Setting off on 6th November 2016 for his solo round the world voyage in a multihull, Thomas Coville reached Ushant on 25th December last, after only 49 days 3 hours 7 minutes 38 seconds of racing! He thus shattered the record held by Francis Joyon since 2008, who had completed his circumnavigation in 57 days 13 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds. But it's not the incredible time that the sailor wants everyone to remember, but above all the fact that you have to believe in your dreams and never give up!
"What I'd like us to keep from this record is not so much the 49 days 3 hours, it's above all how far we've come. I fell, I got up, I dared. It's a ten-year job, a very difficult dream to achieve. But a dream that I have lived, that I am living!" said the sailor upon his arrival in Brest.
For 10 years now, Thomas has had this dream in mind: to sail around the world in a multihull, without assistance and without stopovers as quickly as possible! He had already tried four times to beat the Record and had twice completed his circumnavigation of the world and narrowly failed: 59d, 20h, 47m, 43s in 2009 and 61d, 05m, 05s in 2011.
North Atlantic from Ushant to Ecuador: Pure Happiness
"The stand-by in Brest was so short that I left with an intact influx. I had a great time on this descent towards the Doldrums, even though the start was a lot less easy than expected, with some fairly violent squalls and quite a few manoeuvres, in particular to avoid the Madeira devil.
But I immediately felt in tune with the boat. The experience I've accumulated has enabled me to manage this first leg of the round the world race well. I had some moments of pure happiness. Perfect glide, high speeds, sea in the right direction. That's exactly what our big trimarans are made for. And I've never had such an easy passage through the Doldrums." 23 hours ahead at the equator
South Atlantic from the Equator to the Cape of Good Hope: Open Window
"I had another two or three days of dreaming, except for the fact that I discovered the first little breakages. I wasn't surprised: I fixed it. Very quickly, I began to think about the position of the Saint Helena High. When Jean-Luc finally admitted to me that I was forced to make an 800 mile detour, I was appalled! However, I realised that our speed potential was completely changing the situation. Provided you never lift your foot, of course. When we had to put in dozens of gybes between the ice zone and the limit of the calms, I chose to push a little beyond the reasonable ice side. It was a risk, but thanks to that, we got to Good Hope early. It was exhausting, but it changed everything. The departure window was still excellent. Conclusion: "For a window to be really good, you have to open it yourself." 1 day 5 hours in advance to Good Hope
Indian Ocean from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Leeuwin: Small victories
"I've always dreaded this ocean. Barely past the south of Africa, we had to go north to avoid a stormy core where the waves were over ten metres high. The sea was chaotic, hostile. And we were heading into it as we reached it. It was brutal. And then my knee got infected. The antibiotics weren't working, so the doctors were starting to consider diverting me to Australia. It was out of the question. A second antibiotic took a while to work. I was dragging myself on one leg, I had a fever, my knee was swollen. It was terribly cold, the sea was hell. I had to undress twice a day to treat the wound. Finally, the medicine worked. The only problem was that I had used up all my antibiotics. And then we hit a whale, the steering system was hit. I had to find the solution on my own. I ended up using a ratchet strap to join two pieces of the tiller system together. Those kind of little victories helped me hold on." 1 day 12 hours ahead at Cape Leeuwin
Pacific Ocean from Cape Leeuwin to Cape Horn: Fantastic speeds
"I didn't see the sun once, but I went fast, really fast. I had no choice, I had a tropical storm on my ass. If it had caught up with me, I really don't know what would have happened. So I whipped like never before, I held averages that I didn't think I'd be able to achieve on my own. It was insane. But I can say that I had a fantastic time. I went down to almost 60 degrees south. The water was freezing. When I reached the Chilean continental shelf, the sea became huge. And in these incredible hollows, the size of Sodebo Ultim' was no longer an asset. I decided to reduce the sail and I still feel sorry for myself. I missed the transition from the Horn by four hours. Up until then, I was pretty happy with what I'd done." 4 days 59 minutes ahead of Cape Horn
South Atlantic from Cape Horn to the Equator: Three climbs up the mast
"I've been attacking this run as exhausted as I am overwhelmed with guilt about my decision to lift off before the Horn. At the same time, if I'd kept up my crazy pace, the ideal route would have sent me to the east of the Falklands, and I would have flirted with the ice edge again. I don't think I wanted to find that stress again at any price. I knew another one. The weather off Argentina is complicated, full of transitions, brutal gales and sudden calms. It was in this chaos that I was forced to climb the mast three times. Each time it was scabrous. At night, I lost my headlamp. I couldn't find the descender rope. I found myself suspended in the void, far behind the mast. I still have bruises on my leg." 6 days 11 hours ahead at the equator
North Atlantic from Ecuador to Ushant: Impossible to find the brake
"The trade wind picked up horribly. I was running into the wind on the beam facing the sea. Everything our big multihulls hate. And I was having a hell of a time finding the brakes. But Sodebo Ultim' was just begging to take off over the ridges. The landing was monstrous brutality. I thought I was going to break everything, that the mast was not going to resist. But I had to work hard. Jean-Luc (left me no choice. The route imposed a big detour around the Azores, and if I couldn't leave in front of a cold front, I was going to plunge headlong into a heavy storm. So I gritted my teeth and held on.
Then, in the last section, I was afraid to hit something. When I crossed the freighter rail before Ushant, the visibility was almost zero. The radar screen showed me ships nearby, I couldn't see them. I was running through the fog at 28 knots. As soon as I crossed the line, I dropped everything and fell to my knees in the cockpit. At the time, record or no record, I didn't care, it was over." 8 days 10 hrs 26 min in advance on arrival
