At 0730hrs GMT (0830hrs local) the Austrian skipper was around 40 miles from the finish line off Les Sables d’OLonne but had just started to encounter the contrary, easterly winds and had tacked to head in a more northerly direction.

Previously a tram driver in Vienna before his dreams of solo adventures on the oceans saw him go off the rails and take to the sea on an eight metre boat he built in a parking lot, Sedlacek will finish in 11^th place, the final finisher of the 30 skippers who started in Les Sables d’Olonne on November 9^th.