UPDATE: Devastated Pip Hare abandons Vendée Globe after mast breaks in two
This article was updated on 16 Dec as more information became available from Pip Hare’s team.
An unhurt Pip Hare has abandoned her Vendée Globe race after a devastating incident.
“This morning my boat Medallia took off on a wave and when it landed the mast broke into two pieces and fell down, and it’s put an end to my second solo round the world race.”
“It all feels pretty raw right now. I am so devastated,” says Hare.
The incident happened on Sunday, 15 December, at 21:45 UTC, approximately 800 nautical miles south of Australia. Hare’s IMOCA Medallia dismasted while racing in 15th position in the Vendée Globe.
“This is four years of preparation and planning and four years of development, the boat and I were in really great shape, having a really good race and we were about halfway round the world. So, to dismast now is really brutal,” Hare continues.
She has patched together a ‘jury rig’, where she’s used what’s left of the mast and some sail to keep moving, without relying on her engine.
“I’m about 700 miles from the closest piece of land and I’ve already managed to do a jury rig with one of the bits that I salvaged. I’ve got some sail up and I’m making way slowly towards the land. Security wise I’m absolutely fine, the boat’s fine and we are making our way to the shore.”
Shortly after the incident, Hare’s team issued a brief statement to say that she is safe. She is working with her technical team and the race management to secure the situation.
“I’m just really devastated, it was the greatest edition of the Vendée Globe yet. It was a highlight of my career and for it to end in this way is really punishing. But a race of this nature that’s three months long, taking you to some of the world’s most extreme environments, these things happen and unfortunately, it’s happened to me this time.”
“I just want to say a massive thank you to all my sponsors and supporters and my team for the hard work that they’ve put in over the last four years to get us to the start line of this race and yeah, that’s about all really.”
Hare is the skipper and CEO of Pip Hare Ocean Racing, and the 8th woman in the world to finish the Vendée Globe race.
In a tearful video she says: “It’s not good news for Medallia today. Medallia took off, landed and when it landed the mast came down in two pieces. That’s the end of our 2024 VG race.
“I’m physically fine and the boat’s pretty unscathed as well. I worked for about three hours to clean all the mess up and I’ve managed to get a jury rig up. I’m sailing along, doing about four knots. I’ve got about 700 miles to the nearest point of land so I have a bit a time to think about where I am going.
“I don’t think I can unpack how I feel right now. It’s a case of doing practical things to look after me and the boat to make progress to the shore so that we can sort this out.”
Hare thanks her sponsors, partners and supporters. She says:
“We’ve all put so much in to make this race happen, and I am so sorry it’s ended this way. It’s not the end, it never is the end, but by the time I get to the shore I hope we’ll have a really good plan of how to get Medallia sailing again.
“To all the other competitors out there . . . I am really going to miss the other half of the world with you guys.”
A few hours before the dismasting incident, she posted a smiling video in a glorious sunset.
“It is just beautiful,” she said. “This sailing has been tough, intense and technically demanding.”
Hours later her team, and Vendée Globe organisers, were issuing their statements.
On the 14 December, Hare effectively reached Australia with five weeks of sailing – she called the moment “mind blowing”.
She’d had an up and down night, she says. “I would be on the more powerful sail and not be able to hold it, and change to a smaller one and feel I was going too slow. It’s my usual thing, I do this so often, I change sails too often. . . it’s been a good 24 hours of sailing, I’ve enjoyed it.
“The next week will be quite interesting,” Hare predicted. “There’s a big high pressure building in the Pacific. In the short term it’s about enduring this sea state. The waves are from two directions and the boat speed is not quite enough to get over them, so I’m being pushed around a lot. I need to do some cleaning because it is a pigsty out there. . . but it’s all good on Medallia.”
Since the incident, Hare’s facebook page has been deluged with messages of support from around the world. That fan base encompasses experienced sailors, novices, those in between and a good percentage of well wishes who appear to have never set foot on a boat. Hare’s wide-ranging popularity stems not only from her sailing prowess, but also her open videos in which she talks frankly about the highs and lows of her race, including the minutiae of her daily struggles and successes.
Images courtesy of Pip Hare Ocean Racing, via Facebook.
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