Thomas crossed the finish line in Ushant on Sunday 25 December 2016 at 17h 57min 30sec (French time). It will have taken him 49 days 3 hours 7 minutes 38 seconds to complete his round the world voyage single-handed and in multihull! An incredible time which allows him to go down in the history of the fastest sailors in the world as he passes under the 50 day mark!
The final stretch has been a bit difficult for the skipper: the weather files are predicting winds of between 25 and 35 knots, and above all a lot of fatigue after more than 49 days sailing single-handed. Thomas Coville admitted on 23rd December that he was taking longer to recover after the big manoeuvres and that the stress was mounting with the prospect of the finish.
The sailor is now waiting for daybreak to reach Brest in the morning of Monday 26th December. This morning, he was overflown by the French Navy as he approached French territorial waters, a moment rich in emotion for the skipper of Sodebo Ultim'. Whilst awaiting the standing ovation which awaits him on the pontoons, Thomas will spend the night aboard his trimaran with his team aboard. "An essential decompression chamber after seven grueling weeks alone at sea." explains his sponsor.
This new reference time allows him to beat the previous Record held since 2008 by Francis Joyon on Idec Sport 8 days 10 hours, 26 minutes and 28 seconds! A feat for this all-rounder in sailing, who had already tried four times to break the single-handed Round the World Record in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012. His biggest rival has also made a point of leaving him a congratulatory message on video from Idec Sport, where he is trying to beat the Jules Verne Trophy Record. And as Francis Joyon reminds us, there are only three of them to have achieved the feat of completing a solo circumnavigation of the world in a multihull and non-stop: himself, Elle Mac Arthur and Thomas Coville!
He will have covered 28,400 nautical miles on his 31 m long trimaran Sodebo Ultim', at an average speed of 24.09 knots (18.32 knots on the orthodromic).
In addition to the single-handed round-the-world record, Thomas Coville set three other records (Indian Ocean Record*, Pacific Ocean Record* and Equator/Ecuador Record*) and eight reference times.
- Indian Ocean Record* (Cape Agulhas/Tasmania): 8d 12h 19m
- Pacific Ocean Record* (Tasmania/Cape Horn): 8d 18h 28m 30s
- Record Ecuador/Ecuador*: 35 days 21 hours 38 min 6 sec
* waiting for WSSRC validation
