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Rekordversuch Around 2011 - Thomas Coville/Maxi-Tri Sodebo
www.sodebo-voile.com - Übersicht
29.01.2011
Dear all, please find the latest press release for Thomas Coville (Sodebo).
The team has prepared the special mix below for non-French speakers, which
encompasses Thomas’ sentiments on the eve of his departure as well as the
passage times this morning. The plan for the rest of the circumnavigation is
for English translations of all the main passage marks and major news.
These will also appear on http://www.sodebo-voile.com/actu/news-eng.html and
there are some great photos and audio on the same website.
Enjoy your weekend! Kind regards, Kate
OFF ON THE GRAND SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION
Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo, crossed the start line today, Saturday 29
January 2011, at 11h07’28 UTC. To beat Francis Joyon’s record, he will have
to be back in Brest by 28 March at 0h40’34” UTC.
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Start
A week after Pascal Bidégorry’s crew set off on the Jules Verne Trophy, it’s
over to Thomas Coville to head off to attack the rather different ‘solo’
round the world record aboard Sodebo. The skipper left the pontoon in
Brest’s Port du Château shortly before 0800 UTC to cross the start line off
Ushant, in front of Le Créac’h lighthouse, by late morning. His aim: to
return to the same spot in under 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes and 6
seconds, the reference time set by Francis Joyon (Idec) in January 2008. The
skipper has set off with "a good weather window for solo sailing and feels a
sense of liberation at having taken the decision to set off. I’ve nurtured
this moment for years. I’m heading off on this because I want to. The
emotion stems from extracting yourself, making the switch from a landlubber
to a sailor”.
Vigorous conditions
Conditions at the start promise to be lively with a 25 knot NE’ly wind
followed by fairly steep seas in the Bay of Biscay. If the forecasts are
confirmed, the skipper could hold onto the NNE’ly air flow for a
considerable time and even as far as the equator. As such, on the computer,
Sodebo’s schedule is rather favourable. “This decision to set off was an
easy one to make given the stability of the weather conditions”, admitted
the Solo Atlantic record holder on the eve of his third round the world
record attempt on this boat. “The weather models have been in agreement for
several days and if conditions remain ‘vigorous’, the situation enables a
quick and easy descent to the equator, which I could cross in about 7 days,
which isn’t bad.”
heading off again, the first victory
Since circumnavigating the globe alone aboard this same multihull (winter
2008/2009) when the record escaped his clutches by a little under two days,
Thomas has gone on to win the crewed Jules Verne Trophy with Franck Cammas’
Groupama 3 (March 2010). He has also finished third in the Route du Rhum at
the helm of Sodebo and completed a number of transatlantic crossings on this
32 metre trimaran which he has been constantly developing. “We built and
designed Sodebo nearly three and a half years ago. We’re coming to maturity
with this boat and the understanding I can have of it. Setting off tomorrow
after having worked so hard is like a deliverance. I’m keen to make the most
of what we’ve done. I also feel relieved of the weight of being able to get
going on this as there are some winters that don’t have the perfect
departure slot. Linking on from the Route du Rhum and the round the world
with good weather conditions to set off in means that we’ve pulled off the
first stage.”
"I know where I’m setting foot"
“When you set off for the first time, you have to begin by answering the
question: “Am I capable of doing it?” “Having completed an initial solo
round the world aboard a multihull allows me to know what you have to give
of yourself and how; it’s a lever which inspires me to return to it. It’s up
to me now to complete it in less time. In our various projects, we make
attempts, we fail and we work so we can set out again. I could have moped
about it and never returned to it, but I’m lucky enough to be able to do it
and that’s how you give yourself the means to write some great stories.”
Last night ashore
At dinner time last night, the skipper of Sodebo admitted: “For the time
being I’m busy retranscribing the figures for the routing and the strength
or direction of the wind, in terms of manœuvres and the way Sodebo handles.
I’m not yet thinking about my life aboard. I’m going to have to extract
myself and that’s a delicate moment. I’m a father, a friend, I have a social
and sentimental life and I have to suddenly enter into another world. I
don’t know another exercise which requires 57 days of concentration.
However, this evening, as long as I’m not kitted out in my boots and
foulies, I’m still a landlubber.”
In Brest last night, his family, his friends, his team and of course his
sponsor, rallied around him, but now Thomas is alone, alone for nearly two
months. In an arctic cold, he’ll take up again with the stress of the
multihull, which won’t leave him for eight weeks.
Translated by Kate Jennings – Expression
29.01.2011 - OFF ON THE GRAND SOLO CIRCUMNAVIGATION
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