An Esher sailor who suffers from type one diabetes crossed the finish line yesterday after completing a 1,800 mile yacht race around Britain and Ireland.

Jack Trigger, 25, of Copsem Lane in Esher, completed the Sevenstar Round Britain and Ireland Race after eight days, 10 hours and 39 minutes at sea.

The race presents several navigational challenges such as wind farms, busy shipping lane and tides. Of the 29 boat fleet that departed from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, ten retired.

Mr Trigger was part of a four-man team with Jamie Diamond, 23, from Warsash, James Dodd, 23, from Barton-on-Sea and, and Ollie Mellor, 24, from Horsham.

Mr Trigger said: “If you race around this course you know it's going to be tough, you want to test yourself and test the boat, and we had everything that we had asked for.

“We are a young team that has done a lot of sailing together, so it is nice to progress together, the guys are solid and we have got a really good thing going.

“You go through stuff like that and you come out stronger the other side.”

Mr Trigger’s team, Concise 8, was the second boat to finish at 10.39pm, less than six hours after the record setting line honours boat Imerys Clean Energy shattered the 40ft world record for this race by 15 hours.

Team Concise 8 faced storm force winds on the west coast of Scotland and at Muckle Flugga, Shetlands, before navigating their way through some of the busiest waterways in the world.