Cambridgeshire sailor Pip Hare shows off new 'Medallia' boat as she targets second Vendée Globe
Video report by ITV News Anglia's Andy Ward
Cambridgeshire sailor Pip Hare has officially named her new boat which she'll race single-handedly round the world in 2024.
The 47-year-old from Huntingdon recently completed the Vendée Globe, having become only the eighth woman to ever finish the solo non-stop round the world yacht race.
However, she's already set her sights on going again in three years time, and this time she will have a boat that will be the envy of the rest of the fleet.
Pip completed the 2020-21 race in a 21-year-old boat, but her new yacht is a lot newer, and has a lot more pedigree, than that.
She's bought what was formally known as Bureau Vallee 2, a boat that won the race in 2016 and finished third last time out.
Pip has named the boat 'Medallia' in tribute to the sponsors who have helped her to get her hands on it.
"The new boat is incredible, it's beyond my dreams of where I'd end up. I think it's got amazing potential and I can't wait to see what we can do with it over the next couple of years," she said.
"I have to trust that the boat has been built to the right specifications, so that it's strong, it's reliable and it's fast and that's really quite a difficult mix to have. This boat has been around the world twice already, it's got a first place and a third place so I know I can trust this boat."
Having finished a very respectable 19th overall in the last edition of the race, Pip is hoping to be among the frontrunners next time.
She officially unveiled her new boat at a special ceremony on the River Thames this week, and her sponsors say they have high hopes that Pip can have an even more successful race in 2024.
"Pip just took a 20-year-old boat around the world, for my money she's the best sailor in the fleet, she's the best sailor in the world," said Medallia chief executive Leslie Stretch.
"This is the Mount Everest of sailing and now we've got her a fantastic, competitive vessel. So it's very important that she has a foiling boat rather than an old displacement hull, it's vital for her success in the next race so we couldn't be happier."