»solo trip across the Atlantic, from Uruguay to the UK
in 2009, proved a significant turning point. In total, she
spent 58 days alone at sea, but it could have ended after
just four, when she had to climb the mast to fix her boat.
“I was terrified,” she remembers. “It was getting dark
when I realised that I needed to go up the rig. I got about
10ft up, got too scared and came back down again.”
That moment was a fork in the road: “I had to prove
to myself that I should be doing this. If I can’t do this,
then this isn’t the sport for me,” she reasoned. “This is
something I needed to make myself do.” After a night’s
sleep, she climbed the mast and fixed it. By the end of
that year, she’d crossed the Atlantic on her own three
times. Pip has found that simple repetition has been thekey. “I now do things once to prove that I can, then a
second time to push myself as hard as I possibly can.”PERSONAL CHALLENGE
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however. She broke an
ankle while completing the Three Peaks Yacht Race
in 2017 – which involves sailing from Barmouth to Fort
William and scaling the highest mountains in England,
Scotland and Wales en route – as part of what remains
the only two-person team to ever finish it. Then, in
January 2018, Pip was knocked off her bike in Poole,
where she is based, and broke her pelvis. A long recovery
period ensued – which also resulted in a spot of soul
searching. “Being in hospital really made me question
»solo trip across the Atlantic, from Uruguay to the UK
in 2009, proved a significant turning point. In total, she
spent 58 days alone at sea, but it could have ended after
just four, when she had to climb the mast to fix her boat.
“I was terrified,” she remembers. “It was getting dark
when I realised that I needed to go up the rig. I got about
10ft up, got too scared and came back down again.”
That moment was a fork in the road: “I had to prove
to myself that I should be doing this. If I can’t do this,
then this isn’t the sport for me,” she reasoned. “This is
something I needed to make myself do.” After a night’s
sleep, she climbed the mast and fixed it. By the end of
that year, she’d crossed the Atlantic on her own three
times. Pip has found that simple repetition has been the
key. “I now do things once to prove that I can, then a
second time to push myself as hard as I possibly can.”PERSONAL CHALLENGE
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, however. She broke an
ankle while completing the Three Peaks Yacht Race
in 2017 – which involves sailing from Barmouth to Fort
William and scaling the highest mountains in England,
Scotland and Wales en route – as part of what remains
the only two-person team to ever finish it. Then, in
January 2018, Pip was knocked off her bike in Poole,
where she is based, and broke her pelvis. A long recovery
period ensued – which also resulted in a spot of soul
searching. “Being in hospital really made me question