocratic manner, his nobility and the way he holds his head up high, he has decided to be our escort through these austral and hostile oceans'', the young woman tells us. ''With this exceptional boat and the truce granted by the sea, returning to everything essential is wonderful. An immense and splendid vault surrounds me. There is no hierarchy with regard to marine animals. This harmony with Nature and the valuing effort gives me deep pleasure''. Maud knew there would be difficult moments but when she overcomes them, she submerges back into moments of deep gratitude. ''Come on!'' she says heading towards Cape Horn, before giving us a magic picture of her surroundings and of her fabulous adventure against the current: ''And to conclude this day of renaissance, the setting Sun said goodbye by exploding into thousands of acidulated colours. Before disappearing, it seemed to wink at me; suddenly the sea was dressed in red and dazzled me, reinforcing me with renewed energy''.]]></description></item><item><title>Good Hope: the first of three!</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>03/11/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[This Friday, on board L'Oréal Paris, Maud Fontenoy began her nineteenth day at sea. The raging elements are already in her wake although she has always been sailing on a leg with gusts of wind of up to 30 knots. The good news over these last few days is that she sailed round the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa on 31st October 31 at 20:15 (French time). After having covered 2,335 nautical miles, she is now in the South Atlantic Ocean, on course to the mythical Cape Horn, the second of three great capes encountered on her voyage around the world. 

She overcame the Cape of Good Hope through pure suffering. With 60-knot wind, 10-metre high waves and in the middle of the regular maritime traffic around the South African point, Maud Fontenoy lived through not only physically but also technically difficult times. ''Before heading round the cape, I had problems with the headsail. I had to lower the sail, the sheets lashed against my hands. The result was that my right hand has swollen to twice its size, I have an enormous bruise and I am not sure if it is broken or not, but my left thumb is purple and swollen, I have had to splint it''.

Wednesday, Maud took advantage of a calm period to make some repairs, gather energy and fix the aerogenerator, which also broke due to a large wave. ''I have been able to wash myself with buckets of sea water it's 18 degrees-, I have loaded up with food, fresh water and taken advantage of some sunlight'', she told us on the day of the radio connection.

These three stormy days ''have been difficult to accept, but the positive thing is that the boat has put up with it all. This experience gives me strength and self-confidence. I am really happy to have sailed round that cape, I have still not accomplished one third of my voyage but it is an important stage.''

Today, Maud was sailing a leg, having furled the mainsail twice and with the jib fore. Surrounded by albatross, her morale was riding high again and her voice sounded clear once more. ''Every day is a personal victory. You have to hold back, keep smiling and try to enjoy it. I always try to look around me with that astonished look that children have'', Maud said philosophically.

Maud sails from one obstacle to obstacle and is conscious of it, ''I am here because I wanted to be so I cannot complain''. From today, she will head south to avoid the important part of a depression that is moving towards her, although that will not stop her from running into the storm again in the next few days and 45-knot wind that is waiting for her.]]></description></item><item><title>Second week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>30/10/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Technical breakdowns and computer problems : Maud Fontenoy has just spent 7 hectic days but she is still en route. The navigator, who set sail from Reunion Island on 15 October, is at present off South Africa heading towards the first of three capes foreseen on her voyage around the world against wind and current. 

Aiming for: the Cape of Good Hope. If everything goes all right, L'Oréal will sail round this mythical point at the beginning of this week. Maud Fontenoy has just left Reunion and Madagascar behind. Last Saturday, in the logbook she sends her team every day, Maud told of her delight ''when tasting one of the Victory pineapples stored onboard before she departed''. Playful dolphins surround L'Oréal, competing with the stem of the boat before diving back into the depths. It was the amusing epilogue of a difficult week to negotiate. 

On Wednesday, Maud rang her Land base. The computer systems onboard were no longer working. This means she cannot access the weather files although she can communicate by phone. On Land everybody got started to find a solution but time goes by and although edginess spreads little by little, everyone has to remain calm. ''After two hours of botching up and testing my computer to see if it would work again, we ended up realizing that there was a problem with the satellite, to be more precise, in Arizona'', Maud told us. ''They must sort it out''. Finally mission complete, but no truce to speak of. Maud leaves her living cell with the toolbox; there are problems outside too. ''The traveller is giving problems again'', the navigator explains. She has to go up the mast to sort things out. ''The sail is huge and weighs so much. I cried in desperation but finally took the necessary time and managed to repair it''.

The following day, L'Oréal had already recovered cruising speed and Maud was smiling. During her radio connection with her team on Land every Thursday, the navigator complains about suffering pain from stiff muscles, her ''entirely black'' foot, the reflexion of the toe she broke the first week and of the huge storm that is approaching. ''But not to worry, I am more afraid for the boat than for myself''. Just like every week, Small Adventurers make their way to the Marine Museum in Paris to listen to Maud's statements. One of them asks, ''What is it you like about the sea?'' Maud then describes the moments of joy that compensate the difficult times, ''greater, stronger moments, that incredible freedom. In the middle of the sea and completely fulfilling your dream, you feel strong''. A few days before, Maud was describing the magic landscape offered by a calm and gentle sea before facing new difficulties. ''The blue sky is also taking things calmly and seems to be so imperturbable and quiet like a summers day in French Provence. The Sun paints a path of diamonds in its trail. Affected by the scene, L'Oréal and I remain silent so as not to break this precious moment''. Before hanging up, Maud sends a last message to the skippers of the ''Route du Rhum'' that will take to the sea next Sunday ''I shall be thinking of them, especially at night''.

Let's return to sailing round the Cape of Good Hope. ''This is what awaits me: greater than other depressions alternate with areas of total calm, and L'Oréal, shaken by the strong surge of the waves will become a floating shell''. The Cape of the Storms as it is also called has a reputation to defend.]]></description></item><item><title>Second week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>29/10/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Technical breakdowns and computer problems : Maud Fontenoy has just spent 7 hectic days but she is still en route. The navigator, who set sail from Reunion Island on 15 October, is at present off South Africa heading towards the first of three capes foreseen on her voyage around the world against wind and current. 

Aiming for: the Cape of Good Hope. If everything goes all right, L'Oréal will sail round this mythical point at the beginning of this week. Maud Fontenoy has just left Reunion and Madagascar behind. Last Saturday, in the logbook she sends her team every day, Maud told of her delight ''when tasting one of the Victory pineapples stored onboard before she departed''. Playful dolphins surround L'Oréal, competing with the stem of the boat before diving back into the depths. It was the amusing epilogue of a difficult week to negotiate. 

On Wednesday, Maud rang her Land base. The computer systems onboard were no longer working. This means she cannot access the weather files although she can communicate by phone. On Land everybody got started to find a solution but time goes by and although edginess spreads little by little, everyone has to remain calm. ''After two hours of botching up and testing my computer to see if it would work again, we ended up realizing that there was a problem with the satellite, to be more precise, in Arizona'', Maud told us. ''They must sort it out''. Finally mission complete, but no truce to speak of. Maud leaves her living cell with the toolbox; there are problems outside too. ''The traveller is giving problems again'', the navigator explains. She has to go up the mast to sort things out. ''The sail is huge and weighs so much. I cried in desperation but finally took the necessary time and managed to repair it''.

The following day, L'Oréal had already recovered cruising speed and Maud was smiling. During her radio connection with her team on Land every Thursday, the navigator complains about suffering pain from stiff muscles, her ''entirely black'' foot, the reflexion of the toe she broke the first week and of the huge storm that is approaching. ''But not to worry, I am more afraid for the boat than for myself''. Just like every week, Small Adventurers make their way to the Marine Museum in Paris to listen to Maud's statements. One of them asks, ''What is it you like about the sea?'' Maud then describes the moments of joy that compensate the difficult times, ''greater, stronger moments, that incredible freedom. In the middle of the sea and completely fulfilling your dream, you feel strong''. A few days before, Maud was describing the magic landscape offered by a calm and gentle sea before facing new difficulties. ''The blue sky is also taking things calmly and seems to be so imperturbable and quiet like a summers day in French Provence. The Sun paints a path of diamonds in its trail. Affected by the scene, L'Oréal and I remain silent so as not to break this precious moment''. Before hanging up, Maud sends a last message to the skippers of the ''Route du Rhum'' that will take to the sea next Sunday ''I shall be thinking of them, especially at night''.

Let's return to sailing round the Cape of Good Hope. ''This is what awaits me: greater than other depressions alternate with areas of total calm, and L'Oréal, shaken by the strong surge of the waves will become a floating shell''. The Cape of the Storms as it is also called has a reputation to defend.]]></description></item><item><title>First week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>22/10/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy set to sea one week ago to sail round the world crossing the three capes against wind and current. After having left Reunion Island, the navigator is heading for the Cape of Good Hope, on the southern tip of Africa. For 7 days she has had to withstand the emotion of the departure, accustom herself to the maritime universe and to loneliness. 

The first wounds, tears, the first fears but she has also experienced her first marvels, her first happy moments, and her first sensations of that incomparable freedom that the sea gives you. Maud Fontenoy and l'Oréal Paris slide through the waters on course to the Cape of Good, which the navigator thinks she can reach in a weeks time. I am one third along my voyage from Reunion Island and that mythical point, said Maud last Thursday during her first radio communication since she set off on her adventure against the tide. After two days at sea, the navigator left Madagascar behind her, in her wake. 

The day after she left, she would make her replies in a subdued voice. But suddenly she has recovered that tenacity that she always uses when saying goodbye. Maud then tells of that nostalgia she feels when the images of her departure come to mind, when she thinks about the children who went to give her their farewell, in the hundreds of phone calls, thousands of people gathered on the jetties. And one hour later I was completely alone. The first hours of the voyage and also the first nighttime gusts of wind. Maud quickly entered fully into her challenge. The body suffers, I am covered in large bruises the size of my hand and I have broken a toe. I cannot eat. The weather conditions do not let her get her breath back. It is pouring down, the sea is giving off steam, Maud tells us. But in spite of all this, she is in good spirits. She spoke about that passing slump she felt during the first few days when she stored up on land the positive charge she would need to better overcome those moments already experiences on her previous voyages when rowing across the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. 

The different thing about this type of adventure is that, when you row, you have to stop, to rest. In the single-hull yacht, that is impossible. You have to be alert all the time. You are not the person who decides when the wind gets up and you have to make manoeuvres. In her 3 cubic meter living cell, Maud tries to restore her sleeping pattern in bouts of one hour, surrounded and encouraged by drawings and the classroom photo of a school in Meaux, her home town.

The days go by, the sky clears, and the cold starts to bite. The smile on Maud's face seems to be broader; it helps her to relativize the situation. I am not doing anything with my foot. Well, in fact, sometimes I call my mother to tell her about my ailments, that is more effective than taking a pill, the navigator explains humorously; she also says how difficult it is to find her marks on this boat its former owner was a three-door wardrobe. In this sailors Everest, Maud gradually finds that longed for pleasure. The clear horizon gives me my first sensations of freedom at sea, she relates astonished at the helm, dressed in her fleece jacket. This moment of peace fortifies me as if I were drunk and this pleasant light warms my body. I am hungry again, that is a good sign. Today I decided to open a tin of lentils with smoked sausages, Maud ends by saying on Saturday night, at the end of the logbook that she sends every day to her team on land. Maud has already exceeded the first thousand nautical miles of her voyage.]]></description></item><item><title>First week at sea</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>22/10/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud Fontenoy set to sea one week ago to sail round the world crossing the three capes against wind and current. After having left Reunion Island, the navigator is heading for the Cape of Good Hope, on the southern tip of Africa. For 7 days she has had to withstand the emotion of the departure, accustom herself to the maritime universe and to loneliness. 

The first wounds, tears, the first fears but she has also experienced her first marvels, her first happy moments, and her first sensations of that incomparable freedom that the sea gives you. Maud Fontenoy and l'Oréal Paris slide through the waters on course to the Cape of Good, which the navigator thinks she can reach in a weeks time. ''I am one third along my voyage from Reunion Island and that mythical point'', said Maud last Thursday during her first radio communication since she set off on her adventure against the tide. After two days at sea, the navigator left Madagascar behind her, in her wake. 

The day after she left, she would make her replies in a subdued voice. But suddenly she has recovered that tenacity that she always uses when saying goodbye. Maud then tells of that nostalgia she feels when the images of her departure come to mind, when she thinks about the children who went to give her their farewell, in ''the hundreds of phone calls, thousands of people gathered on the jetties. And one hour later I was completely alone''. The first hours of the voyage and also the first nighttime gusts of wind. Maud quickly entered fully into her challenge. The body suffers, ''I am covered in large bruises the size of my hand and I have broken a toe. I cannot eat''. The weather conditions do not let her get her breath back. ''It is pouring down, the sea is giving off steam'', Maud tells us. But in spite of all this, she is in good spirits. She spoke about that passing slump she felt during the first few days when she stored up on land the positive charge she would need to better overcome those moments already experiences on her previous voyages when rowing across the North Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean. 

''The different thing about this type of adventure is that, when you row, you have to stop, to rest. In the single-hull yacht, that is impossible. You have to be alert all the time. You are not the person who decides when the wind gets up and you have to make manoeuvres''. In her 3 cubic meter living cell, Maud tries to restore her sleeping pattern in bouts of one hour, surrounded and encouraged by drawings and the classroom photo of a school in Meaux, her home town.

The days go by, the sky clears, and the cold starts to bite. The smile on Maud's face seems to be broader; it helps her to relativize the situation. ''I am not doing anything with my foot. Well, in fact, sometimes I call my mother to tell her about my ailments, that is more effective than taking a pill'', the navigator explains humorously; she also says how difficult it is to find her marks on this boat ''its former owner was a three-door wardrob''. In this sailors Everest, Maud gradually finds that longed for pleasure. ''The clear horizon gives me my first sensations of freedom at sea'', she relates astonished at the helm, dressed in her fleece jacket. ''This moment of peace fortifies me as if I were drunk and this pleasant light warms my body. I am hungry again, that is a good sign. Today I decided to open a tin of lentils with smoked sausages'', Maud ends by saying on Saturday night, at the end of the logbook that she sends every day to her team on land. Maud has already exceeded the first thousand nautical miles of her voyage.]]></description></item><item><title>A quick assessment</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>18/10/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Dedicated to Amandine
 
A quick assessment.
Regarding the boat: the foot of the mainsail broke and the traveller became unhooked: but it is already repaired now. As for everything else, it is all in full form.
Regarding me: I broke a left toe that got caught in a manoeuvre. 
I am basically feeding on small bottles of liquid food (I like the strawberry flavoured one, it reminds me of strawberry sweets). I spent the whole night watching out for cargo ships and the angle of the wind so that L'ORÉAL does change course herself. I slept in fractions of an hour, holding the torch in my hand. 
The photos of my family are already pinned up in my living cell. Tears still come to my eyes  and outside it hasnt stopped raining. 
I think about you a lot. Much love.
Maud]]></description></item><item><title>Setting sail was tough</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>17/10/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[To all the crew onboard LA BOUDEUSE

The first hours, the first days are painful; breaking away is brutal. I have just left behind thousands of people who came to wish me farewell, a world in which I havent stopped running for one single moment, making telephonic calls, organizing hundreds of things and now here I am face to face with myself and the immensity, alone  and this is only the beginning. I have cried a lot, been sick a lot, my body rebels and all of it shakes. Only a few hours after my departure we went into a tunnel, the night was so dark, a 35-knot wind, a strong sea and a pitching boat. I furled the mainsail twice, hoisted the staysail, controlled myself and gritted my teeth to do these manoeuvres that took me over two hours. 
I think about all of you, about the children who are following my adventure and whose photos and drawings are everywhere on L'ORÉAL, I know I have to go through all this, that this tearing feeling is necessary: no dream can be achieved without effort. 
Best wishes to you all
Maud
]]></description></item><item><title>This time she has left</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>15/10/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud set off directly on her voyage round the world. It was 15:33 36 on Reunion Island (13:3336 Paris time) when the yacht L'Oréal Paris crossed the imaginary starting line between the Cape of Houssaye and La Boudeuse, the French National Navy patrol boat.

When it was time to set sail, Maud was surrounded and she was also very moved. Her sponsor Patrick Poivre dArvor, the sponsor of her adventure was there, together with her friends and relatives. Hundreds of small adventurers, those children who Maud likes to share her seafaring adventures with, had prepared a farewell gift for her: they all sang the popular French song Hissez haut together. A song of circumstance because Maud was soon to enter into the challenge. She hoisted the mainsail herself, which is the size of a tennis court, and it took 45 minutes to unfold. Then it was time to say goodbye of Roch, her brother and at the same time her yacht coach, to Marc, her father, and Aude-Justine, her best friend who helped her up to the starting line. The dense and compact crowd was concentrated on the jetty while a fleet made up of numerous sea kayaks, Optimists and jet skis escorted her from out of port.

The sailing conditions around Reunion Island were perfect: beautiful sunshine, a calm sea with an approximately 5 or 6 knot south-westerly wind. Nevertheless a force 7 gust of wind awaits Maud within the next few hours. A full entrance on her voyage of 25,000 nautical miles will be done in one blow. Maud will need approximately twenty weeks to finish her long journey. The starting line at Reunion Island will then become the arrival line. But at the moment Maud navigates en route to Madagascar before crossing the Cape of Good Hope.]]></description></item><item><title>This time she has left</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>15/10/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Maud set off directly on her voyage round the world. It was 15:33 36 on Reunion Island (13:3336 Paris time) when the yacht L'Oréal Paris crossed the imaginary starting line between the Cape of Houssaye and La Boudeuse, the French National Navy patrol boat.

When it was time to set sail, Maud was surrounded and she was also very moved. Her sponsor Patrick Poivre dArvor, the sponsor of her adventure was there, together with her friends and relatives. Hundreds of small adventurers, those children who Maud likes to share her seafaring adventures with, had prepared a farewell gift for her: they all sang the popular French song Hissez haut together. A song of circumstance because Maud was soon to enter into the challenge. She hoisted the mainsail herself, which is the size of a tennis court, and it took 45 minutes to unfold. Then it was time to say goodbye of Roch, her brother and at the same time her yacht coach, to Marc, her father, and Aude-Justine, her best friend who helped her up to the starting line. The dense and compact crowd was concentrated on the jetty while a fleet made up of numerous sea kayaks, Optimists and jet skis escorted her from out of port.

The sailing conditions around Reunion Island were perfect: beautiful sunshine, a calm sea with an approximately 5 or 6 knot south-westerly wind. Nevertheless a force 7 gust of wind awaits Maud within the next few hours. A full entrance on her voyage of 25,000 nautical miles will be done in one blow. Maud will need approximately twenty weeks to finish her long journey. The starting line at Reunion Island will then become the arrival line. But at the moment Maud navigates en route to Madagascar before crossing the Cape of Good Hope. ]]></description></item><item><title>New Web Page!</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>18/04/2006</pubDate><category id="2">Journal de Bord</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[Dear friends,

Tell me, do you like the new look? It has to be said that the webmasters have done a good job.

L'Oréal Paris is in very good shape. Our trips out to sea are giving good results. We are getting on well with the preparations, the list of things to do before the departure keeps getting longer and we are starting to feel the stress. 

Among two visits to the schools, one of them in Chatenay Malabry, I have had the opportunity to get to meet the people from the magazine Images Doc that we plan to work with throughout this adventure. With respect to the pedagogic dossier and the web page for my little adventurers, almost everything is now ready. 

Lastly, my little rowing boat, Océor, will be on display in the hall of the head office of L'Oréal Paris... I hope they will look alter it!

Next week I will be the head judge of the Val d'Isère Adventure Film Festival,

Isn't life great?

Kisses to all.
]]></description></item><item><title>(soon)</title><link>http://www.maudfontenoy.com/</link><comments></comments><pubDate>12/04/2006</pubDate><category id="3">Magazine</category><guid></guid><description><![CDATA[ ]]></description></item></channel></rss>
