It was just before 1am on Sunday morning that the first boat crossed the finish line at St David’s Lighthouse in the Newport Bermuda Race.

Black Jack 100, a 100ft maxi yacht, took line honours after arriving in Bermuda at 12.46am, just 35hrs 26min 46sec after setting off from Rhode Island on Friday afternoon.

The quick crossing was a little more than two hours outside Argo's course record and just over 40 minutes outside the fastest time a 100ft yacht has completed the race, with Comanche posting a time of 34:42:53 in 2016.

At just after 6am on Sunday morning, Black Jack’s skipper Tristan Le Brun was taking a well deserved nap aboard the boat at Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, but a number of his 16-strong crew had started the celebrations early and were happy to talk about the victory.

“We knew it was going to be a relatively quick race, but to have the chance of getting a record at one point was more crazy than we expected,” said crew member Andres Lemos.

“We didn’t have the best start and one boat actually crossed in front of us. The wind subsided through the afternoon and then built again through the evening.

“This morning it was quite fresh and lumpy out of the Gulf Stream and then as we got out of the Gulf Stream, it subsided. flattened off and restarted.

“We’re happy to win the race but a little disappointed not to pick up the record.”

Judging by the race tracking it appears that the crew will have a bit longer to wait to greet their competitors, with Space Monkey, a 68ft IRC Mini Maxi class racing yacht expected to cross the finish line just after 11am on Sunday morning.