On the night of 20 December, Thomas Coville and his team set the first record in the battle for the Jules Verne Trophy. When they passed the equator shortly after one o'clock in the morning, the skipper and Benjamin Schwartz, Frédéric Denis, Pierre Leboucher, Léonard Legrand, Guillaume Pirouelle and Nicolas Troussel had secured the new best time for the first leg of their non-stop circumnavigation from Ouessant to the equator after just 4 days, 4 hours, 2 minutes and 25 seconds.
The seven-strong crew beat the previous best time of "Spindrift 2" from 2019 by 15 hours and 54 minutes. And that wasn't the only good news for the French team, who got off to a flying start. The lightning start also gave "Sodebo Ultim 3" a lead of 1 day, 14 hours, 56 minutes and 35 seconds over the Jules Verne record holder "Idec Sport" at the time the record was secured. Click here for the live tracker with lots of exciting additional information.
"Sodebo Ultim 3": like a rush to the equator
Francis Joyon and his team circumnavigated the globe in 2017 without stopping in just 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. Since then, all record-breakers have been chasing this record because either the wind windows are less favourable or collisions and technical problems have dashed their hopes of breaking the record.
For Thomas Coville and his six crew members, the latest adventure had on 15 December at 21:01 German time off the coast of Ouessant started with plenty of pressure in the air. According to Benjamin Schwartz, the "Sodebo Ultim 3" crew had benefited from an "exceptional" weather window. "This window enabled us to sail extremely close to the orthodromy (ed.: the shortest route between two points) throughout the entire North Atlantic. We started in a well-developed downwind behind a front before following a very straight route," Benjamin Schwartz explained the fabulous Jules Verne start.
However, it wasn't child's play, according to Schwartz. Léonard Legrand said: "The start of the race came suddenly and was pretty brutal. We had to find our way in 30 to 35 knots of wind and 5.30 metre high waves off the coast of Portugal." However, the crew had deliberately chosen this record-breaking scenario and quickly found the right pace, usually travelling at speeds in excess of 30 knots.
Jules Verne Trophy: in fast motion through the North Atlantic
Sodebo Ultim 3" had already passed Cape Finisterre on Tuesday and the Canary Islands a day later. They defied the strong winds when passing the Cape Verde Islands on Thursday and crossed the squid belt on Friday. Even for experienced Atlantic sailors, it sounds as if someone has switched on the time lapse. According to the crew, the shore crew with their routers Philippe Legros, Simon "Sifi" Fisher and Chris Bedford did a "great job", especially in the squid belt.
After a quick crossing of the "Pot-au-Noir", the sailors savoured their successful achievement of the first major milestone, crossing the equator very early on Saturday morning at 1:03:30 am. In addition to the joy of this motivational boost, the "Sodeboys" also remained focussed on what was still to come. "This time at the equator is pretty crazy, but it's not an end in itself," warned Benjamin Schwartz against too much euphoria.
"Sodebo Ultim 3" may have built up a lead of more than one and a half days over "Idec Sport" by the time they reach the equator, but everyone knows that: The remaining 19,000 nautical miles of the circumnavigation will still pose many challenges. The buffer they have now built up will accompany them. "We have the IDEC Sport track on our tracker on board," said Guillaume Pirouelle, Class40 winner of the Transat Café L'Or. But what everyone also knows is that "Idec Sport" was very fast during its record-breaking voyage almost nine years ago, particularly in the Indian Ocean. Pirouelle knows just as well: "Her journey across the Atlantic was less fast."
At this stage, our lead doesn't mean that much, but we'll take everything we can get!" Guillaume Pirouelle
Until the end of Christmas week at the Cape of Good Hope?
Now the "Sodebo Ultim 3" crew is focussing on the South Atlantic tasks. Benjamin Schwartz gave an initial outlook: "The St Helena High has settled into a more westerly position, so we'll have to sail along the Brazilian coast to the latitude of Rio before we can turn left. We should be able to maintain our lead on the record in the South Atlantic to some extent." In pursuit of the Jules Verne Trophy, the team is expected to reach the Cape of Good Hope by the end of Christmas week.
Skipper Thomas Coville's reaction to the promising start to the battle for the Jules Verne Trophy was naturally happy. Coville said: "It's a good start! When you take a chance and use a time window, that's the only part of the course you can choose. Then you have to try and achieve what you've theoretically set out to do. 4 days and 4 hours - we've reached our goal! We're very happy about that, because there's a whole team behind the choice of the time window and also behind the realisation with the seven of us on board the 'Sodebo Ultim 3'."
Coville smiled and continued: "Of course we're very happy tonight that we've left a nice trail. It looks like a nice track in powder snow, but it's not so easy! Thanks to Benjamin and the routing team, we made good progress and mastered all the obstacles and island passages. On to the next stage!"
