Born in 1968 in Rennes, Thomas Coville is the man of the world tours. He is currently completing his eighth solo round with his fourth attempt to beat the 72-day, 22-hour, 54-minute and 22-second solo round the world record still held by Francis Joyon since 2004.
The man of all records
He's also the man of records. Thomas Coville has 14 to his credit. In 2016, he even became the fastest sailor with the record for the distance covered in 24 hours: 714 miles at an average speed of 29.75 knots, he was the first sailor to pass the 700-mile mark in a day. Speeds that make many boaters dream. (Read Thomas Coville set a 24-hour sailing distance record )
From 1985 to 1991, he was skipper of Polytechnique on the Tour de France à la Voile. Shortly before participating in the Mini-Transat in 1997, of which he will finish 2 e he embarked with Olivier de Kersauson on Sport Elec for one of the first attempts of the Jules Verne Trophy. Since then, he has devoted himself to racing around the world against the clock, but also participates in numerous transatlantic races.
We find him in 1999 for his first Jacques Vabre then in 2000 for the Vendée Globe. In 2004, he took part in The Transat and the ORMA Multihull Championship. In 2008, he won the Record for the solo North Atlantic crossing (New York / Cape Lizard) and tried for the first time the record for the solo round the world non-stop sailing, but finished 2 days behind Francis Joyon's record, after 59 days, 20 hours, 47 minutes and 43 seconds.
The man of the world tours
In 2010, he took part in the Jules Verne Trophy with Franck Cammas, another round the world race. One year later, he set off again for a second solo round the world sailing attempt, but set a worse record than in 2008. In 2012, he participates in the Volvo Ocean Race and arrives 1 er with Franck Cammas' French crew. Nor should we forget the many other races or records attempted by the skipper of Morbihanais (Read Record between Ushant and Ecuador for Thomas Coville and read Thomas Coville sets a new Ushant-Bonne-Esperance record )
Sodebo in Brest in December 2013 in a weather window standby for her third attempt at a solo round the world sailing record.
For 15 years, it has been worn by his faithful partner Sodebo. This expert in the perilous single-handed multihull exercise has one advantage, his giant 31 metre trimaran, the former Geronimo de Kersauson, entirely revisited.
