My two main objectives for the month of February were to organise shipping the boat back to the UK, and to work on finding a sponsor or sponsors who would be excited enough about the Pip Hare Ocean Racing team to want to build a partnership over the next couple of years. Neither of these things I can make happen alone.

When I looked up to see the mast of Medallia falling towards me on the 15th December, in a split second everything was over, I felt a loss so deep I couldn’t breathe.

A Q&A from Pip after she dismasted in the Southern Ocean 800 NM from Australia.

My mantra before this Vendee Globe race started was… nothing will be the same. And it was a good thing to keep in my mind.

With just a week to go until Pip's book, In My Element, is published we're sharing an exclusive excerpt.