sodebo trimaran

Category: Racing Boats

Class: Racing Trimaran

The third iteration of the Irens designed solo record breaking round the world maxi trimarans; the 32m (105ft) SODEBO was built in carbon pre-preg at Boatspeed, Australia for Thomas Colville. The characteristic overhanging bow is 2.5m (8ft) longer than Joyon’s IDEC.

Colville has so far mounted four unsuccessful attempts on IDEC’s 57-day record. His first solo attempt in 2007 ended early after hitting a float object just after setting a new 24-hour solo record of 628.5 nautical miles. On his second in 2009 he encountered difficult conditions which forced him to sail 2000 nautical miles further missing the record by just two days.

• www.sodebo.com

Direction d'où provient le vent par rapport à un bateau à voile, ex : Près, travers, reaching, vent arrière...

Désigne le côté gauche d'un bateau lorsque l'on regarde vers l'avant de celui-ci

Elément de gréement long accroché perpendiculairement au mât et sur lequel sont fixés la base de la grande voile, les écoutes...

Désigne deux pièces transversales rattachées à la coque centrale qui soutiennent les flotteurs latéraux du trimaran. Pièces légères mais robustes car sont soumises à de fortes pressions, notamment lorsque les flotteurs sont secoués par les vagues.

Zone du bateau dédiée à la navigation où se trouve la barre (direction), les postes de réglages de voiles...

Structure qui supporte le cockpit*, le mât et les voiles hissées ainsi que les bras de liaison qui eux-mêmes portent les flotteurs latéraux. Abrite aussi la cellule la vie où notre skipper dort, mange et travaille sa stratégie en contact avec la terre via ordinateurs. Par sa position structurelle et sa taille imposante, une des pièces les plus longues à réaliser.

Pose de couches successives de matière (type fibres en rouleaux...) pour épouser la forme d'un moule

Enfoncer l'avant du bateau sous l'eau dans un mouvement de plongeon

Câble qui maintient le mât par l'avant

Partie avant du bateau

Désigne les deux pièces latérales qui assurent la stabilité du bateau et sur lesquels sont fixés des safrans*, les foils et les éléments qui portent le gréement (mât)... .

Unité de mesure de vitesse utilisée en navigation maritime. 1 nœud (ou nd) = 1,852 km/heure

Objet flottant non identifié

Surface parallèle à l'eau qui réduit la portance généralement imposé à la coque / aux flotteurs

Rail fixé sur le bateau et dans lequel coulisse le point d'accroche de la grand-voile qui permet de régler son ouverture en fonction de la provenance du vent

Réduction de la surface d’une voile grâce à des points d'accroche à différentes hauteurs qui permettent de la replier sur elle-même. S'utilise notamment lorsque les conditions de vent forcisse, pour garder la maîtrise de la vitesse du bateau.

Partie immergée pivotante qui permet de changer la direction du bateau en déviant les flux d'eau sous la coque

Titre d'une chanson de Céline Dion et Garou :-)... Dans le champs lexical maritime, s'utilise pour situer un objet qui se trouve du côté opposé à celui d'où souffle le vent par rapport à un autre référentiel. Par exemple, si le vent arrive sur tribord, on dit que le flotteur tribord est « au vent » et le flotteur bâbord « sous le vent » par rapport à la coque centrale du bateau.

Hauteur de la partie immergée du bateau qui varie en fonction de la charge transportée

Hauteur de la partie émergée allant de la flottaison jusqu'au point le plus élevé du bateau

Désigne le côté droit d'un bateau lorsque l'on regarde vers l'avant de celui-ci

Bateau à trois coques

Collectif définissant les règles de jauge des trimarans « Ultim », notamment la longueur (comprise entre 24 et 32 mètres) et la largeur (maximum de 23 mètres)

Vague formée à l'avant du bateau lorsque celui fend l'eau en avançant

Entreprise spécialisées dans la fabrication de voiles

Type de treuil permettant de contrôler la traction des cordages du bateau

Zone d'efforts subits par une structure entre des pièces rattachées en différents points et suite aux chocs reçus par ces pièces

• A-z lexique

S odebo Ultim 3

Bienvenue dans les coulisses du team Sodebo et de son trimaran géant! Partagez avec nous cette aventure humaine et technologique hors norme

La coque centrale

"La silhouette de Sodebo Ultim 3 est unique. Le skipper est vraiment au centre du bateau"

Les bras de liaison

"Avec la cellule de vie située sur l'avant du bateau, nous avons fait le choix d'une structure en H. Découvrez de quoi il s'agit"

Les flotteurs

"A la construction,nous avons utilisé les moules d'un Ultim déjà existant, mais les avons fait évoluer au fil des chantiers, et notamment raccourcis pour installer des safrans rétractables"

Les appendices

"Les appendices sont des pièces en constante évolution car ils peuvent vraiment faire la différence en terme de performance, ils peuvent toujours être optimisés"

Le mât & les voiles

"Les voiles sont le moteur du bateau : parce qu'elles doivent être adaptées à toutes les conditions de vent, nous en avons fait fabriquer cinq, de 92 à 420m2"

Longueur de la coque centrale

Depuis le 07 janvier Débâchage de la Coque Centrale Peintures faites Anti dérapant fait Panneau éléctronique mis en place Début de la pose des plexis

Depuis le 28 janvier Fermeture trappe pont de la coque centrale cette semaine Première presentation de la bâche aéro Montage définitif des winches, accastillage, hydraulique

Depuis le 20 février Retouches peinture terminées Montage accastillage plage avant (amures) Stickage en cours Antifooling réalisé

Superficie de la cellule de vie

Depuis le 07 janvier Peintures faites Anti dérapant fait Début montage accastillage

Depuis le 28 janvier Pose des hublots Réception des plans d'amménagement intérieur

Depuis le 20 février Retouches peinture terminées Montage des bailles à boots en cours Aménagement intérieur en cours Accastillage et hydrauloque en cours de finalisation

Largeur du bateau

Depuis le 07 janvier Support éolienne en cours Supports de feux en cours

Depuis le 28 janvier Support éolienne à poste Démontage du rail de traveler pour finition stickage

Depuis le 20 février Support de jon buoy en cours Supports de feux posés Montage final accastillage traveler en cours Montage définitif du système de barre

Depuis le 07 janvier Début renforcement

Depuis le 28 janvier Strat de fermeture des renfort Début des retouches peintures

Depuis le 20 février Jauge fibre optique posée Retouche peinture en cours Montage bâche aéro inférieure en cours

de hauteur totale

Depuis le 28 janvier Contrôle ultra son état 0 fait Présentation à blanc de la belt sur le foil OK

Depuis le 20 février Les deux foils sont en place dans leurs flotteurs respectifs Reste à poser les butées hautes et basses

Hauteur du mât

Depuis le 28 janvier Mât entré dans le hangar Réalisation des supports composite

Depuis le 20 février Fin du câblage éléc et électronique Montage du gréement courant Montage des supports aériens

en position haute

Depuis le 28 janvier Montage des boîtiers de lattes Mise en place des lattes

Voile la plus grande

Depuis le 28 janvier J2 terminé J1 en cours de déco J0 terminé

• America’s Cup Updates
• Events & Races
• British Yachting Awards
• Print Subscription
• Digital Subscription
• Single Issues

Your special offer

VIDEO: The launch of Thomas Coville’s radical new foiling maxi-tri Sodebo 3

Sea-trials commence imminently for Thomas Coville’s new ‘Ultime’ trimaran Sodebo 3. Meanwhile we thought you’d enjoy seeing the boat take to the water for the first time…

Article below posted 3 March 2019

Leading (and steering) from the front. Is Sodebo 3 the boat to retake the multihull single-hander record for Thomas Coville?

“This boat is crazy, it’s going to be like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” says Thomas Coville when we catch up with him at Helly Hansen HQ in Oslo a few days before the grand unveiling of his new 32m Ultim foiling trimaran. “To be honest, it frightens me a little bit, because I don’t even know how I’m going to be able to steer it or trim the sails.”

Hang on… that’s one of the world’s most experienced round-the-world yachtsmen talking. One of only five people in the world to single-hand a multihull around the globe – his 49 days 3hr circumnavigation on the 4 th attempt smashing the earlier record to pieces – and even he’s alarmed about what this latest €10m investment from long-term backer Sodebo has the potential to deliver.

Now we can show you why, because today – Saturday 2 March – Thomas has thrown open the doors to the yard in Morbihan, France, that’s built his new deep ocean weapon. Until now under a veil of extreme secrecy.

The boat many thought was going to be a sister-vessel to Banque Populaire is nothing of the sort. Far from a carbon-fibre copy of a racing yacht that came unstuck in such spectacular fashion in November when crashing water smashed off one of its sponsons, the new Sodebo 3 is more radical than anyone outside the team would have dared to presume. From the computer simulations at least, say Coville and the team that designed it, this boat has all the makings of a game-changer.

The triple hulls came from the same moulds as Banque Populaire, but that’s where the similarities begin and end. And here’s the thing we can’t hold out from mentioning any longer – the cockpit and cabin are at the ‘wrong’ end of the boat, which means Coville will be helming and trimming the mainsail from a position in front of the mast.

Sportscar enthusiasts familiar with the Porsche 911 will know that moving key components to the other end of a vehicle can produce startling – and winning – results, and in fact Sodebo 3’s unusual configuration stems in part from the fact its 12-strong design team had an automotive engineer on board who was familiar with Porsche’s race-winning Le Mans strategy. It also brought in expertise from the aviation world, as well as bringing together rival designers from the Oracle and Luna Rossa America’s Cup camps. (To begin with the latter ‘looked at each other like dogs and cats’, Thomas reveals with a grin.)

It’s a far cry from the traditional method of building a racing yacht, which generally starts with a commission from a single naval architect who will oversee the whole concept. And Thomas is reassuringly open about why the new boat happened this way: “It was Sodebo who said to me, look, we will do what you want, but it has to be done differently, because it’s no longer possible for one person to have all the knowledge we need for a project this complicated.”

So that was it, a team of 12 was convened, and a concept was dreamed up that redraws traditional thinking about how such vessels should be configured.

“They started by taking off the roof off the cabin so it was like an open boat,” says Thomas, describing the team’s first stab at getting the boom down to deck level, and thus eliminating the turbulence-inducing gap between sail and yacht that reduces efficiency by as much as 25 per cent. “Later we had a meeting when one of the engineers asked if I’d be OK with living and steering in front of the mast,” Thomas recalls. “Sodebo were there too, and they said immediately ‘yes, we want to do that, we don’t want to build an ordinary boat…  so that was it.”

Sodebo 3 will take to the water for the first time in a couple of weeks, at which point Coville and his team will begin to find out whether the computer analysis translates into real world performance.

Increasing sail efficiency by 25 per cent has meant the mast height has been reduced by 3m improving stability, and the yacht’s radical design is said also to allow the boat to use smaller rudders – creating less drag.

The result is more speed. Enough speed, says Thomas, to keep the boat ahead of weather systems, and eliminating the traditional need to wait for a succession of depressions to catch the boat up. Sodebo 3 will be faster than the wind between low pressure zones, and for the first time we can choose the weather system we want to sail in, he reckons.

With sea trials commencing on March 14 th , the boat has a packed schedule ahead of it. Over the next four years there are three circumnavigations and 14 transatlantic races and record attempts planned – not to mention the Fastnet Race for which the boat is entered this August.

Will this be the boat to take Coville around the world in less than 40 days, and reclaim the multi-hull single-hander record in the process? This boat is the first of a new generation that makes that time-frame possible, he says, and has confirmed that will be the goal for both crewed and single-handed attempts.

RELATED ARTICLES MORE FROM AUTHOR

Scottish Marina Celebrates 40 Years: Largs Yacht Haven

New issue of Sailing Today with Yachts & Yachting out now!

RNLI named as the Official Charity for Round the Island Race 2024

Yachts & Yachting is the leading performance sailing magazine, covering every aspect of the racing scene, from dinghies to keelboats. Our insightful features and stunning photography bring you the inside track on the world’s most exciting regattas together with advice and inspiration from the very best sailors, coaches and industry experts.

• News & Events
• Sailing Techniques
• Event Spotlight
• Telegraph.co.uk

ADVERTISING

© 2024 The Chelsea Magazine Company , part of the Telegraph Media Group . Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy

Sodebo Ultim’

Sodebo Ultim’ then Ultim ActualLeader then Brest Ultim Sailing then Mieux. 

Thomas Coville came to VPLP with an exciting project to rebuild Geronimo with the aim of winning the 2014 Route du Rhum .The firm, having originally designed the trimaran for Olivier de Kersauson, more than rose to the challenge.

So what went into turning that grey trimaran, precursor of the Ultim class, into one of the most competitive maxi-trimarans in single-handed racing? First of all replacing the central hull with a new design which focused on single-handed sailing and, at 31 metres long, was 3 metres more than the previous one.

Next, the beams were reinforced so rudders and foils – which Geronimo had been lacking – could be added to the floats. The forward 9 metres of the latter were also rebuilt, adding powerful raked bows.

And with the addition of a new mast and changes to the original boom, Geronimo became Sodebo Ultim’ , weighing in 6 tonnes lighter!

After a difficult start in the 2014 Route du Rhum (collision with a freighter and retirement), Sodebo Ultim’ would go on to enjoy a magnificent career . Her achievements include the solo round the world record (49 days, 3 hours), the transatlantic record (4 days, 11 hours) and victory in the 2017 Transat Jacques Vabre – all in the space of twelve months.

Following a period under the sponsorship of Actual with Yves Le Blevec at the controls, she was bought by the company Brest Ultim Sailing in 2021. Under the name of the corporate collective MIEUX, Arthur le vaillant takes the helm of the Ultim for the Route du Rhum 2022.

Achievements

Our latest racing projects

Sun Fast 30 One Design

Paris +33 1 42 77 24 00 Vannes +33 2 97 44 74 19 Nantes +33 9 85 11 79 77

[email protected]

Privacy Policy

Subscribe to our newsletter

• AROUND THE SAILING WORLD
• BOAT OF THE YEAR
• Email Newsletters
• Best Marine Electronics & Technology
• America’s Cup
• St. Petersburg
• Caribbean Championship
• Boating Safety

The Supreme Soloists of the Ultimes

• By James Boyd
• January 9, 2024

On January 7, ocean racing will take another evolutionary step with the mind-boggling feat of six brave Frenchmen who will set off from Brest in northwest France on board their giant 105-by-75-foot foiling trimarans—around the world, nonstop. Singlehanded. The new event is the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest, a sprint marathon that is expected to take 45 days or less at an ­average of 20 knots.

The present record for a solo lap of the planet stands at 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes, 35 seconds, but when this was set in 2018, skipper François Gabart had the luxury of departing with an optimal 10-day forecast (covering the first quarter of his voyage all the way down to the Southern Ocean). Competitors in the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest will have to leave on the designated start date and make the best of whatever Mother Nature offers them. However, while Gabart’s MACIF trimaran is going again (in new livery as Anthony Marchand’s Actual Ultim 3 ), it is now one of the older of the six trimarans that will set out. The newest Ultims, which harness the latest offshore foiling technology, are much, much faster.

Two of the biggest names in solo round-the-world ­record-breaking will be missing from the lineup; Gabart has passed over the helm of his Ultim to “the next generation” in Tom Laperche. Francis Joyon, who demolished the record for the solo lap on two occasions, bringing it down from 125 days to 72 days in 2005 and from 71 days to 57 days four years later, is now 67. While all six starting skippers are highly experienced, they range in age from 55-year-old Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo Ultim 3 , to 26-year-old Laperche.

Coville is the race titan. When it comes to racing large trimarans around the world singlehanded, his experience is unprecedented. He’s been attempting circumnavigation records on large trimarans since 1997 and as a skipper since 2008. On his fifth attempt in 2016, he finally set a new record only for it to be broken a year later by Gabart. He also has raced in the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race (winning it with Franck Cammas on Groupama in 2011-12) and was twice part of crews claiming the Jules Verne Trophy (fully crewed, nonstop around-the-world record). He has completed circumnavigations eight times—four times solo and six times on trimarans.

The most hotly tipped skippers, however, are Armel le Cléac’h, 46, on Maxi Banque Populaire XI, and Charles Caudrelier, 49, on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild . While Caudrelier is best known for being a two-time Volvo Ocean Race winner (with Groupama , then as skipper of Dongfeng Race Team in 2017-18), both cut their teeth solo racing in the French one-design Figaro circuit. But when it comes to solo offshore credentials, Le Cléac’h knocks it out of the park. He’s won La Solitaire three times, most recently in 2020, and crucially for the upcoming Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest has also raced in three Vendée Globe races, finishing on the podium in all and winning in 2016-17.

Le Cléac’h’s trimaran was launched in 2021 as a replacement for his ­previous Banque Populaire-backed Ultim, which broke up terminally in the 2018 Route du Rhum. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is unique in the race for being designed by Guillaume Verdier, while the rest are from VPLP (although in every case, the team itself offers substantial input). While Caudrelier has won most Ultim silverware in recent seasons, including the singlehanded Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic race in 2022, Le Cléac’h ended his run by winning this fall’s Transat Jacques Vabre race between Le Havre in northern France and the French Caribbean island of Martinique.

Tom Laperche has taken over as skipper of Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartigue for solo races. This is Gabart’s second Ultim trimaran and is considered the most advanced of the six. Laperche won La Solitaire du Figaro in 2022 and has raced with Gabart on the Ultim ever since the boat was launched. He gained his round-the-world experience on the IMOCA Holcim in The Ocean Race.

Also inheriting his Ultim campaign is Anthony Marchand, who took over the helm of Actual Ultim 3 from Yves le Blevec in January. Launched in 2015, Actual Ultim 3 is Gabart’s former MACIF ­trimaran, which is the present holder of the solo round-the-world record. Marchand, 38, sets off with vast experience on ORMA 60 trimarans, in the Figaro class, the Volvo Ocean Race (competing in 2015-16 on MAPFRE ) and in the IMOCA.

Fundamentally, the rule limits length to 32 meters and width to 23 meters, and the complex foil configuration on all six Ultims is fairly similar. 

Éric Péron, 42, is the race’s last-minute entry, and as a newcomer to the Ultim class, he will likely back marker. Péron has a strong background in the Figaro and Ocean 50 trimaran classes, and his trimaran Adagio was previously Sodebo Ultim , on which Coville set both his solo round-the-world and west-to-east trans-Atlantic records.

While there is an Ultim 32/23 rule, the design parameters of these incredible machines is a work in progress. Fundamentally, the rule limits length to 32 meters and width to 23 meters. The complex foil configuration on all six Ultims is fairly similar. Each of the boats has six appendages, including the giant, retracting rake-adjustable J-foils (of varying shapes) in the floats. The latest-generation foils have grown larger, enabling the trimarans to fly both downwind and upwind in less wind. Among the three front-runners, the most recent edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre demonstrated that SVR-Lazartigue has the lowest take-off speed, while Maxi Banque Populaire XI ’s foils work best in waves. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild lies somewhere between these two positions.

Unique to the Ultims is the T-foil pioneered by Caudrelier’s team on their MOD70 (now Giovanni Soldini’s Maserati ). Located in the center hull, this is effectively a daggerboard with a trim tab (to aid pointing ability upwind) and an elevator. This foil is used in a similar fashion to how AC50 catamaran crews negatively raked their windward rudder elevator to produce downforce, sucking the weather hull down. When a gust hits an Ultim, the crew can drop the traveler, but a more energy efficient response is to increase pitch on the T-foil’s elevator to create additional downforce. Then there are three rudders (one on each hull), each with an elevator. The rudders in the floats can be raised (typically the windward one) to reduce drag.

Aside from the significant developments to the foils, especially to reduce cavitation at high speed, teams have been focusing on improving aerodynamic efficiency. The Ultims now have low-drag vinyl fairings for the aft side of their crossbeams, and on some boats, the deck itself forms an endplate for the foot of sails. Living quarters have improved dramatically and, like modern IMOCAs, are becoming increasingly enclosed. The most extreme among them is Sodebo Ultim 3 , where the front of Coville’s “bridge” is forward of the mast step.

Autopilots have transcended beyond being able to steer to course, apparent wind angle or even true wind angle. Depending on the point of sail, the pilot will now automatically head up or bear away when a gust hits. 

The rigs are the same as those that have been fitted to French multihulls for the past 30 years—a rotating wing mast with each shroud terminating in a giant hydraulic ram, permitting the rig (and its center of effort) to be canted to weather. This reduces the downward force on the leeward bow, which can cause multihulls to pitchpole. Whether this is still required is a moot point because today’s foils effectively keep the leeward bow from immersing.

Due to the sheer physics of an Ultim, aided by the canting rig and the mast being stepped so far aft, the risk of capsize is almost ­nonexistent, Caudrelier says: “The Ultims are the safest multihulls because they fly, because they are big, but also because we have made huge improvements to the pilots with safety functions, and also we have a nice automatic ­system to ease the sails. It is quite safe. I don’t worry too much about capsizing, but I have in the back of my mind that it can happen.”

Thanks to teams working with such companies as B&G and Pixel sur Mer, Ultim autopilots have transcended beyond being able to steer to course, apparent wind angle or even true wind angle. Depending on the point of sail, the pilot (using what’s referred to as its “safety overlay”) will now automatically head up or bear away when a gust hits, which it can detect by the wind instruments or an inclinometer. In extreme circumstances, they have systems to dump the sheets, although these too seem to be near-redundant. 

An interesting point of dispute between the Ultim teams is how much automation should be permitted. Caudrelier’s team is pro automation, while other teams are less so. As a result, the autopilot can perform these functions but cannot, for example, adjust the boat’s flying mechanism, to automatically set ride height, pitch, etc.

If capsize is less of a concern, then the skipper’s biggest worries are technical failures on their giant boats, as well as collisions. They have tried to overcome the former through sheer time at sea, testing and failing to improve reliability. Le Cléac’h, for example, says that in the past year, he has sailed Maxi Banque Populaire XI some 20,000 miles, or half a circumnavigation. This has been solo and crewed, in a mix of races, private sea trials and the Ultim fleet training en masse. To avoid collisions, the Ultims have all available kit from radar to AIS alarms to the latest tech such as SEA.AI, which uses a masthead-mounted camera array to see objects—floating or semisubmerged—in the water ahead of the boat. These are compared in real time with the SEA.AI’s huge and ever-growing database of objects to identify them as threats.

In the recent Transat Jacques Vabre, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild suffered rudder issues soon after the start (later found to be a delaminating starboard rudder) and then damage to its port J-foil, but it still finished the race. It seems, therefore, very likely that this level of attrition can be expected in the Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest. Caudrelier says that this proved to be a wake-up call for his team as well as valuable practice for how to deal with midrace technical issues. For example, the J-foil damage occurred after a small impact. “But while we were sailing, the damage increased,” he says. Perhaps it would have been faster in the long term to stop, fix the issue, and then continue, he muses. For bigger issues, race’s sailing instructions permit skippers to pitstop where their teams can join them to effect repairs, but in this case, they are obliged to spend a minimum of 24 hours in port as a penalty.

To help reduce risks, OC Sport Pen Duick, the race’s organizers, are ­imposing a movable virtual ice barrier as we have seen in other round-the-world races. Competitors must stay north of this, regardless of whether it drives them into high pressure or storms. Interestingly, they are also imposing exclusion zones around known breeding grounds for whales (yet to be defined at the time of writing).

The Arkea Ultim Challenge-Brest may be a solo race, but each campaign is genuinely a team affair. Ultim teams today are giant, some the scale of America’s Cup teams two or three decades ago, with their own in-house designers, engineers, hydro and aerodynamic specialists, and electronic and hydraulic experts. In the event of a technical issue during the race, skippers can now get immediate support using reliable satellite communications. The most consistent remote support each skipper gets is with their routing. In the Ultim class, shore-based routing is permitted. Le Cleac’h, for example, is using Dutch legend Marcel van Triest and French skipper/navigator Nicolas Lunven to provide round-the-clock routing assistance.

Ultims are fast—50 knots is very possible—but skippers are less interested in top speed and entirely focused on maintaining high averages of 30 to 35 knots. They don’t need much wind to achieve such a pace, however. An Ultim’s optimal conditions are broad-reaching in 20 to 25 knots. Any more wind than that, and the sea state gets too large to foil safely. Even in optimal wind conditions, skippers must back off if sea state and wave direction is not ideal. Understanding this is vital to the routing process.

The Ultims are potentially so fast that their routing team can go a long way in ensuring that they stay in optimal conditions. For example, in the Southern Ocean, if they can get into the optimal reaching conditions in flat water ahead of a front, they can potentially ride this for days. But the biggest limitation is the solo skipper. The Ultims typically carry a mainsail and four headsails, including two gennakers and a permanently hoisted J2, all set on furlers. Tacking and jibing requires the sails to be released and sheeted in, the mast to be canted and tacked, and foils and rudders to be raised and lowered. It’s a process that typically takes 20 to 30 minutes. Le Cleac’h says that the most time-consuming sail change is going from the J0 to the J1 because the sails are heavy (around 120 kg), and this can take up to an hour. Factoring all this into the routing is vital because the skipper on his own can do only so much.

“If reaching 95 percent of the boat’s potential requires making three jibes and four tacks and to change two sails, it will be difficult to do that if you are tired,” Le Cleac’h says. His routers offer him three options—from the one offering optimal performance to the easiest for him to achieve—which can be decided based on his energy level and capabilities.

One positive for the skippers is that the required endurance is comparably short compared with a Vendée Globe effort, but still, so much remains unknown as they embark on this extreme test of man and machine. 

“It is a bit like the first Vendée Globe,” Caudrelier says. “It is not quite the same because we know where we are going, but it is the first one, so it is a bit of an adventure. Usually you push to the maximum constantly, but for me, this is the first time I can’t do that. We will have to find the good balance between good performance and safety of the boat. That is an interesting exercise.”

• More: Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest , Print January 2024 , Racing , Sailboat Racing
• More Racing

Reineke’s Battle For the Berth

One-Design Wingfoil Racing Takes Off

Brauer Sails into Hearts, Minds and History

Anticipation and Temptation

America’s Offshore Couple

Jobson All-Star Juniors 2024: The Fast Generation

• Digital Edition
• Customer Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cruising World
• Sailing World
• Salt Water Sportsman
• Sport Fishing
• Wakeboarding

BoatNews.com

What is the purpose of the third wheel on the Ultim Sodebo trimaran?

The Sodebo trimaran, skippered by Thomas Coville and his crew, is equipped with a third wheel in the cockpit. What is its purpose? What is the purpose of this new setting?

An Ultim trimaran in flight rests on four legs

In flight, an Ultim rests on 4 points of support:

• the leeward foil
• the rudder of the float
• the rudder of the central hull
• central hull drift

In order to ensure flight stability, various settings are available to make the best use of the foil and the leeward rudder. The rake (incidence) and depth of the foil rudders are variable according to a multitude of sailing parameters.

In the end, when the trimaran flies above the waves , the submerged surface area is around 4m2, compared to 20m2 in static conditions.

A new setting for the Jules Verne

Like most Ultim class trimarans, Sodebo is equipped with two steering wheels, which the helmsman chooses according to the tack.

However, a steering wheel with a smaller diameter is installed in front of the helm station, where a crew member is seated in a bucket seat. This equipment was installed during the preparation work for the Jules Verne in 2020.

Sodebo's daggerboard, with a draught of 5m, is equipped with a skate wing type bearing surface, which provides additional support to stabilise the boat's longitudinal trim . As the Ultim class prohibits the use of electronic assistance, a crew member must manually regulate the inclination of this support plan.

Like a headsail trimmer who has to constantly adjust his sheet, the crew member constantly monitors the boat's trim and applies an appropriate action. He has these indications on a screen installed just in front of him. Depending on the data, the trimaran is either pushed or pulled on the bearing surface to ensure a homogeneous and linear trim of the trimaran .

The global authority in superyachting

• NEWSLETTERS
• Yachts Home
• The Superyacht Directory
• Yacht Reports
• Brokerage News
• The largest yachts in the world
• The Register
• Yacht Advice
• Yacht Design
• 12m to 24m yachts
• Monaco Yacht Show
• Builder Directory
• Designer Directory
• Interior Design Directory
• Naval Architect Directory
• Yachts for sale home
• Motor yachts
• Sailing yachts
• Explorer yachts
• Classic yachts
• Sale Broker Directory
• Charter Home
• Yachts for Charter
• Charter Destinations
• Charter Broker Directory
• Destinations Home
• Mediterranean
• South Pacific
• Rest of the World
• Boat Life Home
• Owners' Experiences
• Interiors Suppliers
• Owners' Club
• Captains' Club
• BOAT Showcase
• Boat Presents
• Events Home
• World Superyacht Awards
• Superyacht Design Festival
• Design and Innovation Awards
• Young Designer of the Year Award
• Artistry and Craft Awards
• Explorer Yachts Summit
• Ocean Talks
• The Ocean Awards
• BOAT Connect
• Between the bays
• Golf Invitational
• Boat Pro Home
• Pricing Plan
• Superyacht Insight
• Product Features
• Premium Content
• Testimonials
• Global Order Book
• Tenders & Equipment

SODEBO ULTIM 3

SODEBO ULTIM 3 is a 32.0 m Sail Yacht, built in France by Multiplast and delivered in 2019.

Her power comes from a diesel engine. She has a 23.0 m beam.

SODEBO ULTIM 3 is one of 387 sailing yachts in the 30-35m size range.

SODEBO ULTIM 3 is currently sailing under the France flag (along with a total of other 107 yachts). She is known to be an active superyacht and has most recently been spotted cruising near France. For more information regarding SODEBO ULTIM 3's movements, find out more about BOAT Pro AIS .

Specifications

• Name: SODEBO ULTIM 3
• Yacht Type: Sail Yacht
• Yacht Subtype: Multihull , Racing Yacht
• Builder: Multiplast

Yachts like this

From our partners, sponsored listings.

Published on November 13th, 2017 | by Assoc Editor

Sodebo Ultim’ Wins Transat Jacques Vabre

Published on November 13th, 2017 by Assoc Editor -->

(November 13, 2017; Day 9) – Thomas Colville and Jean-Luc Nélias on their maxi trimaran, Sodebo Ultim’ have won the Ultime class of the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre after crossing the finish line in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 10:42:27 (UTC), 7 days 22 hours 7 minutes and 27 seconds after leaving Le Havre, Normandy France. Sodebo Ultim’ sailed 4,742 nautical miles at an average speed of 24.94 knots.

Sodebo Ultim’ beat the previous record of 10 days 0 hours 38 mins set by Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin on Groupama 2 in the 60ft multihull class in 2007 (the last time the race finished in Salvador) by 2 days 2 hours and 31 mins.   Having match raced each other down the Atlantic after leaving Le Havre last Sunday, Thomas Colville and Jean-Luc Nélias struck a blow for experience by holding off Sébastien Josse and Thomas Rouxel on their newly-launched Maxi Edmond de Rothschild to win the 13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre.

Sodebo Ultim’ crossed the finish line in the Bay of All Saints in Salvador de Bahia on Monday, November 13, 2017 at 10:42:27 (UTC), 7 days 22 hours 7 minutes and 27 seconds after leaving Le Havre, Normandy, France. Sodebo Ultim’ sailed 4,742 nautical miles at an average speed of 24.94 knots. Their time smashed the previous record of 10 days 0 hours 38 mins 43 seconds set by Franck Cammas and Steve Ravussin on Groupama 2 in the 60ft multihull class in 2007 (the last time the race finished in Salvador) by 2 days 2 hours and 31 mins and 16 seconds.

Winner in Ultime category, Sodebo Ultim’, skippers Thomas Coville and Jean-Luc Nelias, in 7d 22h 7mn 27s, with flares during arrival of the duo sailing race Transat Jacques Vabre 2017 from Le Havre (FRA) to Salvador de Bahia (BRA), on November 13th, 2017 – Photo Jean-Marie Liot / ALeA / TJV17

“It’s a great win; we’ve built a great story with Jean-Luc and Sodebo, we can both break records and win races,” Colville said. “It was a huge contest from the first night.”

Colville and Nélias lost a hard-fought 2015 Transat Jacques Vabre to François Gabart and Pascal Bidegory by under eight hours. Gabart sent a message from deep in the South Atlantic, where he is 9 days into his attempt to break Coville’s solo round-the-world record. Josse will only get faster as he gets to know Maxi Edmond de Rothschild but Coville has shown he is far from yesterday’s man against these new kids on the block.

Sodebo Ultim’ had looked like playing the role of plucky underdog, hanging in there, but they have held the lead since taking it in the early hours of Thursday morning as Maxi Edmond de Rothschild were forced to gybe west into their wake.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild had started favourite as the bigger, newer beast on the block and Josse beat his own prediction of an eight-day finish, but it was not enough. They sailed further and faster – 4,838 nautical miles at an average speed of 25.21 knots – but finished just 1 hour 47 minutes and 57 seconds behind Sodebo Ultim’, but could not get close enough in the last 24 hours to suggest they would overtake. Josse and Rouxel arrived at 12:30:24 (UTC), a race time of 7 days, 23 hours 55 minutes and 24 seconds.

The smaller Ultime, Prince de Bretagne (Lionel Lemonchois / Bernard Stamm) is a distant third, 1,100 miles from the finish.

Multi50: Revenge of the Doldrums The two 90+ft Ultime finishers breezed through the Doldrums in a matter of hours two days ago, but they have come alive since then and have played the traditional roulette role for the 50ft trimarans. One hundred miles behind yesterday evening, Arkema is now almost breathing down the neck of FenêtréA-Mix Buffet, with a gap of just 1.6 miles – and Arkema is still somehow finding more boat speed. “It’s always a lucky dip in the Doldrums,” Vincent Riou, FenêtréA-Mix Buffet’s co-skipper said. A solid third, Réauté Chocolat will enter the Doldrums in the afternoon.

Imoca: How far west is best? At 16:30 UTC yesterday, Des Voiles et Vous! was the first to gybe and invest in the west. Less than two hours later, SMA and St Michel-Virbac did the same. Nobody wants to miss a shift west, which will be profitable tomorrow with the approach to the Doldrums, but how far is too far? Jean Pierre Dick and Yann Eliès have controlled the race from the start, and St Michel-Virbac is holding its 50-mile advantage over SMA, but is now further east than its pursuers.

Des Voiles et Vous! with a noticeably more pronounced gybe angle (does their big spinnaker have a hold in it) trail the leader by 100 miles still. They are advancing on the Doldrums, which is about 150 miles away, at 13 knots.

Class40: A new leader After almost a week in the lead, the Anglo-Spanish duo of Phil Sharp and Pablo Santurde (Imerys Clean Energy) were passed by the French duo Maxime Sorel and Antoine Carpentier on V and B in the morning, but the gaps is just 3.5 miles and Aïna Enfance et Avenir has closed too, so that there is just 8 miles between all three. It is another Atlantic match race with Imerys Clean Energy, now the most western and V and B, the most eastern separated laterally by less than 14 miles. In fourth place, TeamWork40 has been struggling to keep pace for the last two days. They will pass Cape Verde this evening.

Retirements: The Italian duo, Andrea Fantini and Alberto Bona informed the race office this morning that they had abandoned the race with damage to their starboard rudder damage probably related to a collision with a UFO. The skippers had diverted to Cascais three days ago to assess and try and fix the damage

Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss (Ciela Village, Multi50), who had stopped in Mindelo (Cape Verde) two days ago to try and fix autopilot and other problems, have been forced to abandon. They noticed a slight leak in the central hull of their trimaran, caused by a crack under the hull, in front of centerboard well, level with where the two support hulls connect.

Pit stop: Esprit Scout (Class 40) is still on a technical stop in Tenerife (Canary Islands) with delamination of their hull on the port bow.

Standings Date: 13/11/17 – 16h06

Class40 1 – V and B 2 – Imerys Clean Energy 3 – Aïna Enfance & Avenir

Multi50 1 – FenêtréA – Mix Buffet 2 – Arkema 3 – Réauté Chocolat

Imoca 1 – St Michel – Virbac 2 – SMA 3 – “DES VOILES ET VOUS!”

Ultim 1 – Sodebo Ultim’ 2 – Maxi Edmond de Rothschild 3 – Prince de Bretagne

Quotes from the Sailors

Thomas Coville, skipper of Sodebo Ultim’ (Ultime) Leaving Le Havre, we said that it would be a mano a mano. From the first night, we saw that it was going to be super close. We saw them pass by us in the same wind, I can tell you that Maxi Edmond de Rothschild overtaking you upwind at 40 knots is beautiful. In front of Guernsey, they impressed us because their way of sailing said: “we are here.” We were a little behind in this phase. After the downwind descent after the front, a very nice front by the way, we felt there was something weird. They rolled the gennaker away in the night and shifted. So, we shifted to the west too and passed them.

We thought maybe they wanted to play it safe. We didn’t know. But we gave everything until this morning. Last night, 100 miles from the finish, we felt they were throwing in the towel. It’s a very enjoyable moment. It’s a great win because it shows that we know how to do something other than records, we know how to win races. It’s a great story, we didn’t leave much in tank. The condition of the boat at the moment after the crossing we made is the result of a huge job. All the teams have evolved beautifully. What they did in two months on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild to get the boat to Bahia – it clearly means that it is a boat which has got more to say.

Jean-Luc Nélias, co-skipper of Sodebo Ultim’ (Ultime) It’s awesome! Winning a Transat Jacques Vabre! It’s a bit French-French, okay, but it’s winning, you have to fight for it. Eight days ago we were all together in Le Havre, and now we find ourselves in another continent, another hemisphere. We can take some measure of that because when we started to sail, it was inevitably on very slow boats. Then, you become aware of these distances.

One day you are in Cape Verde, the next day you are in the Doldrums. The day before yesterday we were in the Doldrums and then, that nigh,t we passed Brazilian fishermen. They could not have imagined that 48 hours before, we were in Cape Verde where we could speak the same language. When we left Le Havre, there was a full moon, every day it shifted in the sky, it was not in the same place. We are sailing on a planetary scale.

Sébastien Josse, skipper of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Ultime) You always have a knot in your stomach on a big trimaran. The exit from the Bay of Biscay wasn’t the most clement and we had our share of daily surprises. We had small problems with the foils that prevented us from flying. It handicapped us a bit, but it was great to sail in close contact, it’s very stimulating. It was on the last part of the course that we could have shown the difference, we could have gone very quickly. Finishing a few hours behind, is bit annoying, but we got the boat to Salvador de Bahia in one piece and that’s what we wanted.

Thomas Rouxel, co-skipper of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Ultime) It was stressful, but we had fun, we had close-contact match race with Sodebo Ultim’, it was awesome. It’s a double-handed multihull race, so the level of adrenaline is pretty high. We’re still buzzing, I feel well but I’ll dip at some point. It was an intense race, and we didn’t give up until the end.

Samantha Davies, co-skipper of Initiatives-Coeur (Imoca) “t’s going okay, we’re downwind until the Doldrums and we need to reposition to optimise the entrance. I’ve even seen other competitors on the water, we crossed five boats, there’s good fight going on us, visually or on the AIS, with Isabelle and Kito. I would like to know when we’ll get out of the Doldrums it’s always a surprise, we’ve been anticipating this for five days. Every new weather file says something different. Everything is working perfectly on board, we’ve had nice conditions these last few day, that’s allowed us to rest, we have a clear sky and pleasant temperatures, not too hot.

Andrea Fantini, skipper of Enel Green Power (Class40) As a result of the collision with a UFO, our starboard rudder is unusable and after thorough evaluations of the damage suffered, we are not position technically or in terms of safety to continue the Transat Jacques Vabre. We officially declare our abandonment. We will stay in Lisbon to make repairs.

Race details – Entry list – Tracker – Facebook

13th edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre • Biennial doublehanded race now 24 years old • Two founding partners: the city of Le Havre and brand Jacques Vabre • Four classes on the starting line: Class40, IMOCA, Multi50, and Ultimate • Starting November 5 in Le Havre (FRA) for the 4350nm course to Salvador de Bahia (BRA) n 2013, and again in 2015, all the boats flew past Salvador de Bahia, sails filled by the trade winds of the south-east, under the tropical sun…One imagines that they dreamt of finally finishing their race in All Saints’ Bay. In 2017, it will be a reality!

After the start line and a coastal route as far as Etretat, the duos will head towards Brittany to get out of the Channel as quickly as possible, where the currents are powerful, cargo traffic dangerous, and a lot of attention is needed.

They will then enter the Bay of Biscay, where, depending on the position of the Azores anticyclone, they will either find downwind conditions, easy and fast, like for the last Vendée Globe, or tougher and slower conditions in the passage of some late autumn depressions.

Four hundred miles later, having passed Cape Finisterre, the northern Portuguese trade winds should propel them quickly towards Madeira, and then the Canary Islands, where awaiting them will be northeast trade winds, which could be strong or weak.

Passing close to the Portuguese coast, or offshore, to the east or west of the Canary Islands and then the Cape Verde islands – you have to choose the right options. The next goal is to establish your position for the crossing of the dreaded Doldrums, located a few degrees north of the equator. At this time of year, it can change position very quickly, extend or contract, because even after carefully studying of the satellite images, sudden squalls can develop and stall the competitors under a good shower without wind for hours.

This passage is crucial in the Transat Jacques Vabre racecourse. Further west… Further east… After the calms, rainy squalls, with too much or no wind… The final goal is to get out well-positioned enough to benefit first from the southeast trade winds and to cover the remaining 850 miles towards the finish,passing along the islands of Fernando de Noronha, along the coast of Brazil and finally heading northwest into the magnificent All Saints’ Bay.

This transoceanic racecourse from North to South is more demanding than a transat from East to West; it requires the skippers to have sharp tactical and strategic qualities, good weather training, to be in excellent physical condition to maintain a sustained speed in the trade winds… And to have a lot of patience to cross the equator.

Source: Transat Jacques Vabre

Tags: records , Transat Jacques Vabre

Related Posts

VIDEO: Going where you shouldn’t go →

Record setting day on a monohull →

Curb the enthusiasm for records →

Getting the boats back to France →

© 2024 Scuttlebutt Sailing News. Inbox Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. made by VSSL Agency .

• Privacy Statement
• Advertise With Us

Get Your Sailing News Fix!

Your download by email.

• Your Name...
• Your Email... *
• Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

• The Latest / Boating/Yachting
•  / Tasmania

Around-the-world yacht race: Sodebo makes urgent stop in Hobart for repairs

• Pulse Tasmania
• Thursday, February 01 2024

A trimaran competing in an around-the-world yacht race has veered off its designated course to make an unscheduled stop in Hobart for urgent repairs.

Sodebo arrived in Hobart on Thursday morning, around 24 days into the Arkea Ultim Challenge, a global journey that started in Brest, France, on January 7.

The French organisers say six “Giants of the Seas”, each with a solo skipper on board, will attempt to complete a circumnavigation of the world from West to East via Good Hope, Leeuwin, and Horn Capes.

Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) have wished the solo skipper of Sodebo, Thomas Colville, the of best of luck for the remainder of his voyage.

“Let’s hope the shore crew for Sodebo can get her back in the race in a few hours,” MAST said.

Sodebo currently holds the second position, trailing behind Maxi Edmond de Rothschild.

However, it is anticipated that Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, currently located off the north-east coast of Tasmania, will soon overtake Sodebo.

More of The Latest

• Election 2024
• Greens promise to prioritise healthcare and housing over stadium
• Sat, 23 Mar

• White challenges Rockliff's confidence in election outcome

• Road Incidents
• Brighton Road blocked after car and motorbike crash

Tasmania News

• Rockliff claims 'win for Liberals' in state election

Sponsored Links

Share this article.

• CLASSIFIEDS
• NEWSLETTERS
• SUBMIT NEWS

Solo Ultim World Tour confirmed for 2023

Related Articles

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Coville sets incredible new 49-day solo round the world record – with a blistering average speed of 23 knots

• Elaine Bunting
• December 25, 2016

French solo sailor Thomas Coville has succeeded in his fifth attempt to break the solo round the world record with an incredible time of under 50 days

Solo sailor Thomas Coville has pulverised one of the hardest records in sport: the single-handed round the world record. He took his 105ft trimaran Sodebo Ultim over the finish line off Ushant on Christmas Day to set a new time of 49d 3h 7m, smashing the record set in 2004 by Francis Joyon by an incredible margin of 8d 10h.

This new sub-50 day record is one that exceeded all expectations, including perhaps Coville’s himself. It equates to a mind blowing average speed of 23 knots over the entire 27,325-mile course.

The previous record, set by Francis Joyon record in the maxi catamaran IDEC, had stood for 12 years and had resisted three previous unsuccessful attempts by Coville.

Thomas Coville

Thomas Coville’s long quest to gain this record has been punctuated by disappointment and, on two occasions, the bitterest of defeats. His previous challenges have all ended in retirement through damage and, on two attempts he completed circumnavigations only to miss out on the record by days.

But this time Coville had good fortune to match his skill, and benefited from favourable weather that sped him south through the Atlantic. With one gybe he entered the first Roaring Forties low pressure system and managed to stay ahead of a cold front with the following wind angle and low sea state in which his boat performs best.

Coville had no hesitation in diving south, much further than the Vendée Globe yachts have been allowed to do, in pursuit of the right winds and best VMG. He crossed the Indian Ocean in just 8 days ,12 hours and kept going through the Pacific to Cape Horn in 8 days 18 hours.

To put this in context, compare those times to the fully crewed round the world record times. Crossing the Indian Ocean took Banque Populaire V 8 days 7 hours in 2011 and Spindrift 2 8 days 4 hours in 2015.

Such weather occurs perhaps once a decade – and it has taken Coville all these attempts to find and make use of it.

Thomas Coville breaks the solo round the world record on Sodebo Ultim

He made these speeds despite hugely difficult conditions. Through much of the Indian Ocean, Coville experienced 30-40 knots of wind and 10m seas. “We often sailed under three-reefed mainsail and J3. It’s exhausting,” he said. “Living with it is not easy, because you have to be very focused and available for the boat. You have to be outdoors; there’s a lot to regulate.

“The problem there is that either you have too much canvas, or not enough canvas. It is therefore necessary to accept that, at times, you are sailing underwater. Sodebo is big, but in troughs of 10m waves it’s like a model yacht.”

Guided by his weather router, Jean-Luc Nélias, with whom Coville sailed in the the Volvo Ocean Race winner Groupama IV, and with help through 24 hours a day also from friend and fellow sailor Samantha Davies, Coville picked his way carefully through the south to avoid ice.

He had more favourable winds and a much quicker time back up the Atlantic than Joyon had in 2004, when the route was beset with headwinds. This meant Coville was able to extend the handsome lead of over 5 days he had accumulated at Cape Horn.

Coville communicated with his weather team using Skype instant message, and very rarely by speaking and every day the team would put weather maps, satellite photos, synoptic charts, wave height models, grib files and routeing options on an FTP server for Coville to pick up and download.

Coville’s previous failed attempts took a huge amount out of him psychologically, he has admitted.

On his first attempt in 2008, the same year Joyon set his superb record, the crash box of Coville’s theoretically faster trimaran was damaged in a collision, possibly with ice, and he had to retire.

On a second attempt, he endured some quite hair-raising times, including one occasion in the Southern Ocean when, overcanvassed for a squall, his boat lifted up onto one float and set off blindly on a huge surf. Coville was on the point of retreating to the cabin, the only place he’d be sure to survive a capsize, when the boat sat back down, picked up on another surf, and a piece of the traveller whistled by, decapitating both carbon wheels.

He went on to battle up through the Atlantic, only to finish 2 days outside Joyon’s record.

When he tried again in 2013, he suffered in the Southern Ocean, rounding Cape Horn some 800 miles behind the record time (potentially less than a day-and-a-half in such a yacht) and had no better luck in the Atlantic. Once again, he finished in Brest just days outside the record. He broke down in tears and was inconsolable.

Although not as well known outside France as he deserves to be, Thomas Coville is one of the most experienced and accomplished ocean racers in the world. He has now raced round the world eight times. He has twice won the Jules Verne Trophy for the outright (crewed) round the world record: in 1997 with Olivier de Kersauson on Sport-Elec and again in 2010 as part of Franck Cammas’s crew on Groupama 3.

He was also part of Cammas’s winning crew in the 2012/3 Volvo Ocean Race in Groupama 4. He has also race in the 2000/1 Vendée Globe, finishing 6th.

His trimaran, Sodebo Ultim, was originally Olivier de Kersauson’s trimaran Géronimo, built for an (unsuccessful) attempt by de Kersauson on the crewed round the record.

As Sodebo Ultim, little remains of the original configuration other than the platform itself, as it was completely modified by Coville and designers VPLP. A key feature is the foils the trimaran now sports, which came from the USA 17, Oracle Team USA’s 2010 America’s Cup winner.

Key statistics from the record

Start on 6 November at 13 hours 49 minutes and 52 seconds GMT

Passage of the equator: on 12 November at 07h 04min 54s GMT

Time from Ushant / Equator*: 5d 17h 15m 2s

Passage of Cape of Good Hope: 20 November at 18h 33min 40s GMT

Time from Ushant / Good Hope*: 14 days 4 hours 43 minutes and 48 seconds

Passage of Cape Leeuwin: on 27 November at 16:59 GMT

Time from Ushant / Cape Leeuwin: 21 days 3 hours 9 min and 8s

Indian Ocean Record* (Cape Agulhas /Tasmania): 8d 12h 19m on 29 November at 06:51 GMT

or 23h 47min faster than the previous record set by Francis Joyon in 2007 (9d 12h 6min)

Average speed: 25.16 knots for 5,325 miles

Time from Ushant / Tasmania: 22d 17h 1m 23s – or a lead of 2 days 5 hours 4 mins over the record set by Francis Joyon

Pacific Ocean record* (Tasmania/Cape Horn): 8d 18h 28m 30s or 1 day 19h 58min better than the previous record set by Francis Joyon in 2007 (10d 14h 26min)

Time from Ushant / Cape Horn: 31d 11h 30m 8s – Or a lead of 4 days and 59 mins over Francis Joyon’s record

Record Equator/Equator: 35 days 21 hours 38 min 6 sec – Or 5 days 11 hours 36 minutes better