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Welcome to the Solent: with Pip Hare
Image: Richard Langdon, Ocean Images
Welcome to the Solent, the place from which I have built my Vendee Globe campaign over the past 2 years. It’s my training ground and the most beautiful stretch of water.
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My name is Pip Hare and I am currently racing in the 9th edition of the Vendee Globe Race on board my 60ft IMOCA Medallia. I am racing around the world against 32 of the world’s best solo sailors. We are competing, performing, pushing and surviving alone at sea for up to 3 months, non-stop, 24/7 with no breaks and no help. There is no other sporting event like it - in the history of the race only 89 skippers have finished, among them Dame Ellen MacArthur who set and holds the female course record.
Despite the Vendee Globe being termed the ‘Everest’ of the seas, finishing this race is so much more than that suggests. Over 5000 mountaineers have scaled Everest – in comparison, of the 89 people who’ve completed the Vendee Globe race, only six have been women. To put that in context, more men have walked on the moon.
As I write this I am currently in line with Perth, Australia and sailing in the formidable Southern Ocean – unchartered territory for me. It is vast, beautiful and unpredictable but I am here, racing the Vendee Globe, solo and soaking up the mental and physical challenges this race is throwing at me.
I am a sailor who lives in Poole, Dorset and have been training and running my Vendee Globe campaign from this beautiful location, which is the world’s second largest natural harbour and just 12 miles west of the Solent. I have been a professional sailor most of my working life and have dreamt of competing in the Vendee Globe race since I was a teenager. I have built my way up to solo sailing at the highest level, competing in various international races. This year leading up to the Vendee Globe start line I have been regularly training around the Solent and the Isle of Wight. It is a stretch of water we are so lucky to have and one I hope so many will continue to enjoy.
Pip Hare
British Sailor
