The crew of Sodebo Ultim 3 rounded Cape Leeuwin at 22:18 on Saturday evening. (L. Legrand/Team Sodebo)
Thomas Coville’s crew rounded Cape Leeuwin, off the coast of Australia, on Thursday evening, after 17 days and 1 hour at sea on Sodebo Ultim 3, 5 hours and 41 minutes ahead of the time of Francis Joyon, holder of the Jules Verne Trophy since 2017. Next stop, the Horn, around January 10.
At the time of recording, Sodebo is to the south of Australia, having covered 770 nautical miles over the past 24 hours at an average speed of 32.2 knots as the crow flies. The Pacific Ocean saw IDEC Sport having to duck north after passing New Zealand, which took them off the ideal path. If Thomas Coville and his team have good weather systems in the Pacific then they could rebuild their lead over the reference time and set a new record to Cape Horn, setting themselves up for the final push up the Atlantic.
After seeing its lead in the Indian Ocean melt away, the trimaran Sodebo Ultim 3 (32m) rounded Cape Leeuwin, at the south-western tip of Australia, on Thursday evening, 5 hours and 41 minutes ahead of the Idec Sport time of Francis Joyon, holder of the Jules Verne Trophy since 2017 in 40 days and 23 hours.
THE TEAM
Thomas Coville and his six crew, Benjamin Schwartz, Frédéric Denis, Pierre Leboucher, Léonard Legrand, Guillaume Pirouelle and Nicolas Troussel, pocketed a new reference time (after those of the equator and the Good Hope) by completing the Ushant-Cape Leeuwin section in 17 days and 1 hour 17 minutes.
“We have all worked hard and worked hard to be in this new reference time”
Thomas Coville, Skipper
“It’s almost half the course,” said Coville. We have all worked hard and worked hard to be in this new reference time. With Sodebo, we have never gone so far in our record attempts (interrupted due to damage in 2020 and 2024). We will remain humble and serene. “We’re progressing collectively,” added the skipper. We are all together to manage these steps. We are aware of the path we have made, but what interests us is the round the world record. So we’re going to continue to sail as we’ve been doing since the beginning. »
Benjamin Schwartz pointed out that at the time, Francis Joyon and his men “had not gybed during the entire crossing of the Indian Ocean. We have already done nineteen from Good Hope and there are about ten left to Tasmania. When you see that we’re leading the three best intermediate times in the Jules Verne Trophy, it’s fantastic! »
This Friday, the crew is hurtling at more than 30 knots towards the longitude of Tasmania. On Saturday, it should make its entry into the Pacific Ocean in a weather close to that of Joyon and point the bows of Sodebo towards Cape Horn. To stay ahead of Idec’s schedule, Coville and his six crew will have to cross the mythical rock before January 11 at 3:46 a.m.
Alexia Barrier at the Nemo point racing on the Maxi-trimaran Idec-Sport in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, the crew of Alexia Barrier (Idec-Sport) passed Point Nemo on Friday morning, after some 33 days at sea, the furthest geographical position from any land. Competing in the Jules-Verne Trophy with the aim of being the first female crew to complete the round the world race, the girls of The Famous Project CIC are continuing their journey towards Cape Horn, which they should reach in four days’ time.
“We know a very physical Pacific,” comments Barrier. The wind is stronger, sometimes very irregular, with violent gusts of up to 50 knots, and above all a cross sea that is constantly shaking. The waves are high, five meters high, powerful and not always tidy. We still have a few very difficult hours and then it will calm down until we approach Cape Horn. »
Thomas Coville has an impressive sailing resume and has set some of the world’s greatest multihull records over his multi decade sailing career.
Thomas Coville (born 10 May 1968 in Rennes, France) is a French sailor specializing in multihull ocean racing. He distinguished himself in 2016 by breaking the solo and multihull round the world record, covering the planet in 49 days, 3 hours and 7 minutes.
Coville began his career in major competitions with a ninth place in the 1998 Route du Rhum. He has won the Transat Jacques-Vabre in a monohull (IMOCA class) and several major podiums: second in the Transat (2004, 2016), third three times in the Route du Rhum (2006, 2018, 2022) and second in the Ultim Challenge. He also finished sixth in the 2001 Vendée Globe.
Thomas Coville has competed in more than ten major ocean races, with his last major performance being a second place in the Ultim Challenge.
You can track Sodebo via sodebo-ultim3.sodebo.com
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