News Around the World
Thomas Coville peaks out of his space-age canopy on Sodebo Ultim 3. Coville’s Bañuls/Sodebo/VPLP design is the most futuristic of the Ultim fleet but, launched in 2020, she now struggles to match the newer boats like Banque Populaire XI in terms of outright pace. However, everyone knows that the Arkéa Ultim Challenge is going to be as much about avoiding breakage as about top speed and no one has as much round-the-world experience as Coville, with countless attempts on the solo record which he finally took in 2016 on the previous Sodebo. Then slightly less than a year later François Gabart on Macif slashed almost a week off Coville’s 49-day mark…
round-the-world record with a time of just over 74 days. His friend and rival Charles Caudrelier (Gitana Team) is the winner
of the last Route du Rhum (solo). Charles joined the Gitana Team in 2019 and has also raced the Verdier-designed flying MaxiEdmond de Rothschildvery successfully with Franck Cammas. Before sailing multihulls Charles also spent a long time on the Figaro circuit (winning in 2004). He is a double winner of the Volvo Ocean Race, as a crew in 2012 on Groupamawith Franck Cammas, then as the skipper of Dongfeng in 2018. Skipper of Sodebo Ultim 3, 55-year-old Thomas Coville is the
doyen of the race and the most experienced of all with six solo round-the-world record attempts onboard ocean multihulls. Thomas, sailing under the Sodebo banner for a quarter of a century, has been sailing at the highest level since his teenage years. From the Mini 6.50 to the ocean multihulls (including the Orma 60 period), to the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race, this man is one of the most eclectic skippers of his generation. Twenty-six year-old Tom Laperche, from La Trinité sur Mer, is no
longer a hopeful in the sailing world. His performances over the last few years have already put him among the top sailors. At 11 he took a first dinghy world title. At 13 he crossed the Atlantic with his family. Later on he collected three podiums in La Solitaire du Figaro with a win in 2022. His career then flew to the top when François Gabart invited the young engineer onboard his new Ultim, SVR Lazartigue. They have sailed all the races together since and, finally, François gave him the helm of the blue weapon for the solo round-the-world race. Anthony Marchand also sailed at a high level in dinghies, then
spent a long time on the Figaro circuit, participating in nine Solitaires, winning three legs and twice reaching the final podium. In 2015 he discovered oceanic racing onboard Mapfre in the Volvo Race and later on raced in the TJV with the clever Italian skipper Giancarlo Pedote. In 2021 Yves Le Blévec chose him as his co-skipper aboard Actual Ultim 3 (Gabart’s previous Macif) in the TJV. The following year he became a replacement skipper for the Route du Rhum. In January 2023 he officially became the skipper of Actual Ultim 3. Finally 42-year-old Eric Péron was also a top-level dinghy sailor and then also a Figaro competitor (you really must be to reach this
26 SEAHORSE
level!). His boat for the Arkéa Ultim Challenge, named Adagio, is the quite old (2001) Geronimo, revamped when Thomas Coville bought her from Olivier de Kersauson (winner of the Jules Verne Trophy in 2004). Thomas sailed a lot on that trimaran, setting a new solo round-the-world record in 2016. Later on, this Sodebo became Actual, skippered by Yves Le Blévec, until the purchase of the ex-Macif by Yves. Adagio is the only non-foiler Ultim in the race and a late entry.
François Gabart – the way ahead We talked to François Gabart, the fastest solo sailor around the world since 2017, and whose SVR Lazartigue is sailed by his ’protégé’ Tom Laperche. François, who in 2012-13 won the Vendée Globe at his first attempt, set a fantastic solo record on 17 December 2017. The skipper of Macif smashed the previous record (now the Trophée Saint Exupéry) in 42d 16h, cutting Thomas Coville’s record in 2016 by over six days. During his record passage François also became the first solo skipper to exceed 800nm in a single day with a run of 851nm. Seahorse: After that prodigious performance you must have been thinking about getting back into racing… François Gabart: I really liked the thought of the solo round-the- world race, and after the record in my head I was already focused on this course which was originally planned for winter 2019. But first there was the damage the Ultims experienced in the Route du Rhum 2018, then Covid, then other events that postponed the race to January 2024… five years after the date originally scheduled! Meanwhile, I am busy running my company MerConcept, which
takes more and more of my time, so I became interested in part- nering then preparing a talented young sailor like Tom Laperche. Besides, I now have a lot of projects and I can’t do everything! SH: In 2017 it was a record attempt! Would you have gone faster in a race? FG: I don’t know… Remember for a record you choose the best time to leave. Based on the expectation for the first 10 days, which equals 25 per cent of the course, you pick your moment to go. In terms of pushing even harder, I really wanted to make the most stunning round-the-world trip possible, not only beat Thomas’s record (which
OLIVIER BLANCHET/ALEA
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