Thomas Coville, a round-the-world sailor who has already tackled the solo round-the-world record four times, is on the verge of fulfilling his dream! Positioned in the middle of the North Atlantic off Gibraltar, he should arrive in Ushant between the night of Sunday 25th December and the day of Monday 26th, with an indecent lead over the old record!
Indeed, the skipper of the 31 m long trimaran Sodebo Ultim' has a lead of more than 6 days over the solo round the world sailing record time of 57 days and 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds. Francis Joyon, record holder on Idec Sport since 2008, was approaching the height of Recife, Brazil at the same time.
Whether you like records or not, the performance is to be applauded! What courage and determination Thomas Coville has shown, single-handedly on his immense trimaran, to face the elements for over 46 days and overcome fatigue to become the fastest solo sailor in the world! A time which will now be difficult to beat, despite the fact that the boats are increasingly technological and fast!
"Compared to my bow boat, there's a real technological breakthrough that makes me much faster in terms of speed on the water. With Sodebo Ultim' it takes a huge amount of reactivity to get through the weather systems. It's the first time anyone has ever been exposed to sailing around the world with such a big boat and with such heavy sails. Filled with water, the headsails weigh between 110 and 120 kilos, or even more. Rolling them up and unfurling them is long, and in the South Atlantic, I've done it! The assets and advantages I got the most out of on the descent to Cape Horn, I'm paying for them now. Physically it's the other side of the coin. I could have allowed myself to be slower by telling myself to do fewer manoeuvres and miss a system, but I didn't make that choice, so we'll see if it was the right one..."
Good plan: Welcome Thomas Coville to Brest for his solo round the world record arrival aboard a Nautitech Open 40 catamaran. Sail alongside the trimaran from Camaret to Brest for the parade! With Catavoile29
