On the pace

Brian Thompson talks Andy Rice through his epic Mini Transat race

Asked what he would do differently in retrospect, Thompson was in no doubt. "Have a generator on board for the first leg. I had my solar panels but I was too worried about using up power." With Mini sailors as reliant as they are on their autohelms, it is all too obvious why you would want a reliable source of power. "That, plus a leak which had me sailing around three or four hundred litres of water in the boat." Small wonder, really, that Thompson struggled to match the pace of the leaders on the first leg, which probably cost him a podium finish.

His greatest regret, however, is missing out on PlayStation's record-breaking blast across the Atlantic two weeks ago. "I wish I could have done that as well as the Mini, their trip was the sail of a lifetime, but I still think doing the Mini is a greater personal achievement."

The professional sailor who has spent a good deal of the last few years sailing aboard PlayStation said he did the Mini Transat because he wanted to, not for any career-advancing reasons. But even so, his performance can only help as he begins to think about the next move. "Even though I didn't win the leg I hope people have taken some notice," he said. "I haven't begun to think about what the next move is. Hopefully I'll do some more sailing with Kingfisher or PlayStation, but it would certainly be fun to have a go at some singlehanded sailing in a 60-foot multihull, perhaps in the Route du Rhum next year.

Thompson's only other foray into long distance singlehanded racing was the 'OSTAR' transatlantic race in 1992. After this event he has concluded that sailing one-up is far more stressful than the type of fully-crewed racing that he has done over the past few years. "There's no down time, you're at it non-stop," he said. "It's more draining, and the highs and lows you experience are far greater."

For those looking to follow in Brian's giant footsteps, his Mini - renamed Lighthouse Life Foundation from I Must Be Mad shortly before the start - is now up for sale for around £45,000. "This isn't the end of my Mini sailing, I'd love to do a bit of racing with whoever buys it," he said. But for the time being he is taking a well-earned rest in Brazil before jetting back to Britain in just over a week's time.