Frenchman Francois Gabart won the seventh Vendee Globe round-the-world race on Sunday after a two-and-a-half month epic journey which saw him set a new record for the course.

Gabart, at 29, the youngest skipper in the race, sailed back into the port at Les Sables d'Olonne in west France in mid-afternoon to a rousing welcome home from thousands of spectators gathered along the shoreline.

In all, he covered 24,000 nautical miles (44,450 kilometers) in just over 78 days, smashing the previous record of 84 days 3 hours and 9 minutes set by another Frenchman, Michel Desjoyeaux, the last time the race was held in 2009.

Agencies - Global Times