SAILINGNORTHWOOD sailor Brian Thompson has finished eighth in the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race, with Dee Caffari.
The pair, who sailed aboard Aviva, arrived in Costa Rica on Friday last week, after 19 days of racing.
The first week of the race saw the fleet battle through some extreme weather conditions, and subsequent damage to boats forced four of them to retire.
Brian and Dee had their fair share of problems, including having to manually steer Aviva for much of the race, due to generator issues, which meant their auto-pilot was not working. A pit stop in St Lucia got their race back on track.
And light winds in the final hours of the race made it an exceptionally slow and frustrating finish.
The Transat Jacques Vabre was the last of the races in the two-year Open 60 World Championship season.
Aviva’s result earned additional points for both sailors. Out of 33 skippers taking part, Dee ranked sixth overall, and Brian ranked eighth.
Brian said: "Dee and I worked together well to push Aviva hard and I am pleased we managed to stay competitive right until the finish."