For Ultim skipper Thomas Coville and his crew on "Sodebo Ultim 3", the starting signal was given on the evening of 29 November. With Fréréric Denis, Pierre Leboucher, Léonard Legrand, Guillaume Pirouette, Benjamin Schwartz and Nicolas Troussel, Thomas Coville crossed the imaginary starting line for the Jules Verne record attempt between the Créac'h lighthouse (Ouessant) and Cape Lizard (south-west England) at 9.03 pm.
Around the world in a Jules Verne duel
François Gabart and his "Lazartigue" crew followed on Saturday morning. They crossed the starting line at 8.51 a.m. German time on 30 November. In the battle for the coveted Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest non-stop team circumnavigation of the world, the almost eight-year-old record set by Francis Joyon and his "Idec" crew in January 2017 with an incredible 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds is up for grabs.
The teams had been waiting since the beginning of November for a suitable weather window for their parallel record attempts. On Friday, the wait was over for "Sodebo Ultim 3". The traffic light changed from orange to green for Thomas Coville's team. The crew was finally able to cast off in Lorient and set course for Ouessant, from where they started the race around the world against the clock.
On the way to the boat after a long month of waiting, Thomas Coville talked about the moment of decision: "The change from orange to green is often pretty brutal. You have to change your mode and your mental attitude, it's like being in a waiting room. What helps me personally to switch over is when I put on my sailing gear and boots. That allows me to enter a different world, the world of a sailor."
East around the Azores High?
The "sequence of the transfer to the line" also contributed to "entering into the dimension of this launch", continued Thomas Coville. And this: "It is a strong moment for our team and in our history."
Commenting on the conditions at the start, Coville's fellow competitor Benjamin Schwartz said: "We will start high upwind to look for a first front to the south of a low. With a tack planned for Saturday afternoon and then dip south into a wind that will increase, so downwind. The aim is to round the Azores High to the east and push under it for a final gybe, probably on Monday morning, which will take us directly to the equator in about five days, so with a small lead on the record time."
However, Benjamin Schwartz, who skippered "Holcim - PRB" in the final phase of the last Ocean Race, remained cautious in his forecasts: "The window is quite short, in that the Azores high tends to send out a ridge (an extension) that closes the way to Portugal. So we will have to manage to squeeze into a fairly narrow corridor in time."
First "Sodebo Ultim 3" was launched, then "Lazartigue"
Twelve hours after "Sodebo Ultim 3", François Gabart and his "Lazartigue" crew also began their Jules Verne record attempt. The fact that both boats are now travelling in duel mode makes the race against time even more exciting for observers and fans. Another interesting question: when and where will the giants of the seas pass which of the Vendée Globe skippers on their 28,000 nautical mile course around the world?
The 32 metre long and 23 metre wide trimaran "Lazartigue" with its 250 square metre mainsail, whose mast height of 36 metres is roughly equivalent to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower, is sailed by a crew of both experienced and several up-and-coming sailors from the Class40. Sailing with Gabart are: Pascal Bidegorry, Tom Laperche, Antoine Gautier, Amélie Grassi and Émilien Lavigne.
The Jules Verne Trophy is named after the French writer Jules Verne, author of the novel "Around the World in Eighty Days". Inspired by the literary adventure, the Jules Verne Trophy was created in the early 1990s by the sailors Titouan Lamazou and Florence Arthaud.
Who will break the eight-year-old record?
The challenge is simple and difficult: to sail around the world as quickly as possible with a crew - without stopping and without outside help. Since its inception, many famous sailors have tried to break this record. The first reference time was set in 1993 by Bruno Peyron with a time of 79 days. Since then, the record has been broken several times. Francis Joyon's "Idec" record has now been in the books for eight years - the Frenchman and his crew also had the wind on their side during their round-the-world race.
That is the ultimate dimension." François Gabart
What is François Gabart's inspiration for the Jules Verne adventure that is already underway? The 41-year-old says: "The task of travelling around the world is still extraordinary. Doing it as quickly as possible is the best there is. That is the ultimate dimension. With the Jules Verne Trophy, there's also the concept of the team, which brings with it something pretty incredible."
Pictures of Francis Joyon's trimaran "Idec", which has held the Jules Verne record for eight years:
