大象传媒

The world's first solo ocean race began in Plymouth 48 years ago on the toss of a coin - a bet between Plymouth sailor Sir Francis Chichester and Blondie Hasler.

Chichester, sailing Gipsy Moth III, went on to win the race and become a Westcountry sailing hero.

Devon's great sailing tradition is being carried forward by Alex Bennett, from Torquay, the only Devon competitor to enter the 2008 Artemis Transat race, which started in Plymouth on 11 May.

Alex celebrates sixth place (onEdition)

Racing in the smaller Class 40 fleet, Devon yachtsman Alex Bennett finished in 6th place - crossing the line at 18:53 GMT on Thursday 29 May.

"Awesome racing, really first class," said Bennett shortly after finishing.

"We've been stuck together like glue. Close racing always makes life tougher, especially when you're solo, but that鈥檚 what we're here to do.

He was at sea for 18 days and five hours in a race that proved to be highly tactical.

"We always said this was the grandad of all races if you're a solo sailor and it certainly lived up to its reputation of being one of the toughest ocean races in the world.

"We got a hell of a battering in the middle of the Atlantic trying to get round the ice gate that the officials had put in place for our safety.

Alex Bennett checking the equipment on deck

"Certainly the whole fleet took a hammering and I'm really pleased to reach the finish line in such a good state.

"I'm looking for forward to a pizza, after that it's got to be a shower and some good uninterrupted sleep.

The winning Class 40 yacht, Telecom Italia, skippered by Italian Giovanni Soldini, crossed the finishing line at 11:11 GMT on Wednesday 28 May.

Bennett was racing against 12 other skippers in the Class 40 fleet on a high-tech boat built specifically with the Transat in mind.

"This is what we built the boat for, we built her for solo Transatlantic racing. We started 18 months ago and here we are now with a world class racing yacht."

His yacht, Fujifilm, was built in Totnes at a cost of 拢750,000. A year in the making, she was officially launched in August 2007. Since then Alex has completed around 10,000 miles on board the vessel.

"You really do have to be a jack-of-all-trades on a boat like this," explained Alex.

Alex on the bow of Fujifilm

"You have to be an electrician, a tactician, a navigator, you have to know how to cook well in order to keep yourself alive.

"Then you have to think about getting up on deck and racing the boat and keeping her on what we call the boil - keeping the boat going fast day and night.

"Like no other Transatlantic race, we have to deal with a lot of things in this event. Namely the threat of ice, which for a solo sailor is a massive threat, fog and also the land.

"It's a bit of a strange one because we're near land for a lot of the time, when we come across the Great Banks off Newfoundland, we still have 800 miles to go to the finish.

"This is a tough race and tough before you even think about the competition."

In addition to the array of high-tech weather and navigational gadgets on board, he hopes to get an adrenalin boost from his i-pod.

According to Alex, a loud dose of rock music is the perfect remedy for combating sleep deprivation while racing: "For me, music on board is really important.

"Those moments at two in the morning, blowing a gale outside and you've got to get up on deck, there's nothing better than a track from the Rolling Stones or U2 to get the blood pumping.