VETERAN round-the-world yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston received a hero’s welcome from the Royal Navy at the end of his global challenge.

P2000 patrol boats HMS Puncher and Trumpeter headed out to Cowes to escort the 68-year-old sailor and his yacht Saga Insurance up the Solent for the final leg of a journey which began in October.

In completing the global challenge, Sir Robin – who was a Royal Naval Reservist in the ’50s and ’60s – became the oldest person to make two solo journeys around the world; his first success came four decades ago.

Just four of the original seven yachts entering the Velux 5 Oceans race crossed the finish line in Bilbao, Spain, with Sir Robin in fourth place; he did, however, knock 153 days off the non-stop record he set in 1968.

As well as celebrating Sir Robin’s return, the RN provided moral support during his race with messages of good luck, while HMS Endurance supplied ice reports to Velux race organizers while the boats raced close to Antarctic waters.

And a few months ago HMS Edinburgh and Sir Robin’s Saga Insurance enjoyed a mid-ocean rendezvous off the Falklands.

Edinburgh’s CO Cdr Scott Verney offered the yachtsman a bottle of whisky – a gesture Sir Robin had to decline as race rules forbade outside assistance.

With the race over, Cdr Verney – now back home in Pompey with his crew aboard HMS Exeter as part of the sea swap experiment – honoured his South Atlantic offer by finally handing over a bottle of spirits at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth.