Pontoon words: Phil Sharp & Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) after taking in the Class40

Phil Sharp, skipper, Imerys Clean Energy (Class40)

“It's a great relief to arrive in Salvador de Bahia and have a caipirinha and some fruit,” Sharp said after stepping onto the pontoons in Salvador de Bahia. “This transat was really extreme with V and B and Aïna Enfance et Avenir. It was a great battle with my competitors but also with the many different types of weather and against our limit of physical and mental fatigue. There was no moment where you could relax.

“This isn’t the result we dreamed about, but we’re happy to have done the best we could have with our boat. We pushed it to 100% and our strategy was good. The end of the race was tough, but it's really a matter of boat design and it wasn’t possible to keep up with the more recent designs.

“We led the whole first week, we lost in the Doldrums by entering to the west but we got out a little earlier. We wanted an advantage when we got out but it wasn’t enough. We did a good job and pushed the boat to the limits. And for that, we have to celebrate this finish.”

Pablo Santurde, co-skipper, Imerys Clean Energy (Class40)

“It's different from my previous Transat Jacques Vabre,” Santurde said, “because we stopped very early for damage and we had to catch up for whole of the race. Here, we led the whole first week with Phil who was always pushing the boat to 110%. Finally we lost the race at the end, but I’m very happy to be here.”

[In 2013, Santurde, the 30-year-old Spanish sailor, finished second in the Class40, in a duo with Alex Pella - a winner in the Multi50 trimaran class in this edition].