After just over six days at sea British Route du Rhum competitor Nick Bubb sailed into Plymouth Sound yesterday morning having completed his qualifying passage.

Bubb chatting about his last week’s activities said: “I am very happy and satisfied man. This was literally the first sail for Steve Card’s new LC 40 Cariberia, which is a Francois Lucas-designed Class 40, that will be known as Kenmore Homes during the Route du Rhum.

“Having joined the build team myself in late August over in France, we have worked round the clock to take her from hull shell and basic structure to the finished product. To have completed my 1,000-mile solo qualifier quickly and safely, with such a lack of preparation time available, was a huge testament to the skill and the dedication of our build team. I owe them all a big thank you.

“The journey went well. I left La Trinite late last Thursday evening, passed to the North of Ile de Groix just off Lorient and then headed off into 30 odd knots from the south-west, which I battled all the way to Cape Finisterre. Then I made the turn north and blasted across Biscay up to the Fastnet, after which I had great surfing in a big swell all the way to Land’s End before finishing my 1,000 miles in Plymouth.

“With no real dramas, I checked virtually all the systems and without pushing too hard put the boat through her paces. We now have the weekend to work on the boat over here before heading to St Malo on Tuesday to prepare for the race start on 29 October.”