88mph, followed by Andy Macateer’s Venturer, the leader in the RB1 Class. Although moderate conditions had prevailed over most of the stage, the opening miles down theFirth of Forth brought strong headwinds and punishing seas, damaging several craft and forcing their return to Edinburgh.The hero of the event, GEE, who along with Ocean Pirate had remarkably competed in the very first Round Britain way back in 1969, had no such problems,  arriving in Newcastle in 30th position to maintain second in class. It would eventually win the Historic Class.

The penultimate day and a journey of 205 nautical miles from Newcastle to Lowestoft saw the Greek Blue FPT consolidate its overall lead at 73 minutes, despite the heroic attempts by Lionhead, the diesel powered craft winning the stage ahead of Wettpunkt. In third place was the Sunseeker XS, Going Lean, driven by Neil Holmes and Dean Gibbs, achieving its best result of the event. The final day of this epic adventure was played out under blue skies, sun and calm seas, a fitting reward for the remaining competitors as crowds packed into Gunwharf Quay, Portsmouth, to welcome home the boats and celebrate the achievements of all and, in particular, the victorious crew of Blue FPT; Vassilis Pateras, Panos Tsikopoulos, Lefteris Vasilou and Dag Pike. The well prepared craft performed beautifully throughout, a tribute to its crew and engine supplier, Fiat Powertrain Technologies.

It was the first ever entry by a Greek team into a major UK endurance event. “I was born for the sea and when I saw this intriguing challenge I had to participate,” commented the victorious throttleman, Vassilis Pateras. “It is a challenge of seamanship, marine engineering and design.