The Vendée Globe has never ever been easy. I maybe finish in 13th place but the human adventure is fabulous. Closing the circle is already fabulous. It's important to sail to win, to work hard for the win. That is what I worked for, for that, but the Vendée Globe is after all a human adventure. I really think of all those who had to abandon, who had to give up. I was lucky enough to be able to start again. Next time they will all be there I hope.

Deep within me I discovered a part of my personality that didn't exist or that I had maybe repressed. I went out there for the competition, the win, but sometimes forgetting the human notion, the idea of taking pleasure and sharing it. I felt like you couldn't do it all these things at the same time, and discovered that it was finally possible. I discovered a different way of sailing, I learned a lot on the boat and did have a lot of fun.

I did push the boat. I lived the race fully, I got over the angst of restarting and I managed to overcome it when that initially seemed impossible to me. That is a big victory over my old self.

The boat is in great condition, that’s the worst part of it. After all the problems I had before restarting, everything went very well. There are always little things, but the boat, the structure, the foils, the sensors, the fittings….. everything is fine. She is ready to go again.

It was important to finish, also for the team who like me worked for four years and for my partner. Everyone took that big hit to start with, but finishing here with the boat in good condition and having had a good race makes up for it a bit.

Yannick (Bestaven) is a very nice winner. It was a special race. Congratulations to him. He must savour it, it makes you want it more!