Marc Guillemot (Safran) crossed the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line at 01h 21m 36s GMT yesterday morning (15 February) to clinch third place in the Vendée Globe. Briton Sam Davies, who finished the race a day earlier, ( read previous story here ) finishes fourth.

To complete his first Vendée Globe Guillemot had to sail for the final 1000 miles with no keel. His keel dropped out of his boat on Monday 9 February and since then the skipper has had to sail prudently. He received a time compensation of 82 hours for diverting from his course to assist in the evacuation of injured Yann Eliès – so seeing as his margin over Sam Davies was 1h 19mins 25s, he finished ahead of the top placed Brit.

Marc Guillemot said: “It is an incredible moment. There have been many great moments on this course, especially the time I spend close to Yann. All these emotions, all the images, everything stops when you cross the line. I have a head overflowing with images and emotions. It is amazing.”

“And on top of that, I am on the podium. It is incredible. The fact I had Sam beside me motivated me to go a bit faster, and I think me being with her pushed her. We pushed one another.”

“Since this morning I have been counting down the time to third place. And being surrounded by the English I did not want to let them get ahead of me. I was just focused on my course. I found it amazing how Bilou did that sailing without a keel – I have a boat that is very stable. I would never have thought it possible to get back without a keel but I don’t want to try it again.”

“I now want to enjoy this Vendée Globe with my friends and my family.”