PIP HARE A RACE OF HER OWN
The moment I stepped off Medallia at the end of the race, I started thinking about 2024
I have dreamed of competing in the Vendée Globe since reading about the race in a sailing magazine at the age of 17. Despite the COVID-19 lockdown that shrouded the start last year, the emotion of standing on the bow of Medallia, making my way out of the channel in Les Sables d’Olonne with local people hanging out of windows, banging saucepans and shouting encouragement, filled me with such an incredible sense of joy and achievement. I had worked so hard to enter the race, and had been supported by so many people; I was determined to savour and profit from every moment, whatever it brought.
Starting the race was a strange experience. There was part of me that struggled to believe I was actually there. I missed my friends and family immensely and felt cheated that my parents couldn’t share the moment with me. But once the fog lifted and the two-hour postponement of the start came to an end,
