French Whitbread winner L’Esprit d’équipe has taken second in line honours in the McIntyre Ocean Globe Race.

At 8.27pm yesterday (Saturday) L’Esprit d’équipe crossed the Royal Yacht Squadron finish line in Cowes after 39 days at sea and 6768 nautical miles sailed, taking second-in-line honours for Leg 4.

The 1985 Whitbread winner just missed out on taking 1st in IRC from French rival Pen Duick VI FR (14) by 1hr and 54 mins.

Skipper Lionel Regnier and crew were greeted by emotional family and friends clearly overjoyed to welcome the L’Esprit d’équipe, who battled non-stop to top the Leg 4 leaderboard.

The crew spent 39 days of racing from Punta del Este, Uruguay to the UK.

Skipper Lionel explained what completing the circumnavigation on such an iconic yacht means to him and his crew.

He said: “Oh yes I’m exhausted but I’m very, very happy to be here. It’s been a long project. But we have achieved everything we wanted to. The crew worked so hard to achieve this result. I think tomorrow I will feel it all for real.”