Marc Guillemot (Safran) crossed the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line at 01h 21 36s (GMT) on 16th February to clinch a hard won third place in this epic sixth edition of the Vendée Globe solo non stop around the world race.
To complete his first Vendée Globe the skipper has had to sail for the final 1000 miles, since he was just to the NE of the Azores, with no keel. His keel dropped out of his boat on Monday 9th February and since then the skipper from La Trinité has had to sail prudently but still managed to wrest third from Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy) who finished yesterday. Guillemot received a time compensation of 82 hours for diverting from his course to assist in the evacuation of injured Yann Eliès 800 miles south of Australia in the Southern Ocean. Accompanied by a fleet of media and spectator boats Guillemot crossed the finish line on a chilly, dark night, ending his epic race having taken a net 95 days 3 hours 19 minutes and 36 seconds to complete the course. His margin over Sam Davies, GBR, (Roxy) who gets fourth is 1h 19mins 25s.
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