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)
