Now that the dust has settled

Now that the dust has settled, we have found our rhythm and are finally heading south, I have the opportunity to share a few of my objectives for this race and the reality of what sort of an outcome I could hope for racing in this incredible, high-performance fleet.

The first and most obvious thing to say is that I am not expecting to win, or even come in the top ten. In reality, in an older boat with a tiny budget, it would be crazy to think anything else. Being at the start of the Transat Jacques Vabres, in the race village with all of the other IMOCA teams the differences were plain to see. Parked all around me were state of the art new boats, being prepared by huge teams in matching kit, with press officers hovering and camera crews following their every move. The skippers largely remained unseen save for briefings and official engagements leaving their crews to do the preparation and taking themselves away from the melee

The fact is these new boats and bigger budgets will outperform me – even on my A-game. Sometimes there are opportunities to score some points (like in the Fastnet race) but ultimately a faster boat is a faster boat. New sails will make you go better, a new autopilot will steer the boat better and so money does make a difference. 

So, one might question what is the point in racing if you know there is not a chance to win? What is the point in entering an older boat against these carbon multi-million euro machines? Well, there are many points and I am always driven to do the best with what I have so let me run through a few of them: 

1. There is still a race to be sailed. I am not the only one in an older boat – there are a number of boats ranging from build year 1998 to 2007, we are all non-foiling and although the rest are on bigger budgets than me I am racing them. Already at our end of the fleet, there is some argy-bargy going on. We will all race each other for every tiny mile and minute of this race. This is our sport, we respect each other as competitors and we love to do well. We are racing. 

2. Only one competitor will ever win any race – whether it’s the London marathon or the TJV – does that make the experience less for everyone else who has entered? Part of being in a race is giving yourself permission to push yourself to the limits. It’s always hard to justify this in training. It’s the race environment that takes us to the next level. We save our A game for it – it shows us where and how we will go next. 

3. This race is almost exactly the first leg of the Vendee Globe last year – for me, it’s a training run. I am noting down all the things I need to think about, to change, to make decisions on. I am also giving myself the confidence to know what will lie ahead when I cross that start line alone on the 8th November next year. 

4. By completing this race – the TJV I will be fulfilling the final entry requirements to compete in the Vendee Globe race. 

5. I love it! This is my passion and I am driven to do the best I can with what I have and still, I intend to raise a few eyebrows and make people thing – imagine if…... Of course, I aspire to have a newer boat and a bigger budget but this is my opportunity. This boat was available and I had a choice – to carry on dreaming or to make this opportunity work, to show the world what I am capable of in the Vendee Globe – then to race again in 2024 with a weapon of a boat.  

In general, this course, fundraising along the way and working up an old boat with no paid team is a brutally hard way to run this project. But, for the preparation for the TJV I had a team of volunteers working with me, which grew throughout the week to twenty people by the day I left. We were accompanied by children of varying ages who could be found running around the deck, hanging from the mast or sleeping in the forepeak at various intervals. We got a huge amount of work done and I am so pleased with how strong the boat feels right now. It was a monumental week and I was surrounded by people who wanted to be there and were doing it for the passion of the sport and to support me. In the evenings we talked and laughed. There were so many hugs when I left the dock and I was close to tears at how much support these amazing people had given me. So yes – In the future I would love to have a professional team. But there will always be a place in my team for friends and volunteers – I don’t think Lewis Hamilton has to run around the paddock hugging all of his friends and close to tears before he pushes out on a major race. I felt so lucky and so loved when I left the dock – I think maybe I am richer than others may think.   

Pip.