Pip Hare – “The Ocean is More a Part of Me Than the Land”
Pip Hare is a British yachtswoman, journalist and sailing instructor. Having grown up in a landlocked county in the UK, Pip soon got a taste of a life at sea through her Grandfather and decided as a teenager that the ocean was where she belonged.
In our latest podcast episode we catch up with the maverick mariner to hear how she embarks on ocean voyages whilst striving for sustainability within elite yacht racing.
Having forged a career in a male dominated sport, Pip discusses the battles and discrimination that she’s had to face to get to where she is today. Despite being only the 8th woman in history to complete the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race, it’s been a constant struggle for opportunities.
“One of the things I want to change about sailing is the gender imbalance. When I started, less than 3% of yacht skippers were women, so for me to get credibility was really hard”.
“The biggest mountain I had to climb was getting to the start of the race. It drains you physically, mentally, emotionally, it really is pushing a boulder up a hill every single day”.
Having spent so much of her life at sea, Pip has seen the impacts of ocean pollution first hand, and understands the need to think more sustainably in the sport of elite sailing.
“In high performance sport there needs to be a balance in place for sustainability. We’re constantly looking for boats that will go faster and the designs are changing all the time which means building more high performance boats, putting you in a situation where the sport is unsustainable”.
“As a community of sailers we’re all engaged with how important it is to change some of the practices of our sport to impact the environment in a more positive way”.
In a raw moment of honesty, Pip also opens up to host Laura Nesbitt about her decision not to have a family, and shares what drives her personally to make big life decisions.
“Encouraging people to talk about the ocean and collectively sharing ideas about how to be more sustainable is so important. I’m hoping that my experiences of adventure sailing help inspire people to find solutions to protect our oceans”.
You can catch Pip sharing more of her tales from the high seas at the Blue Earth Summit in October. Book tickets now.
