Suffolk's Pip Hare to spend 3 months alone on world's oceans

There are now less than seven months to go before Pip Hare will depart from Les Sables-d'Olonne, France, for the Vendée Globe. On November 10, the race will see 40 skippers set off in a non-stop, round-the-world contest.

Ms Hare, 50, has some idea of what to expect, having taken part in the race in 2020.

“I’d thought about the Vendée Globe for 30 years of my career,” Ms Hare explained. “Having got to the start line, I think there was always a risk that the reality of it was not going to be what I'd imagined.

“But actually, it was three months of the most intense emotion. It was the best three months of my life, but it was like I became another person during those months. Because you are so alone, and the things being thrown at you are so extreme.

“You have to become the superhero version of yourself. There is no choice.”

After years of training, ocean racer Pip Hare is at the top of her game. Image: James Tomlinson (Image: James Tomlinson)

Countless hours of training are needed to prepare for the Vendée Globe. Image: Richard Langdon (Image: Richard Langdon)

Pip Hare sets of for the Route du Rhum 2022. Image: Mark Lloyd (Image: Mark Lloyd)

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Ms Hare’s love of water was born in childhood, and she shares her love of sailing with her whole family.

Her father’s family originally hail from Woodbridge, where they used to run an ironmongers’.

“We all ended up on the River Deben, because that’s where my grandfather sailed,” explained Ms Hare. “We had a folkboat in Waldringfield. Some of my earliest memories are of throwing a dinghy out to that boat and going down to the rocks and making rope swings.”

A young Pip Hare on watch, at the age of one. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)Pip in 1977 sitting in the between her siblings. L-R: Rachael, Pip, Katy and younger brother Tom behind. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)A young Pip rowing at the Rocks. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)A young Pip sailing the Leverett. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)Pip rowing at the Ramsholt Rocks. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)

Pip Hare sailing on the River Deben at Waldringfield. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)A young Pip helming in the rain. Image: Hare family (Image: Hare family)

Sailing professionally was always Ms Hare’s dream. After gaining her qualifications, she kept applying for roles, but found the path was not easy, ocean racing being a particularly male-dominated field.

“I discovered that there weren’t many jobs for women, and so I decided I would create my own team, and that’s what we’ve done,” she said.

Ocean racing is, Ms Hare explained, like Formula One on water, with a team of technicians maintaining the cutting-edge boat, working logistically and training intensively.

However, come November 10, she, like every other skipper, will be entirely alone.

Pip during the Return to Base Race 2023. Image: Pip Hare Ocean Racing (Image: Pip Hare Ocean Racing)

Pip Hare at the start of the Vendee Arctique, 2022. Image: Richard Lagdon (Image: Richard Lagdon)Pip Hare at the start of the Transat Jacque Vabre 2023. Image: Vincent Curutchet (Image: Vincent Curutchet)

So what is it like spending three months alone at sea?

“I was dealing with some level of dear and anxiety every day,” she said. “The scariest thing for me was climbing the mast. Doing that alone on a moving boat, 30 metres above the water where every movement is exaggerated, it was like being a pendulum swinging.

“It took me two hours of self-talk to clip onto the rope to even try. It was terrifying, I was physically shaking. But it comes back to having no other option – I had to do this.”

Time, she said, passed in a different way, especially as she was travelling through multiple time zones. The weather came to have far more significance than the clock – but this was liberating.

“It was the ultimate freedom, to be immersed in one thing,” she said. “My job, when I am out there, is just to do well at my sport. Of course, I am time pressured in some ways, but it’s me and the boat that dictate that timeframe.”

Any time when she is not actively sailing or seeing to daily maintenance of the boat is used to snatch a few hours of sleep. However, she did find ways to connect with the outside world.

“I listen to music nearly all the time, and my friends and family made me playlists,” she explained. “They would weave stories through the songs, and it made me think of times and people in my life.

“My theme tune for day one was Respect by Aretha Franklin. Respect just says it all for me, so that was very much my go-to song when I needed to feel a bit of power.”

• Read more: Pip Hare receives a birthday message from actor Russell Crowe while out at sea competing in the 2020 Vendée Globe

The mirror dinghy on which Pip learned to sail is still kept by her parents at Melton. Image: John Hare (Image: John Hare)

As the race inches closer, Ms Hare and her team are looking for sponsors, for maintenance of the boat and training comes at a hefty price.

The aim, Ms Hare explained, is not to simply look for donations, but to form partnerships, for the race will be followed internationally. She believes she can offer a great opportunity to potential sponsors.

“We’re incredibly unique in our environment – we are a female-led, ocean racing team,” she said. “I still have a lot of training to do, and I can’t do it without bringing more partners to the team.”

To find out how to support Ms Hare, visit: www.piphare.com/howtogetinvolved