Sodebo's record speed<\/h2>\r\nThe team sailed 28,315 miles non-stop at a jaw-dropping average speed of 27.17 knots.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161824\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]![\"\"](\"https:\/\/keyassets.timeincuk.net\/inspirewp\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/WEB_621970084_1449200926778783_7295411574859949044_n-630x355.jpg\")
Thomas Coville and crew, approach the Jules Verne finish aboard the Trimaran Sodebo Ultim 3 - recent damage to the starboard rudder casing is visible caused during Storm Ingrid. Photo: Lloyd Images \/ Sodebo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter setting off from Ushant, they reached the Equator in just 4 days and 4 hours, and the Cape of Good Hope in just under 11 days.\r\n\r\nSodebo rounded Cape Leuuwin, having sailed half way around the planet, in 17 days and 1 hour \u2013 at that point having maintained an average speed of 32.1 knots since the start.\r\n\r\nThey crossed the Pacific in just 7 days, 12 hours and 12 minutes \u2014 taking three hours off the previous fastest time set by Fran\u00e7ois Gabart (subject to WSSRC validation). And on the return leg, they were 20 hours and 49 minutes ahead of Idec Sport at the Equator crossing.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161823\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]![\"\"](\"https:\/\/keyassets.timeincuk.net\/inspirewp\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/WEB_621850822_1449167080115501_6009647671637092273_n-630x355.jpg\")
Thomas Coville and his crew, Benjamin Schwartz, L\u00e9onard Legrand, Frederic Denis, Pierre Leboucher, Guillaume Pirouelle, Nicolas Troussel, aboard Sodebo Ultim 3 off Ouessant, celebrate after winning the Jules Verne Trophy on January 25, 2026. Photo: Lloyd Images \/ Sodebo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nBy that point they had already sailed nearly 2,000 miles further than IDEC Sport, and had maintained a blistering average pace of 29.9 knots since the start.\r\n\r\nThey team were still on course to break the symbolic 40-day barrier until the final miles, when Storm Ingrid forced them to take a westerly course and slow the trimaran in a potentially boat-breaking sea state.\r\n\r\nApart from the loss of a rudder casing<\/a>, they got through Storm Ingrid relatively unscathed and were able to get back up to 30-knot speeds for the final approach to Ushant, crossing at 0746 this morning.\r\nThomas Coville record breaker<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161811\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]![\"\"](\"https:\/\/keyassets.timeincuk.net\/inspirewp\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/TJV_LEONARDLEGRAND_TeamSodebo-09174-630x354.jpg\")
Skipper Thomas Coville. Photo: Team Sodebo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThomas Coville has dedicated his life to the pursuit of incredible round the world records.\r\n\r\nA truly extraordinary human being, Coville is not only remarkably skilful, brave and resilient, he is also an erudite philosopher who brings an incredible energy and curiosity to everything he does.\r\n\r\nHe has twice set a Jules Verne record as crew \u2014 with Olivier de Kersauson in 1997 on Sport Elec<\/em> (71 days), and the second in 2010 with Franck Cammas on Groupama 3<\/em> (48 days).\r\n\r\nIn 2016 he set a non-stop solo circumnavigation record<\/a> after a decade of attempts.\r\n\r\nIn 2019 he launched his new Sodebo Ultim 3<\/em>, with the goal of becoming the fastest boat ever to sail around the world \u2014 see more about the remarkable boat<\/a> and watch our exclusive video tour<\/a>.\r\n\r\nOver the past six years the Sodebo team have made three attempts at the Jules Verne<\/a>, sometimes in a \u2018race\u2019 with other Ultims, sometimes alone. Each was thwarted by damage as the Ultims<\/a> - fully foiling, at the very bleeding edge of offshore technology \u2014 suffered breakdowns and damage. This is also the first time an Ultim has sailed non-stop around the world.\r\n\r\nSo remarkable was IDEC Sport\u2019s time, that in total there have been 13 attempts at the record since, but all others had failed.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161785\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]![\"\"](\"https:\/\/keyassets.timeincuk.net\/inspirewp\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/WEB_04012026_TJV_LEONARDLEGRAND_TeamSodebo-5-copy-630x354.jpg\")
The Ultim Sodebo filmed by drone by the team in the Southern Ocean shows the extreme speed. Photo: Leonard LeGrand\/ Team Sodebo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nDespite starting in an optimum weather window, the Sodebo crew did not have an easy circumnavigation: the position of the St Helena High meant they had to add precious extra miles to their route in the South Atlantic, avoid rogue ice in the Southern Ocean, and withstand 40-50 knot winds as an Atlantic depression<\/a>, known as \u2018Storm Ingrid\u2019 stood between them and the finish line.\r\n\r\nHowever, Sodebo\u2019s outright speed also saw the crew set two passage records (Ushant-Equator and the Pacific Ocean) and establish benchmark times at each \u2018Great Cape\u2019 (Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Horn).\r\n\r\nCoville signed off his final onboard update yesterday , as Sodebo hurtled through the remnants of Storm Ingrid \u2014 with the record not yet secure, saying \"Know that on the other side of Biscay there are seven guys out here having a blast and dreaming of sharing it with you!\"\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161821\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"]![\"\"](\"https:\/\/keyassets.timeincuk.net\/inspirewp\/live\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2026\/01\/WEB_621791795_1449167113448831_5382997190696756008_n-630x355.jpg\")
Creac\u2019h lighthouse, the Jules Verne record\u2019s finish line, is passed by Sodebo on January 25, 2026. Photo: Lloyd Images \/ Sodebo[\/caption]\r\nLong-standing support<\/h2>\r\nCoville has been supported by Sodebo, a family-run food company that has a huge presence on the French offshore racing world, since 1998. Co-president Patricia Brochard was one of thousands who turned out to welcome Coville and crew back into Brest:\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s an intense joy, a mix of relief and excitement,\" she said as they finished.\r\n\r\n\"It\u2019s the culmination of the wonderful story we\u2019ve been writing together for 27 years with Thomas (Coville). What we love is seeing men and women united around a common project, with unwavering determination.\u201d\r\n\r\nWe'll report further with the sailors' reactions once we have them.\r\n\r\n ","excerpt":{"rendered":"
From crushing it to make garden furniture, to sending it through a complicated process to strip the resin from the fibre, or turning it into an energy source, there\u2019s no shortage of ideas about what to do with your boat once you and everyone else who has owned it have finished with it. In a world focused on sustainability, the marine world has been considering for some time how to squeeze the most out of the planet\u2019s resources. There are plenty of good examples, not least by the French who have established a mandatory recycling system. Manufacturers pay a levy on new boats and annual taxes fund the Association pour la Plaisance Eco-Responsable to dismantle them. Boats from 2.5-24m are taken to one of the 37 authorised centres across France. For boat owners the service is free. And yet the irony is that, in the racing scene at least, France seems to squeeze the most out of their machines already. In fact, you could argue that a recycling system for the IMOCA fleet is currently irrelevant as none of the boats seem to have reached the end of their lives \u2013 they keep bouncing back to complete yet another Vend\u00e9e Globe. It\u2019s true of their big machines too with the latest being remarkable for the staggering new record it has set 25 years after it was first launched. As solo French sailor Guirec Soud\u00e9e crossed the finishing line after around 40,000 miles around the world this spring he didn\u2019t just better an existing record \u2013 he obliterated it, taking almost 28 days off the previous best. And he did what no one else has managed to do by taking a giant 32m Ultim trimaran non-stop, the wrong way around the world. Article continues below… His boat MACSF was originally launched in 2001 for Olivier de Kersauson and named Geronimo. She was 34m overall back then, designed and built to set new trans-ocean and around the world records. In 2004 de Kersauson and his crew took the Jules Verne Trophy, lapping the planet the right way in just over 63\u00bd days. From there she set several other records, including the Trans-Pacific and the Challenge Round Australia. In 2013 she was bought by Sodebo to be heavily modified with the aim of winning the 2014 Route du Rhum with Thomas Coville at the helm. The design side of the refit fell to VPLP who created what was to become the precursor to the Ultim class. The work was extensive, with the central hull replaced and extended by 3m. The beams were reinforced so foils and rudders could be added to the floats, which were also rebuilt. A new mast completed a machine that was now 6 tonnes lighter. After a tricky start to her career that began with a collision with a freighter in the Route du Rhum, Sodebo went on to break records again including a new solo round the world time, and a transatlantic record. Sold in 2021 she became …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3349,"featured_media":157614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[969,3117],"tags":[3116,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162769,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162768\/revisions\/162769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162768"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=162768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Skipper Thomas Coville. Photo: Team Sodebo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThomas Coville has dedicated his life to the pursuit of incredible round the world records.\r\n\r\nA truly extraordinary human being, Coville is not only remarkably skilful, brave and resilient, he is also an erudite philosopher who brings an incredible energy and curiosity to everything he does.\r\n\r\nHe has twice set a Jules Verne record as crew \u2014 with Olivier de Kersauson in 1997 on Sport Elec<\/em> (71 days), and the second in 2010 with Franck Cammas on Groupama 3<\/em> (48 days).\r\n\r\nIn 2016 he set a non-stop solo circumnavigation record<\/a> after a decade of attempts.\r\n\r\nIn 2019 he launched his new Sodebo Ultim 3<\/em>, with the goal of becoming the fastest boat ever to sail around the world \u2014 see more about the remarkable boat<\/a> and watch our exclusive video tour<\/a>.\r\n\r\nOver the past six years the Sodebo team have made three attempts at the Jules Verne<\/a>, sometimes in a \u2018race\u2019 with other Ultims, sometimes alone. Each was thwarted by damage as the Ultims<\/a> - fully foiling, at the very bleeding edge of offshore technology \u2014 suffered breakdowns and damage. This is also the first time an Ultim has sailed non-stop around the world.\r\n\r\nSo remarkable was IDEC Sport\u2019s time, that in total there have been 13 attempts at the record since, but all others had failed.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161785\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"] The Ultim Sodebo filmed by drone by the team in the Southern Ocean shows the extreme speed. Photo: Leonard LeGrand\/ Team Sodebo[\/caption]\r\n\r\nDespite starting in an optimum weather window, the Sodebo crew did not have an easy circumnavigation: the position of the St Helena High meant they had to add precious extra miles to their route in the South Atlantic, avoid rogue ice in the Southern Ocean, and withstand 40-50 knot winds as an Atlantic depression<\/a>, known as \u2018Storm Ingrid\u2019 stood between them and the finish line.\r\n\r\nHowever, Sodebo\u2019s outright speed also saw the crew set two passage records (Ushant-Equator and the Pacific Ocean) and establish benchmark times at each \u2018Great Cape\u2019 (Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Horn).\r\n\r\nCoville signed off his final onboard update yesterday , as Sodebo hurtled through the remnants of Storm Ingrid \u2014 with the record not yet secure, saying \"Know that on the other side of Biscay there are seven guys out here having a blast and dreaming of sharing it with you!\"\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_161821\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"630\"] Creac\u2019h lighthouse, the Jules Verne record\u2019s finish line, is passed by Sodebo on January 25, 2026. Photo: Lloyd Images \/ Sodebo[\/caption]\r\nLong-standing support<\/h2>\r\nCoville has been supported by Sodebo, a family-run food company that has a huge presence on the French offshore racing world, since 1998. Co-president Patricia Brochard was one of thousands who turned out to welcome Coville and crew back into Brest:\r\n\r\n\u201cIt\u2019s an intense joy, a mix of relief and excitement,\" she said as they finished.\r\n\r\n\"It\u2019s the culmination of the wonderful story we\u2019ve been writing together for 27 years with Thomas (Coville). What we love is seeing men and women united around a common project, with unwavering determination.\u201d\r\n\r\nWe'll report further with the sailors' reactions once we have them.\r\n\r\n ","excerpt":{"rendered":"
From crushing it to make garden furniture, to sending it through a complicated process to strip the resin from the fibre, or turning it into an energy source, there\u2019s no shortage of ideas about what to do with your boat once you and everyone else who has owned it have finished with it. In a world focused on sustainability, the marine world has been considering for some time how to squeeze the most out of the planet\u2019s resources. There are plenty of good examples, not least by the French who have established a mandatory recycling system. Manufacturers pay a levy on new boats and annual taxes fund the Association pour la Plaisance Eco-Responsable to dismantle them. Boats from 2.5-24m are taken to one of the 37 authorised centres across France. For boat owners the service is free. And yet the irony is that, in the racing scene at least, France seems to squeeze the most out of their machines already. In fact, you could argue that a recycling system for the IMOCA fleet is currently irrelevant as none of the boats seem to have reached the end of their lives \u2013 they keep bouncing back to complete yet another Vend\u00e9e Globe. It\u2019s true of their big machines too with the latest being remarkable for the staggering new record it has set 25 years after it was first launched. As solo French sailor Guirec Soud\u00e9e crossed the finishing line after around 40,000 miles around the world this spring he didn\u2019t just better an existing record \u2013 he obliterated it, taking almost 28 days off the previous best. And he did what no one else has managed to do by taking a giant 32m Ultim trimaran non-stop, the wrong way around the world. Article continues below… His boat MACSF was originally launched in 2001 for Olivier de Kersauson and named Geronimo. She was 34m overall back then, designed and built to set new trans-ocean and around the world records. In 2004 de Kersauson and his crew took the Jules Verne Trophy, lapping the planet the right way in just over 63\u00bd days. From there she set several other records, including the Trans-Pacific and the Challenge Round Australia. In 2013 she was bought by Sodebo to be heavily modified with the aim of winning the 2014 Route du Rhum with Thomas Coville at the helm. The design side of the refit fell to VPLP who created what was to become the precursor to the Ultim class. The work was extensive, with the central hull replaced and extended by 3m. The beams were reinforced so foils and rudders could be added to the floats, which were also rebuilt. A new mast completed a machine that was now 6 tonnes lighter. After a tricky start to her career that began with a collision with a freighter in the Route du Rhum, Sodebo went on to break records again including a new solo round the world time, and a transatlantic record. Sold in 2021 she became …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3349,"featured_media":157614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[969,3117],"tags":[3116,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162768"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3349"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":162769,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162768\/revisions\/162769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162768"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=162768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}