Local woman, Pip Hare, has completed the Transat Jacques Vabre yachting race, finishing just 10 minutes before their closest rival.
Pip Hare and her team-mate Ysbrand Endt crossed the finish line in their boat, Superbigou, at 17:26 UTC on 14th November, narrowly beating Alexia Barrier’s 4MyPlanet.
The team finished the race with a time of 18 days, 5 hours, 11 minutes and 43 seconds, 4 days behind the winner.
Throughout the race, Superbigou and 4MyPlanet have been within touching distance of one another.
“All day today, we’ve been within sight of each other,” said Pip in her final video as they approached Salvador de Bahia.
“There’s been times where we’ve been within 100m of each other. Today, the most we got out was about two miles from each other.”
The distance between the two boats had narrowed to 0.3NM just 20 miles from the finish, but from there the gap gradually widened as Pip and Ysbrand sailed in to gain 24th place in the IMOCA class.
The 4,340 mile long sailing race follows the historic coffee route between France and Brazil.
Next year, Pip plans to race in the 2020 Vendée Globe round-the-world race. This will see her sail 28,000 miles on her own, with no help or breaks.
Sailors must complete one of five qualifying races and a 2,000 mile solo journey – but most sailors will complete all five to accumulate miles.
Pip is on the list to take one of the 34 remaining places, and finishing this race ensures she retains it.