The yacht crossed the finish line in sixth place at 14:28 UTC under San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Mayor Cllr Martin Reilly praised the efforts of skipper Sean McCarter and the entire team for their role in the rescue operation which saw Andrew recovered after spending 90 minutes in the extreme cold of the Pacific on 31 March.

He said: “Without a doubt, your quick thinking and professional response ultimately saved Andrew’s life. The excellent training and skills of your skipper and crew contributed enormously to the successful rescue and we are all indebted to you.

“I would like to extend the best wishes on behalf of the people of the city of Derry-Londonderry-Doire to Andrew and wish him a speedy recovery and extend our thanks to Sean and the crew for their continued efforts and support.

“You are continuing to put Derry~Londonderry~Doire on the global map and showcasing our city to an international audience.”

Andrew said, “I’m under no illusion that I am a very lucky man. I’m very happy to be here in San Francisco - I need to say thank you to a lot of these guys behind me for the work that they put in for the search and rescue operation. I also need to thank Olly Cotterell, the skipper of OneDLL, and the crew of OneDLL who suspended racing to come and assist in the search operation immediately. I need to say a massive thank to the Clipper Race team and the work that they did - in particular liaising with my family which is not an easy thing to do. They did an amazing job - my family speak very highly of them.

"It was horrific, the storm in particular - it was hard for these guys on the boat, it made the search harder but the storm treated me very badly. It beat me up badly.

"I kept myself really busy whilst I was in the water. There was a lot for me to do a lot for me to concentrate on and what I needed to do to survive. The guys on the boat were doing everything they needed to do so it was important I did the same. There were a few times I did wonder if I was going to get back on the boat or not but I’m here and on the boat, many thanks to the crew. It was an epic piece of work to find me.”