Crowds pack Gunwharf Quays for Clipper Round The World Race as youngest team triumph - pictures

Excited spectators packed Gunwharf Quays to see the end of the Clipper Round The World Race.

Specialised yachts sailed into Portsmouth this afternoon, marking the end of a gruelling round the world endurance challenge that lasts nearly a year. Everyday people from across the globe train for one of the world’s most toughest endurance tests.

This year’s winner is Team GOSH, sponsored by Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity, with the youngest Skipper and First Mate combination to ever win the race. Skipper Oli Irvine, 26, and First Mate Otto Kurlow, 22, triumphed after winning seven out of the 13 stages.

After a gripping final part to the race, Team London Business School took second and Team Scotland took third place. Ten teams raced in the event and traversed more than 40,000 nautical miles across the planet.

There were emotional reunions at Gunwharf Quays as sailors - 40 per cent of which had no previous experience at all - returned to their loved ones. Around 80 participants took part.

Founded by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world, the Clipper Race’s global route is broken down into eight individual legs. Sailors can choose to sign up to one, multiple or all of the legs - with the latter making them part of an elite group of circumnavigators.

More people have climbed Mount Everest than raced around the world. Following four weeks of mandatory training, many participants leave with more offshore sailing miles than most professional sailors accumulate in a lifetime.

Here are a selection of pictures from the last leg of the Clipper race.