It's the awakening that we fear, that we hate, that we unfortunately know is difficult to avoid. The phone call, the heavy words, thrown in an emergency, and the silence again. 800 miles under the immensity of Australia, in the last kilometers which were to take it to the long-awaited Pacific, Pip Hare is there, struggling to set up a makeshift rigging, and find a solution to reach the earth. At 10:45 p.m. (French time), while she was in 15th position in the Vendée Globe, her IMOCA Medallia dismasted, without us yet knowing how or why.
What we do know, however, is that the rest of the boat is preserved and that Pip Hare is not injured. Physically at least, because morally, it's a completely different story when we see the race that we have been leading vigorously for five weeks, without sparing our efforts, come to an end so suddenly. Four years after a Vendée Globe where she showed the full extent of her physical and mental strength by changing a rudder in the middle of the Indian Ocean, the 50-year-old British sailor once again proved that in terms of tenacity, she definitely had to be generously served at the great canteen of life.
Not spared from the technical difficulties since the departure on November 10, notably with keel problems which slowed her down for a while, the one whose happiness of being at sea is so contagious that it could be the subject of a quarantine shared each day with spontaneity, without ever trying to sugarcoat, her joys and her difficulties in the intense duel she had been waging for more than two weeks with Romain Attanasio (Fortinet – Best Western, 14th). A few hours before her dismasting, the eternal optimist sent another twenty-three seconds of video, a planet-shattering smile on her face covered by one of her indescribable big wool hats, while her boat was hurtling at high speed. V at sunset forcing her, in a little laugh so infectious, to take refuge to avoid ending up soaked. “It’s so beautiful here”she said fascinated, detaching each word as if to make us feel them better. Thank you for the gift, Pip, and above all well done.
Varied punctuation
The Briton is unfortunately not the only one to face difficulties this night. Faced with a breakage on part of his rigging, the Hungarian sailor Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe, 38th) headed towards South Africa while further away, in the lee of Saint-Paul Island, Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier, 33rd) threw away her anchor in the early morning to try to repair her mainsail traveler, despite still very rough seas. A race in parentheses, where we hope that the question mark does not turn into ellipses.
For others, however, there is hardly time to think about any punctuation, except that of the exclamation. Like tireless hamsters in a supercharged wheel, the leading trio continues to trudge along, hoping to gain as much ground as possible before being caught up by the windless ridge. If Charlie Dalin (MACIF Santé Prévoyance) should cross the famous anti-meridian in the lead, which will set him back a day, he is working above all not to fall down the rankings. Because behind, Yoann Richomme (PAPREC – ARKÉA, 2nd) has come up like cuckoo, now less than 50 miles from the leader, and almost 100 miles ahead of Sébastien Simon (Groupe Dubreuil, 3rd).
Behind, those who got stuck in the windless blue tongue have regained speed, and know that there is no longer a minute to lose if they want to stop the bleeding. Led by a Thomas Ruyant (VULNERABLE, 4th) flashed at an average of nearly 25 knots, their next hours will certainly not be devoted to composing poems.
