Sport

Sailing: Cremer breaks Vendee Globe women's record by seven days

French skipper Clarisse Cremer smashed the women's record for the Vendee Globe by seven days when she completed the solo round-the-world race in 87 days after arriving at Les Sables d'Olonnes in France on Wednesday.

Vendee Globe
Sailing - Vendee Globe - Les Sables-d'Olonne, France - February 3, 2021 Banque Populaire X's Clarisse Cremer celebrates with sparkling wine after finishing the race REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

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REUTERS: French skipper Clarisse Cremer smashed the women's record for the Vendee Globe by seven days when she completed the solo round-the-world race in 87 days after arriving at Les Sables d'Olonnes in France on Wednesday.

With thousands gathered to witness history, 31-year-old Cremer finished with a time of 87 days 2 hours and 24 minutes to break Ellen MacArthur's previous best mark of 94 days and 4 hours set in the 2000-01 edition of the race.

"I'm so happy to be here. It's a big relief, we were stressed until the end," she said on the race website. "I'm happy to have succeeded and to be back with my team. This welcome is incredible, I feel like I am dreaming.

"There were times when I wished I had pushed harder on the machine, but the goal was to finish."

MacArthur sent Cremer a message congratulating her on an "exceptional lap".

The race was won by Yannick Bestaven last week. The Frenchman crossed the finish line third with a time of a little over 80 days, but was handed a time bonus of over 10 hours for his role in rescuing a fellow competitor.

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: Reuters