Jules Verne

Upon crossing the (virtual) Jules Verne Trophy finish line between Ushant and Lizard Point at 07:46 on Sunday, January 25, Thomas Coville and his six crewmates aboard *Sodebo Ultim 3* broke the crewed sailing round-the-world record. They completed the course’s theoretical 22,461-mile distance in 40 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes, and 50 seconds, shaving nearly 12 hours and 44 minutes off the time set by the *IDEC Sport* crew.

Naturally, the crew had hoped to break the symbolic 40-day barrier. This goal remained within reach until the final leg of the journey, when a storm named Ingrid swept across the North Atlantic, slowing their progress. Facing waves over 8 meters high and winds exceeding 40 knots, they were forced to exercise extreme caution. The “Sodeboys” pressed on toward Brest, driven by the desire to achieve the feat coveted by the entire offshore racing community: breaking the absolute round-the-world speed record. They have succeeded, and they have every reason to celebrate.

Having set off on December 15—following a rapid refit of the *Ultim* after the Transat Café L’Or (during which a weakness in the port foil had been discovered)—Thomas Coville and his crew (the same team as on previous attempts) surprised everyone by making the collective decision to start just three days into their “standby” period, the time spent waiting for a weather window favorable to a record attempt. As Benjamin Schwartz explained just before they cast off, the weather window was too good to miss, promising an equator crossing in under five days.

And indeed, right from the descent through the North Atlantic, *Sodebo Ultim 3* proved to be very fast. The maxi-trimaran crossed the equator after just 4 days, 4 hours, and 2 minutes at sea—1 day and 14 hours faster than *IDEC Sport*, whose “ghost” on the tracking map was constantly on their minds. Yet the sailors knew a long road lay ahead and that a slowdown was to be expected before the Cape of Good Hope.

The crew opted for a route far to the west, hugging the Brazilian coast, and the South Atlantic proved more cooperative than anticipated. The result: a lead of nearly 48 hours and 1,300 miles over the record pace by the time they reached the Cape of Good Hope. However, the Indian Ocean promised to be far more complex than what *IDEC Sport* had encountered; *IDEC Sport*, it is worth remembering, had benefited from following winds that allowed for an almost straight run to the Pacific. *Sodebo Ultim 3* dipped far south, encountered growlers, and then headed back north of the Kerguelen Islands, lengthening the course and requiring numerous maneuvers. They finally rounded Cape Leeuwin with a lead of 5 hours and 300 miles. Ahead lay the Pacific: they were soon to put half the round-the-world voyage behind them.

Embarking on a long port-tack leg that took them beyond 60° South, the crew had to contend with the freezing conditions of the Southern Ocean. On board, Benjamin Schwartz, responsible for navigation, had his hands full. Supported ashore by Philippe Legros, Simon Fisher, and meteorologist Chris Bedford, Thomas Coville’s co-skipper handles a significant portion of the routing work.

After 26 days, 4 hours, and 46 minutes at sea, *Sodebo Ultim 3* rounded the legendary Cape Horn. This was a first for six of the seven crew members—Thomas Coville being the only one to have rounded it before; twelve times, in fact. The crew also achieved a new milestone: the Pacific crossing record of 7 days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes, beating the record set solo by François Gabart in 2017. The round-the-world record was now more within reach than ever.

However, rough seas and the tricky navigation around the South Atlantic High (the Saint Helena High) complicated matters. The maxi-trimaran sailed ahead of a front and then along the edge of the high-pressure zone, striving at all costs to maintain the best balance between course and speed until reaching the equator. It crossed the line back into the Northern Hemisphere with a 21-hour lead over its virtual competitor, despite the failure of the J0 tack line.

Then, the situation grew more difficult. After passing the Azores High, *Sodebo Ultim 3* had to face a violent storm spanning the entire North Atlantic. They endured gusts exceeding 50 knots while sailing on a beam reach—the most dangerous angle for a multihull—and waves nearly 10 meters high. The maxi-trimaran had never before sailed in such extreme conditions, which threatened to undo all the effort put into this record attempt. Thomas Coville and his crew do not have a sufficient lead to get out of harm’s way and must face these hellish seas.