Jules Verne Trophy: Like Sir Peter Blake once did - hurricane finale for "Sodebo"
Tatjana Pokorny
· 23.01.2026
It's nothing new that the Bay of Biscay can be stormy to its challengers. But the fact that a record attempt around the world in the battle for the Jules Verne Trophy comes to such a brutal end is extraordinary. In Finistère, Morbihan and l'Ille-et-Villaine, the "Orange" alert is also in force on land until Saturday. Storm Ingrid will bring 50 to 60 knots of wind to the finish line of the Jules Verne Trophy at Ouessant today.
Jules Verne Trophy: through the storm with chains and hawsers
After 38 days, 11 hours and 22 minutes at sea, Team Sodebo sailed towards their destination on Friday morning in rapidly increasing winds south-east of the Azores. The crew of seven prepared for the encounter with storm Ingrid and its effects. The scenario is reminiscent of the dramatic finale of Peter Blake and Robin Knox-Johnston, who battled their way through a 50-knot storm to the Jules Verne Trophy in 1994 and ultimately set a new record for non-stop team circumnavigations with 74 days, 22 hours and 17 minutes.
On their 92-foot catamaran "Enza", the crew even towed chains and hawsers in the final to slow down and stabilise their journey. At the finish line, Peter Blake, who was murdered by pirates in Macapá in the Amazon Delta in 2001, said after his fifth circumnavigation: "I think the crew won the Jules Verne Trophy in the last 24 hours." He agreed with Robin Knox-Johnston: "The conditions in the final were the worst."
This is how it looks again now. In a Interview with the French daily newspaper Ouest France said former Vendée Globe winner and experienced Ultim skipper Armel Le Cléac'h: "Without this storm at the end, 'Sodebo' would have taken significantly less than 80 days." Le Cléac'h said that he knew of no-one in Ultim sailing who had ever had to deal with the kind of conditions that the "Sodeboys" now had to face in a last-ditch effort.
Team Sodebo: strong performance, many new reference times
Armel Le Cléac'h, who wants to fight for the Jules Verne Trophy himself next year, described Team Sodebo's performance so far as "very good", saying: "They have done very well. a super-fast Atlantic crossing and then broke all the reference times, even though the conditions in the south and when crossing the South Atlantic were not very favourable. And yet they are still ahead of the record."
The record has been held by "Idec Sport" for nine years. In 2017, Francis Joyon and his crew sailed around the world in 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. On Friday morning, "Sodebo Ultim 3" held a theoretical lead of 645 nautical miles over "Idec Sport" at the comparable time of the circumnavigation by the defenders of the Jules Verne Tropy. The current challengers still had around 1100 nautical miles to go to the finish.
But what a final voyage awaits skipper Thomas Coville (57), co-skipper Benjamin Schwartz (38), Léonard Legrand (30), electronics engineer Frédéric Denis (41), Pierre Leboucher (44), Guillaume Pirouelle (30) and Nicolas Troussel (51)! On land, Team Sodebo's routing group is working day and night to get the crew to the finish line as safely as possible.
The routing group works 24/7
The members of the Sodebo routing group are among the best in their field: 50-year-old leader Philipe Legros, 47-year-old Simon "Sifi" Fisher, 55-year-old Chris Bedford and 44-year-old François Duguet work around the clock in the team's masterful "Pôle Routage" to find the best and safest course. The essence of communication between the land and sailing groups is in the very informative tracking of Team Sodebo easy to follow.
The last heavy storm ride began on Friday morning. Message from the routing group to the crew: "The left-hander will mark the start of the wind strengthening. For once we can reef a little earlier" And further: "Good work. You're making a good gain in the west, which is good for the rest of the course."
Land had previously issued an approximate forecast for this Friday and a recommendation on how to deal with it. It said: "The north-westerly wind on Friday will blow a little further to the left and allow us to take a slightly more direct route. However, all routes choose a course deviation of 90°TWA in the strongest part. We agree that an open angle would be preferable. Therefore, we recommend investing in the course when leaving the ridge to stay slightly north of the EC routes."
The sailing world is holding its breath: Will "Sodebo" break the record?
Sailors and fans around the world are watching Team Sodebo's final race for the Jules Verne Trophy with rapt attention. In a message from Team Sodebo to their followers on the morning of 23 January, they said: "We will finally break this record, which we have been attempting for the fourth time since 2020." The clock for this "only" runs out on Sunday evening at 20:31:25. Two stormy days and just under twelve hours remained on Friday morning for Team Sodebo to make their mark in the history books.
