Sir Robin Knox-Johnston finishes solo transatlantic race at age of 75 Speaking after the race, Sir Robin said: "I am absolutely over the moon, ecstatic to get third. I didn't expect to get third when I started the race. I was up against some damn good competition with lighter, more modern boats than mine that are easier to manage. My boat is a hard boat to work. The top International solo sailors were racing and it was tough. If you come in third you feel you have not done badly. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was quite fantastic. There were three of us battling for the second and third spot. I got competitive and that was tiring. It came down to boat speed. Sir Robin finished three days, 46 minutes and 19 seconds behind the Rhum Class winner Anne Caseneuve on her Multi 50 Trimaran Aneo, with Italian Andrea Mura coming in second. He said: "I was beaten by two very good people. I congratulate Anne and Andrea. And thank you very much everyone for your support. It's been fantastic. It has helped me push on harder than I might otherwise have done. I have had a wonderful reception in Guadeloupe too and look forward to spending a few days here after a good shower and rest. If I said in Saint Malo I felt 48, then perhaps tonight I feel 50 - but no more. He sailed the 3,542 mile (Rhumb line) course at an average speed of 7.26 knots but in reality he actually travelled 4,416 miles at an average of 9.05 knots. PHOTO: Christophe Breschi The inaugural race in 1978 was won by Canadian Mike Birch after a nail-biting finish, but was marred by the disappearance of French sailor Alain Colas, who was lost at sea. The 2014 race was open to mono and multihull boats across four classes with almost 80 entrants. Speaking ahead of the race, Sir Robin said: "I am doing this because I bloody well want to. I have been working hard with the Clipper Race the last year. I did the Sydney-Hobart and loved it. I looked around to see what was coming up and here we are. It is a race I have done before. There are more people here now than in 1982, the age and profile of the people who visit is much the same. I don't know any other race that attracts this much attention. It is phenomenal. There are bound to be questions about my age. They ask what I think of doing this at 75 and I say I am still 45. That is how I feel. I think I am 45 and that is where I stay. I feel no different to when I last raced. I am pretty fit. I lead an active life. I think of myself as young and that is it. I treat myself as young and I am just not ready for the slippers, pipe and television. That is not coming in a hurry. Sir Robin added that he will be back for the next race in 2018, with a smaller boat. Sir Robin set his circumnavigation record when he competed in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race on April 22 1969. The other seven competitors dropped out at various stages leaving Sir Robin as the victor as he sailed into Falmouth aboard his 32ft boat Suhaili, 312 days after he left the Cornish port. Sir Robin, who was born in Putney, south-west London, and now lives in Portsmouth, is the chairman and founder of Clipper Ventures, which runs the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, the biannual event which sees amateur sailors from around the world completing a 40,000 mile global circumnavigation.