British solo skipper Pip Hare announces title sponsorship and a foiling IMOCA for the 2024 Vend\u00e9e GlobeBritish Vend\u00e9e Globe sailor Pip Hare today announced that she has renewed her partnership with Medallia, and bought a foiling IMOCA for her 2024 Vend\u00e9e Globe campaign.
\nThe news will delight fans of the solo sailor, who began her\u00a02020 Vend\u00e9e Globe campaign with no title backer and a tiny budget. She went on to secure American software company Medallia as a sponsor just months ahead of the start, before delivering an incredible race in one of the oldest boats in the fleet.
\nPip\u2019s determination and ability to share the challenges as well as the sheer enjoyment of racing Medallia in the last Vendee Globe won her legions of fans.
\nToday\u2019s announcement that Pip Hare has sponsorship nearly four years ahead of the next Vendee Globe gives her a valuable full cycle time frame over which to plan her new IMOCA campaign, and a clear jump-start on other skippers facing years of searching for funding.
\nPip said: \u201cMedallia and I have had a fantastic partnership over the last year \u2013 they made a huge difference to my 2020\/21 Vendee Globe race when they joined my campaign just five months before the start of the race. So having them with me now, at the very start of my 2024 campaign is brilliant \u2013 their support has given me the chance to secure the boat that will take me round the world in about three years\u2019 time.
\n\u201cI\u2019m now determined to spend those years training, upgrading and finessing and I can\u2019t wait to see what Medallia and I will achieve together in the lead up to the next Vendee.\u201d
\nBureau Vall\u00e9e 2 was sailed by French skipper Louis Burton to 3rd in the 2020\/21 Vend\u00e9e Globe. Photo by Stephane Maillard
\nIn the 2020\/21 edition of the Vend\u00e9e Globe, Pip pushed hard in a 20-year-old design to finish 19th overall. For 2024, however, she has secured a much newer generation IMOCA, the 2016 foiling Verdier\/VPLP model which was raced as Bureau Vall\u00e9e II\u00a0by Louis Burton to 3rd overall.
\nHare says it is the perfect choice of IMOCA.
\n\u201cThis genuinely is the truth, but when I walked down the dock at the beginning of the Vendee with Paul Larsen and we said \u2018Let\u2019s play the game of which one you would choose next?\u2019,\u201d Pip recalled.
\n\u201cI said I\u2019d either choose Maitre Coq or Bureau Vall\u00e9e \u2013 and that was without knowing how they would perform in the race. I definitely didn\u2019t want a 2020 generation boat. They are just too extreme for me. I felt it was too different from the sailing that I know.
\n\u201cBut I think the 2016 generation foilers are strong and proven, and those two in particular stood out as strong boats. So when Medallia said, \u2018OK, let\u2019s go find a boat\u2019, we went and looked at those two boats.
\n\u201cWe came away thinking that Bureau Vall\u00e9e was the best boat for me. So effectively I ended up getting exactly the boat that I wanted, which is quite extraordinary!\u201d
\nPreviously the IMOCA was the 2016\/17 race winner Banque Populaire, sailed by Armel Le Cl\u00e9ac\u2019h to a course record of 74d 3h 35m which still stands today.
\nThe IMOCA as Banque Populaire VIII won the 2016\/17 Vend\u00e9e with Armel Le Cl\u00e9ac\u2019h.
\nHare will take delivery of her new baot in July, and then begin the exciting process of training on a new foiling design. She has not yet sailed on a foiling IMOCA, although, as she points out, she hadn\u2019t sailed on any sort of IMOCA before taking delivery of her previous Medallia.
\n\u201cThe Bureau Vall\u00e9e team have been really supportive,\u201d said Hare. \u2018The boat\u2019s in France at the moment, in bits in in the shed. But when we come to put it back together again, one of their team members is going to come and join us so that we\u2019re learning from them, and they\u2019re going to come out sailing with us to get us going.\u201d
\nPip has a foil development programme within her four-year plan, though not until she has done a good two years of sailing on her \u2018training foils\u2019, as well as a new mast and sail wardrobe.
\nLeslie Stretch, President & CEO of Medallia
\nLeslie Stretch, Medallia\u2019s President and Chief Executive Officer, said: \u201cEveryone at Medallia is immensely impressed with Pip\u2019s strength, relentless spirit, and compelling story \u2013 but her journey is far from over. We are proud to continue to stand with her as she faces new challenges, and help her connect with her dedicated supporters in novel ways through our technology.\u201d
\nPip added: \u201cThis has always been a two-race campaign and my sights were always set on the 2024 race. This last edition was where I learned how to race solo round the world and honed my skills. Now I know what it takes, and I\u2019ve got over three years to build my team, adapt the new boat to suit my sailing style and most importantly train my own skills.
\n\u201cI was proud of my performance this time round \u2013 but in 2024 I want to see if I can race with the big boys and girls at the front of the pack.\u201d
\nFollow Pip\u2019s campaign at piphare.com
\nThe post Pip Hare gets \u2018dream\u2019 foiling IMOCA with title sponsor for 2024 Vend\u00e9e Globe appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British solo skipper Pip Hare announces title sponsorship and a foiling IMOCA for the 2024 Vend\u00e9e GlobeBritish Vend\u00e9e Globe sailor Pip Hare today announced that she has renewed her partnership with Medallia, and bought a foiling IMOCA for her 2024 … <\/p>\n