Quintin and Rigal, who are based in overseas French territory New Caledonia, have been sailing together for five years and spent the past two preparing physically for the Sydney to Hobart.
โWe came here to test [ourselves] โฆ and we didnโt really know what results weโll have,โ Quintin said, after being greeted by family in Hobart.
They were greeted by family and now get the chance to spend New Years together.
The duo, along with the rest of the fleet, battled sea sickness in rugged early upwind sailing which forced 34 of the starting 128-strong fleet to retire.
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They had a smorgasbord on board including spaghetti, lasagne and chicken curry but a lot went untouched.
โIโm never seasick but the first six hours I couldnโt eat,โ Rigal said. โWe didnโt sleep much, it was very busy. The waves and the seas were crazy. I donโt think weโre special, we just found something.โ
Quintin, who represented France at the 1988 Olympics, said some electronic equipment had failed in Bass Strait meaning they had no indication of the true wind direction.
โWhen you have to steer nearly all day and all night long, youโre tired,โ he said.
Sam Haynes-skippered Celestial V70, last yearโs overall winner, was knocked out of contention on Tuesday when their time was beaten by a flurry of other yachts.
Haynes, a veterinarian by day, finished the race on Monday morning but was cruelled by a glassy, almost-windless River Derwent.
More than 60 yachts had completed the race at 6pm on Tuesday including Bacchanal, which is skippered by American attorney Ronald Epstein and named after a Roman god.
Epstein declared his crew had made amends for unfinished business after being forced to retire in their maiden Sydney to Hobart last year when their boom broke.
โTo get it done with such a group of guys youโve been through the wars with. Itโs something worthy to get emotional about,โ he said.
Comanche claimed her fifth line honours on Sunday after outgunning fellow supermaxis LawConnect and Hong Kongโs SHK Scallywag 100 in a dogfight off Tasmania.
