Pip Hare writes exclusively from Le Harve France as she gets ready for Sunday’s start of her next trans Atlantic race:
“Final preparations for the Transat Jacques Vabre are in full swing in Le Havre and we are ready to bring 2023 to an end in true style with two back-to-back Trans-Atlantic races. Are you ready to join us battling across the Atlantic and back for five weeks?”
The race starts from Le Harve on Sunday 29th October as a two handed trans Atlantic race across to the archipelago of Saints Peter and Paul, some 600 miles off the coast of Brazil and after leaving it to starboard, heads for the finish line at Martinique in the Caribbean.
The total distance is around 5,300 miles and should take the IMOCA fleet of 40 around three weeks to complete.
After a seven day turnaround the second race the Retour a la Base is to Lorient on the west coast of France, but has the added edge of being single handed.
The weather forecast for the first week predicts particularly tough conditions with several depressions expected which could lead to breaking waves and rough seas, but Pip sounds confident as she added;
“I cannot wait to get out there again. It has been a tough year on many counts and we still have a mountain to climb to practically deliver the competitive campaign I aspire to. But I can’t help feeling a bounce in my step. I stopped to reflect on why I feel so relaxed and realised it is because I am just excited about going sailing. Really really excited.”
Medallia’s co-skipper for the first race is British sailor Nick Bubb who sailed with Pip Hare in the Fastnet race and are the only British pairing in the IMOCA class.
