In this month’s Marine Matters we get to meet the Pip Hare Ocean Racing team and chat with Lou Adams, Operations Director, and Mel Cooke, Campaign Project Manager.

The team is based at the offices of Gallagher on Poole Quay, just a stone’s throw from where Pip’s yacht, Medallia, is moored at Poole Quay Haven.

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Tell us about the team

We’ve created a fantastic team of individuals from various industries, something that Pip is really proud of, offering opportunities to those who wouldn’t necessarily previously have had access to a professional sailing team. Including Pip there are now 13 of us. We also use contractors from the industry when a particular expertise is needed.

How about 2022? What were you up to?

We enjoyed an incredibly busy 2022 with so much going on, with lots of training and races. It’s been a period of learning to work hard together as a team, in a short period of time and often in high stress situations.

Early 2022 started with a refit of the boat, ready to launch in March. April saw the start of three months of early season training in Cascais, Portugal where the longer days and more predictable weather gave us more sailing days.

We had some tight turnarounds between races, lots of time away from home, travelling between race starts and finishes, packing up the team, our tools, spares and office and working our way around race venues.

At each new venue the team needed to repair, prepare and deliver a race-tuned boat ready to go. It was definitely a learning curve for all and life on the road was blended with lots of excitement and the buzz of the race villages, pre-start nerves, tracker-watching, packing it all up safely and moving on to the next event.

We’ve grown, evolved and gelled together as a team and learnt to think outside the box. 2022 was about achieving together as a team. There’s a lot at stake, it’s Pip’s dream and we’re here to help make her facilitate that. We’re incredibly passionate and proud to be a British sailing team in the mix at these international events.

Races included the Bermudes 1000, in which we experienced disappointment as an engine seal broke, for which she was penalised and extra time added. She finished 17^th out of 24.

In June Pip competed in the Vendée Arctique Race, a 3,000 mile solo course from Les Sables d’Olonne to a way-point off Iceland, and back. This was a recce opportunity for the wider race team as the event start was in the same venue as the Vendée Globe Race. This was a qualification race for the Vendée Globe and Pip finished 13^th out of 25 skippers.

‘Round Britain & Ireland Race’ followed in August, a fully crewed event which Pip was keen to support as the UK’s own vibrant offshore racing scene. Pip and her crew took Line Honours in a time of 10 days, 13 hours, 23 minutes and 22 seconds.

In October she achieved an outright double world record; for sailing around the Isle of Wight single-handedly and in a 60-foot boat.

The Route du Rhum race was in November, a solo race from St Malo to Guadeloupe. This was considered THE big race of the year, providing qualification miles for the Vendée Globe 2025.

Pip finished an impressive 12^th out of 38 IMOCA skippers, and was the first British sailor to finish, an even more incredible achievement considering that she tore a huge hole in the bottom of the main sail, as well as putting a 3m rip in her biggest jib. During the race she made a very shrewd decision to change routes which paid dividends.

What lies ahead in 2023?

The next two years is about the performance piece of Pip and the boat – to learn and train with the boat. For Mel and I, it’s about closing the fundraising gap for our campaign.

There are still sponsorship opportunities to join the campaign and utilise Pip and the boat as an incredible asset to strategically help your company. We have an amazing skipper who’s competing on an equal stage with men and breaking the bias…it’s incredibly exciting!

If you’re interested in learning more about sponsorship opportunities, please do get in touch at hello@piphareoceanracing.com. We’d love to hear from you.

From January to May, Medallia will be undergoing a significant refit, including new and much larger foils and a new bow section which will fundamentally change Medallia’s performance and bring it up to 95 per cent of the potential speed of a new build boat.

We have much purpose in 2023 and another busy schedule of training and events:

• June – Training (learning to sail with new foils).
• July – Rolex Fastnet Race, double handed race from the Solent to the Fastnet Rock and back to Cherbourg.
• August – Training.
• September – Defi Azimut – solo race from Lorient in Brittany.
• October – Transat Jacques Vabre, a 5,400 double handed race from Le Havre – La Martinique.
• November – Retour a La Base, a solo race from La Martinique back to Lorient.

Pictures courtesy of Mark Lloyd.