I could take on Tyson says Sir Robin, a world beater at 68

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Yesterday, at the age of 68, he did it again.

After an epic 159-day voyage beset by storms and technical problems, he crossed the finish line and declared: "I'm ready to take on Mike Tyson."

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Circumnavigating the globe for a second time at age 68 is certainly a good reason for a magnum of Mumms

Sir Robin made history in 1969 when he became the first person to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world in his boat Suhaili.

Though his latest race, the Velux 5 Oceans, was completed over three legs, he still had to contend with exhaustion and extremes of weather over the 30,000-mile course.

As he crossed the line in Bilbao, northern Spain, accompanied by a flotilla of well-wishers, he punched the air in joy.

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Though his latest race, the Velux 5 Oceans, was completed over three legs, Sir Robin still had to contend with exhaustion and extremes of weather over the 30,000-mile course

Jumping ashore he said: "There is nothing wrong with me physically. I'm ready to take on Mike Tyson."

The race began from Bilbao in October, and almost from the start Sir Robin, the oldest competitor, battled extreme adversity.

His 60ft boat, Saga Insurance-was damaged during appalling weather in the Bay of Biscay.

In the last stages of the final leg from Norfolk, Virginia to Bilbao, he suffered exhaustion and was beset by light winds.

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The grizzled sailor seemed happy to be back on land

In between he passed through the infamous iceberg-strewn Southern Ocean and rounded the treacherous Cape Horn.

He kept his spirits up by eating his 100-year- old Aunt Aileen's fruit cake and sipping the odd whisky.

In the voyage's darkest moments, he said he had drawn inspiration from British naval heroes such as Sir Francis Drake, Captain James Cook and Horatio Nelson.

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Whisky as well as champagne was the order of the day

He said: "These chaps took it on the nose and they went on and continued and I thought if they can do that, why can't I?"

He said the lowest point was navigating the Beagle Channel off the Argentinian coast in foul weather and close to the coastline.

Speaking of the experience, he said: "Hell is not always hot and dry - it can be cold, wet and windy."

Sir Robin, from Newton Abbot in Devon, was the only Briton left in the race after four of the eight entrants were forced to drop out.

It was won by Bernard Stamm from landlocked Switzerland, and Sir Robin is likely to be ranked fourth overall.