Thomas Coville’s turn to abandon his attempt to break the record

Setting off a few hours apart, François Gabart, Thomas Coville and their crews finally gave up their attempts against the round-the-world sailing record (Jules Verne Trophy) within the same time frame. After the abandonment of the first, announced Tuesday, December 3 in the morning, the second announced, at the end of the day, that he was giving up in turn.

Like the maxi-trimaran SVR-Lazartigue of Gabart, the Sodebo Ultim 3 de Coville was the victim of damage which his team made official in a press release. It shows the exchanges between the crew of the sailboat and its technical unit on land.

– “3:11 p.m.: problem on the saffron of the CC [coque centrale].

– 3:12 p.m.: we saw, more data around the flap: cylinder pressure, rod position and pp fiber

(…)

– 3:13 p.m.: we have surely lost all the rudder”

In other words, “as he progressed in the trade winds towards the Equator, Sodebo Ultim 3 [a dû] interrupt his attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy following damage to the central rudder”, explains Thomas Coville’s team.

A mechanical problem or shock

The skipper had launched his attempt to beat the record established in 2017 by Francis Joyon and his team on IDEC Sport (40 days 11:30 p.m.: 30 s.) on the evening of Friday, November 29. Like François Gabart, who left the next morning, he planned to take advantage of a good weather window allowing him to cover the miles at very high speed.

“Investigations are underway to find out if the breakage of the central rudder stock is due to a mechanical problem or an impact”specifies the Sodebo Ultim 3 team. Thomas Coville, Frédéric Denis, Pierre Leboucher, Léonard Legrand, Guillaume Pirouelle, Benjamin Schwartz and Nicolas Troussel chose to turn around and return to their base, in Lorient, in an attempt to repair their mount.

At this stage, and undoubtedly awaiting a detailed assessment of the damage to the maxi-trimaran, the team is not talking about any future attempt against the record.