Thomas Coville on Sodebo departs on his round the world solo record attempt

Thomas Coville has departed on his solo round the world non stop record attempt.

There is an article on Sailing Scuttlebutt here:

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2016/11/06/coville-starts-solo-record-attempt/

and the tracker for the attempt is here:

http://tour-du-monde.sodebo.com/

 

Good luck to him

 

Thomas Coville on the maxi trimaran Sodebo has made it to the equator in 5 days, 17 hours and 15 minutes improving on the current solo multihull record held by Francis Joyon of 6 days, 16 hours 24 minutes. What makes it even more impressive is that the new record is only marginally slower than the record set by Banque Populaire V in its fully crewed format that took 5 days, 14 hours and 52 minutes to cover the same segment.

https://www.sodebo.com/fr/voile/act...-solitaire-nouveau-record-pour-thomas-coville

 

Does this tri have powered systems like his other ones?

 

I don't understand what you mean by powered systems? There are no powered winches on this boat or his previous Sodebo trimaran as far as I know. If he had powered systems he would be ineligible to set records although obviously some non sailing systems are powered and the upside up cleats etc.

 

I understood that he did have powered winches and control systems needing to run a genset for the electricity on earlier efforts. I'll have to look it up again.

 

After a tough period of time with a relatively narrow band of pressure to gybe within Coville has transitioned to a better weather system.

http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2016/11/23/good-times-return-thomas-coville/

 

Cold and fast conditions in the deep south.

https://youtu.be/AykdqY0a2SQ



Translation thanks to Laurent over at Sailing Anarchy:

http://forums.sailinganarchy.com/index.php?showtopic=178019&&page=2

Here we go, reduced sails, I cannot make it smaller: 3 reefs. The sea state is heavy, but we have seen worse...

But we can't see a thing! It is dark and not very welcoming...

Days like this are very important; they are hard. But you have to work them well, because they allow you to get to the next level. It is a little bit like an exam! You must not fail!

We have been in strong winds for close to 10 days now, and it is tiring.

Speeds are high; another day at 30 knots average speed.

The Indian Ocean is almost over. He has been up to its reputation! (Thomas laughing)

We are going to start the Pacific Ocean, and I think the name is misleading...

Have a good evening...

I just learned that the All Blacks beat the Rugby French team... That's the only thing I know from the outside world! Not too many news in the past few days...



Good evening!

 

Thomas Coville is now on approach to Cape Horn which he should pass by tomorrow. The elapsed time is now 30 days and his 24 hour average is 26 knots.

 

Tasmania - Cape Horn : 10 seconds slower than Orange II !!!

 

Coville headed back up

Report from Scuttlebutt tonight: http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/2..._source=Email Newsletter&utm_term=Full report

 

How does he sleep? I'm sorry, but most of the reporting is in French that I have found.

 

They try to follow a pattern so that they can get sufficient sleep to keep functioning and maintain adequate energy to function. The autopilot takes care of most of the steering duties. It's very tough for them in areas where there is a lot of marine traffic.

 

autopilot

I thought they couldn't use electronics. Does that not include AP then? Couldn't there be a radar warning system that alarms if he is within 1 mile of hard anything, or is there? Thanks.

 

They can use electronics, some races have the electricity generated by solar/ wind etc.... other rules permit the use of a gas generator. I think racers should use natural energy systems to keep in the spirit of sailing.