Round-the-world yachtswoman 'bruised' as ship runs aground off Cornwall

14 December 2023 , 14:03

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Pip Hare ran aground off the Cornish coast when she slept through her alarm (Image: No credit)

A well-known British sailor got a little off course after falling asleep and not hearing her alarms before running aground.

Pip Hare, famous for sailing around the globe, ran into trouble when returning from a transatlantic race in Cornwall. Pip managed to refloat her 60ft yacht named Medallia with the help of the RNLI. They posted on Facebook: "At 5.30 UTC Pip ran aground off St Austell. Pip is fine and we are working closely with the brilliant volunteers of the RNLI to solve the situation. We will update you as soon as possible."

After getting back on course, Pip's team wrote: "After working with the brilliant volunteers at Fowey RNLI and the Coastguard, Pip is now back afloat and after an initial risk assessment is sailing home. Thank you for your support."

Despite being a bit bruised, Pip said later as she was heading home, Cornwall Live reported: "Just a little update from Medallia I am fine and the boat is seaworthy. A little bit bruised but ok.

"I'm pretty devastated about everything that happened this morning, I managed to sleep through a lot of alarms and ran aground off the coast of Cornwall for my delivery home from the race. As an individual and as a team we will unpack this later, my decision to sail home alone is largely based on the fact that we are a very small team and always need to be making economies where we can and me sailing an extra 300 miles alone when I've done 3,500 already didn't seem like a big risk."

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"I made the wrong decision, I would just like to say a massive thank you to both RNLI Fowey and the volunteer Coastguard who came down and supported as well. The Fowey coastguard towed me off the beach this morning and I cannot praise the crew enough.

"If anyone wants to support the RNLI in thanks of them supporting me then I would be really grateful for any donations we make because they are a charity and they look after our whole coastline and they were on hand when I needed them without question, so thank you."

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John Bett