SPENDING a couple of hours at sea can be too much for some, but the thought of 95 days on the oceans is almost unfathomable.

You can skippering a 60ft boat on your own while racing other sailors around the globe and you are still only scratching the surface on the size of the task at hand for Vendee Globe participants.

However, the somewhat crazy scale of the sailing event never daunted Poole’s Pip Hare.

In fact, she relished it and had done for many years before she finally took it on for real between November last year to February 12, 2021 – day she will never forget.

Crossing the finish line at Les Sables-d'Olonne in France at 12.57am will be a moment the 47-year-old cherishes and she wants to taste it again.

But her journey to even gain entry to the race the first time around was met by many challenges to overcome.

In a detailed interview on The Echo Dispatch podcast series, which can be listened to below, Pip discusses how she got into the sport, her fascination with the Vendee Globe and her journey to being on the start line.

She also talked about her role as a coach and tutor, what more needs to be done to ensure there is more female representation in ocean racing and her plans to take on the Vendee all over again in 2024.

Bournemouth Echo: Poole sailor Pip Hare at a press conference held at 11am on Friday February 12 after her Vendee Globe yacht race finish (Photo Pip Hare/Alea)Poole sailor Pip Hare at a press conference held at 11am on Friday February 12 after her Vendee Globe yacht race finish (Photo Pip Hare/Alea)

Discussing some of the difficulties she faced, Pip said: “I think the difficult thing for me was actually finding a way to gain the skills and the experience to do it.

"But also I am not a particularly confident person and as a woman in the ocean racing world I am in a serious minority, so the difficult for me was actually vocalising that to other people because I just thought I would be laughed at or overlooked or people would tell me I couldn’t do it.

“It took me quite a long time to actually say out loud to anybody this is something that I want to do.

"And, of course, you can’t do it without actually telling people you want to do it, so that was the hardest bit.”

Read more on Pip in the Vendee Globe

Bournemouth Echo: Sailor Pip Hare celebrates arriving at Poole Quay after completing the Vendee Globe yacht raceSailor Pip Hare celebrates arriving at Poole Quay after completing the Vendee Globe yacht race

Listen to the first episode of the Echo Dispatch