Mast Failure Ends Sailor’s Global Race Bid

The attempt by sailor Pip Hare, 50, to become the first woman to complete a 24,300-mile (39,100km) round-the-world race for a second time has concluded due to a mast failure. Hare, who commenced the Vendée Globe race on 10 November aboard her 60ft (18m) yacht Medallia, experienced a dismasting approximately 800 nautical miles (1,480km) south of Australia. Hare expressed that she was “really devastated” by the termination of her solo endeavor, which followed four years of extensive preparation and planning. She previously resided in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and acquired her sailing skills on the River Deben in Suffolk. Currently, she is based in Poole, Dorset. The mast of the yacht fractured into two pieces at 21:45 GMT on Sunday. Hare stated: “It all feels pretty raw right now.” She added: “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.” She had constructed a “jury rig” – a temporary setup utilizing the remaining mast sections and some sail to maintain movement without engine reliance – and was proceeding towards the Australian coast. “I’m just really devastated; it was the greatest edition of the Vendée Globe yet,” she remarked. “It was a highlight of my career and for it to end in this way is really punishing.” She further commented: “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.” She also stated that she was “fine, the boat’s fine and we are making our way to the shore”. Hare, who established her racing team in 2019 through a £25,000 bank loan and a crowdfunding appeal, had been considered a potential top-10 finisher in the prestigious and arduous race, which has seen an increase in participants from 33 to 40 yachts. Prior to her departure, she had remarked: “For me, this is my version of a World Cup or the Olympics.” She characterized the event as “the Vendée Globe race – it’s the toughest sailing race in the world.” The single-handed yacht competition commenced off the French coast, and Hare occupied 15th position at the time of the mast’s breakage.