Pip-Pip Hooray! Vendée Globe hero returns to Poole
by Tracy Payne 19 Feb 2021 00:30 PST
18 February 2021
Vendée Globe: Pip Hare returns home to Poole © Tracy Payne
Pip-Pip Hooray! Vendée Globe hero Pip Hare arrived yesterday back on dry land in her hometown of Poole 124 days after setting sail for the start of the Vendée Globe 2020.
After 95 days, 11 hours, 37 mins and 30 seconds of racing, Pip was the first British skipper to finish and only the eighth woman ever to complete the Vendée Globe.
Her supporters Poole Harbour Commissioners, who gave Pip a home for her yacht (Medallia) in the lead up to the race, along with the Dorset Marine Police, greeted her at the Harbour entrance before giving her a VIP blue light escort back to her home berth at Poole Quay Boat Haven.
PHC, who were one of the first supporters to back Pip at the start of her Vendee campaign, were determined to give her a warm welcome.
On her return Pip Hare said: "It feels incredible to be back home in Poole. It all started here two years ago when PHC gave me somewhere to park my boat. Coming home now is just the finish of an incredible adventure."
Captain Brian Murphy, Harbour Master, Poole Harbour Commissioners said:
"Unfortunately, the ongoing Covid situation and the current lockdown period we find ourselves in has prevented the local community from giving Pip the hero's welcome she so deserved.
We appreciate how disappointed people are that the current rules mean that they could not get out on the water. So, although this was not the homecoming we had envisaged for Pip, we could not let the occasion go completely unmarked."
With Medallia back on its berth at PHC's award-winning, five gold anchor marina, Poole Quay Boat Haven. Kerrie Gray, Marina Manager said:
"There are very few marinas on the South Coast that could accommodate an IMOCA 60, So it's been a great honour to be able to provide Pip with a home during her campaign. It is great to see Medallia back in the marina, welcome home Pip."