And with the half moon on his bow after a final tack he crosses the line on port tack in third at 01:21:36  GMT  trimming his sails through the last minutes,  making 5 knots Elapsed time 95 days 3 hours 19 mins 36 secs WITH redress rage speeed on theoretical route 10.87 knots 1 21 36 GMT finish time real distance sailed 28,401 miles. Lead over Sam Davies 1 hr 19 min 25 sec

And the race committee welcome into their proximity with a few well chosen words of congratulations, confirming he will be third, he is on the deck to check now as he approaches the line.

And Marco is making one last tack now, a careful gentle manoeuvre to lay the line, Guillemot settles his boat  for  the last few hundred metres, making 7 knots and he is due to cross the line in a few minutes.

And so one mile from the line, it is still quite puffy on this cold, clear night with about 11 knots of wind blowing, Safran heels a little from time to time, and the security Zodiacs are doing a great job now of keeping his path clear, he should finish at around 0110hrs GMT which will give him about 1.5 hours on Roxy.

So the final minutes and Marco is close to the line, has just signalled to the committee boat his arrival is imminent. The media boats are jostling for the best position trying to get their shots, what a success for Guillemot in his first Vendee Globe.

And the long string of orange streetlights which follow the east  beach of Les Sables d'Olonne are the backdrop to the finish line, a panorama which he left on 9th November, the relief will be welling up as he sees the finish line winking at him a matter of a mile or so ahead of him.