Sailing-Dismasting forces Pip Hare to abandon Vendee Globe race

A shattered mast has dashed British sailor Pip Hare's bid to complete the gruelling 24,000-mile Vendee Globe for a second time.

The 50-year-old dismasted her 60ft yacht Medallia roughly 800 nautical miles south of Australia, ending a solo journey that had begun on Nov. 10.

"It all feels pretty raw right now. I am so devastated," she said. "This is four years of preparation and planning and four years of development. The boat and I were in really great shape, having a really good race and we were about halfway round the world. So, to dismast now is really brutal."

Hare, who had been locked in a tight race for 15th place with French rival Romain Attanasio (Fortinet Best Western) and chasing Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement-Water Family), managed to set up an emergency "jury rig" to set off for safety.

"I’m roughly halfway along the longitude of Australia on day 35 of the race and this morning my boat Medallia took off on a wave and when it landed the mast broke into two pieces and fell down and it’s put an end to my second solo round the world race.

"I’m about 700 miles from the closest piece of land and I’ve already managed to do a jury rig with one of the bits that I salvaged.

"I’ve got some sail up and I’m making way slowly towards the land. Security-wise I’m absolutely fine, the boat’s fine and we are making our way to the shore. I’m just really devastated, it was the greatest edition of the Vendée Globe yet. It was a highlight of my career and for it to end in this way is really punishing."

Elsewhere, Hungarian sailor Szabolcs Weöres (New Europe, 38th) is heading for South Africa with rigging damage, while Antoine Cornic (Human Immobilier, 33rd) anchored near Saint-Paul Island in rough seas to repair his mainsail