Sport: Australian becomes 1st Woman Winner of Round the World Yacht Race

Australian Wendy Tuck has become the first female skipper to win the Clipper round-the-world yacht race.

Thousands watched her team return to Liverpool, nearly a year after 12 yachts set out from the city.

The 53-year-old told the Australian Daily Telegraph: "I hate banging on about women. I just do what I do but I am very proud."

British skipper Nikki Henderson, 25, came second with her team in the 40,000-mile race.

The event, which was first held in 1996, involved 712 sailors travelling in difficult conditions to destinations including Uruguay, South Africa, China and Northern Ireland. .

Professional sailors captain teams of amateurs. Nearly half of the crews, who come from 41 countries, had no previous sailing experience before signing up.

Race co-founder Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, who was the first person to sail solo nonstop around the world, said: "If you realise that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have sailed around the world, you realise just what these people have done.

"There has never been a round-the-world sailing race where the leading skippers are women," he added.

"To have men and women competing together in sport on a level playing field is very special.

He said the success of Tuck and Henderson "cannot be overestimated