Sam celebrates - Thompson and Caffari fight for fourth

11:02 AM Sat 14 Feb 2009 GMT

'VENDEE GLOBE.Finish. Sam Davies (GBR) third on Open 60' monohull 'ROXY'.' ThMartinez / Sea & Co &copy

While Les Sables d'Olonne is ready to give a huge, warm welcome to Sam Davies this bitterly cold St Valentine's morning, the clock is ticking all the time for Marc Guillemot who now needs to finish by 02:41:01 on Monday morning to clinch third place.

Davies has been enjoying time aboard her Roxy with friends and family since finishing at 00:41.01hrs GMT last night, a spectacular finish is a moderate NE'ly wind which saw her working to the last minutes to keep her historic Open 60, winner of the last two races, at best speed until she crossed the finish line. As expected, she was jubilant as she crossed the line, her pink, polka dotted Roxy lit up by a barrage of flash guns and spotlights.

Meantime the race is still very much on for Guillemot who has every chance of taking third away from her, but at current speeds and against contrary easterly winds it will be very close. Between the overnight position reports he was made a net 4.3 knots of speed towards the finish line and had just over 248 miles to sail to Les Sables d'Olonne in around 47.5 hours. The constant light headwinds will require him to make several tacks to get to the line.

Brian Thompson, GBR, (Bahrain Team Pindar) has been making nearly twice the speed of Safran and looks set to pass Guillemot today. He has Dee Caffari, GBR, (Aviva) some 65 miles behind him and is in the same easterly breezes as Guillemot, while Caffari is banking on a more northerly routing. Thompson has 289 miles to finish and was 40 miles behind Guillemot. Caffari is the quickest of the leading three on the water.

Arnaud Boissi?res is in better breeze again making 9.7 knots early this morning and is some 300 miles to the Azores, while Steve White is slightly quicker and looking to a more westerly routing on Toe in the Water.

Rich Wilson, USA, (Great American III) was working the inshore line just 25 miles off the Brasilian coast in light E'ly trades, making 11 knots. Raphael Dinelli (Fondation Oc?an Vital) is in upwind conditions with 20-25 knots of wind, making 8.3 knots while Norbert Sedlacek, AUT, (Nauticsport-Kapsch) is negotiating a band of lighter winds, making 8.8 knots.

Sam Davies:'I have just sailed around the world. It is amazing. It was an incredible finish, pretty full on. I managed to make the most of a nice sunset with 20 knots of wind and on the helm with my I-pod on singing out loud, then some fast reaching and then I was taken by surprise because the boats came out to meet me so early and stayed with me for about an hour. And so it was a bit full on because there was a lot more wind than I anticipated and so I had to do a bit of sail changing and so lots of action right up to the end of the race.

'It was kind of almost disbelief when I crossed, it really does just seem like yesterday when I was leaving, and I can't believe I have sailed all the way around the world, so it is really a weird feeling and I think it is going to take a couple of days to sink in what I have done.

'It does not feel like 97 days, it went really, really quickly. It is only when I think things like when I left here it was 2008 and now it is 2009 and things like that, that has been a bit of time.'

'I never thought I might finish in third place, not at all, not at all, I could not even imagine being able to finish in fifth in the top five, I was kind of hoping to make the top 10, this really is a dream finish.

'It really was all such fun. Maybe as well that is just my way of getting through the hard moments, trying to find the positive side of everything and use that energy to battle through the tough times, but, no I enjoyed every single day of this race, and I surprised myself even, I knew I would enjoy it, but I did not realise I would enjoy it this much and it is an amazing way to do the race.

'It was brilliant to see everyone at the finish. They have done such a good job, supporting me, and sending me messages every day, and answering the phone whenever I called, and so it is really nice to see them, but because we have been so close and they have been supporting me, then it does not feel like we have been apart throughout the whole race. And it is nice, nice to see their faces. My mum and dad look really proud.'

VENDEE GLOBE.Finish. Sam Davies 'ROXY'. - ThMartinez_- Sea & Co &copy

Vendee Globe rankings - 04:00 HRS GMT Saturday

1 . Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) finished after 84 days 3 hours, 9 minutes
2 . Armel Le Cl?ac'h (Brit Air) finished after 89 days 9 hours 39 minutes
3 . Sam Davies (Roxy) finished after 95 days 04 hours 39 minues
4 . Marc Guillemot (Safran) at 249 miles to finish
5 . Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) 289 miles to finish
6 . Dee Caffari (Aviva) at 354 miles to finish
7 . Arnaud Boissi?res (Akena V?randas) at 1530 miles to finish
8 . Steve White (Toe in the Water) 2127 miles to finish
9 . Rich Wilson (Great American III) at 3701 miles to finish
10 . Rapha?l Dinelli (Fondation Oc?an Vital) at 4793 miles to finish
11 . Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport - Kapsch) at 5201 miles to finish

RDG . Vincent Riou (PRB). 30 boats started