Britain’s Pip Hare (Medallia) finished 12th IMOCA, and James Haryada (Gentoo) in 14th in the early hours of Wednesday morning (23 November).
Hare slipped from tenth to 12th position in the final stage rounding of Guadeloupe, on the 12th Route du Rhum -Destination Guadeloupe., in a record 38 sized IMOCA class.
While Hare’s 24 year old rookie compatriot James Harayda secured an impressive 14th position on his first major solo IMOCA ocean race.
Pip Hare completed her race in 13 days, 8 hours, 38 minutes and 12 seconds.
“The circuit round the island is just brutal, what a way to finish a race,” grinned Hare at the finish. “I am completely knackered. I came into the north of the island knowing the guys were so close behind and I was watching them. And I did a couple of gybes this morning to cover them. But all the chickens came home to roost.”
“We have come so far in this season with this new boat. I just wanted to nail it in this final race of the season and I think we did that. It is my best result in the IMOCA class ever and for a ‘small foil boat’ boat I am proud,” Hare told the well-wishers at the finish.
James Harayda finished at 01:28:35 UTC Wednesday, after 13 days, 12 hours, 13 minutes and 35 seconds.
As the youngest skipper in the IMOCA class, Harayda’s 14th place underlines his promise, especially considering he had no background in solo or shorthanded offshore racing.
Initially he did a two-year mixed doubles campaign in a SunFast 3300 with former Vendée Globe racer Dee Caffari with focus on a possible Paris Olympic bid.
When it became apparent that there was to be no Olympic offshore event in 2024, ambitious Harayda set out on a course to the 2024 Vendée Globe which he hopes will lead to a new boat programme for 2028.
He only started seriously sailing his IMOCA in May and his only solo passages until now were September’s 48 Heures Azimut and his 2000-mile qualifier for this race.
Harayda commented, “It was a brilliant race. At the start I could never have imagined coming in here in 14th. It is amazing especially after the first week when I was really struggling getting the boat to perform the way I wanted it to.”
Final British competitor to finish will be Samantha Davis (Initives Coeur) presently in 28th place with 500+ nm to the finish.
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