Posts tagged around the world
29
Sep 13
Sep 13
Armel Le Cléac’h and the Maxi Trimaran Solo Banque Populaire VII
Marseille, France 43º17’13″N 5º20’02″E
Armel Le Cléac’h and the Maxi Trimaran Solo Banque Populaire VII before at the start of the TransMed record attempt which they just set in 18h 58min & 13sec, beating Thomas Coville’s time onboard Sodebo in the first solo multihull record time of the so called TransMed route between Marseille (France) and Carthage (Tunisia) of 25 hours 36 minutes and 36 seconds.
Photo assignment for Banque Populaire.
11
Sep 12
Sep 12
Thomas Coville & SODEBO
Marseille, France 43º15’16″N 5º17’46″W
“Ground Control To Major Tom …”
With barely enough time for the average astronaut to recover from the impressive round-the-world victory onboard Groupama70 in the Volvo Ocean Race, capitaine Thomas Coville is recharged and at it again onboard his faithful red Sodeb’o maxi-trimaran. The weeks ahead will see the Sodeb’o seacraft slicing through the ocean at full kip chasing new reference times to add to her impressive stable. First on the agenda, Thomas and his machine are attempting the singlehanded multihull TransMed record which is currently held by Pascal Bidegorry at the helm of Banque Populaire V. This attempt will be followed directly by the solo multihull Cadiz-San Salvador passage, a speed record quite familiar in the Sodeb’o universe seeing as Thomas has held the best time from 2005-2008. He would like nothing more than to reclaim this record from Francis Joyon before the close of 2012. We wish Thomas and the team only the best wind and waves for this ambitious program.
As is evident in this latest gallery of training and stress-tests, Thomas and the Sodeb’o spacecraft are well dialed in and up for the challenge… no matter what the atmosphere.
Blast Off sequence commencing in 10…9….8……
Words: Fred Eagle
Transmed Records:
Multihull Record fully-crewed : 14 hours 20 minutes and 34 seconds (May 2010)
Multihull Record holder: Pascal Bidégorry (France) sailing Banque Populaire V
Monohull Record singlehanded: 1 day 21 hours 20 minutes and 29 seconds (June 2009)
Monohull Record Holder: Kito de Pavant (France) sailing Groupe Bel
16
Dec 11
Dec 11
Orange II
Vannes, Brittany, France 47°38'56"N 2°45'39.78"W
Fade to Orange
Orange 2 was a battlewagon of a solution to the Jules Verne problem that turned out to be the right tool for a 50-day job in 2005, but the way the trimarans Groupama 3 and then BP5 shattered just about every record that Bruno Peyron’s big cat took brings up an obvious question: Will we ever see a new record-breaking maxi cat again? This study in geometry comes from earlier this year at the Multiplast yard in Vannes, Brittany.
Words: Alan Block
13
Jul 11
Jul 11
Sodebo the Razors Edge
Saint Philibert, Brittany, France 47º34’26″N 3º00’24″W
Another surreal view from the lens of Christophe Launay, this time from the Sodeb’O shed in La Trinité, where the big trimaran is being cleaned up and mothballed until Thomas Coville gets back from his Volvo Ocean Race campaign aboard Franck Cammas’ Team Groupama.
Meanwhile, Francis Joyon, Coville’s nemesis in the record-breaking game, is on standby with IDEC in Brooklyn, NY, readying for his chance to crush Coville’s solo transatlantic record of 5 days, 19 hours, 29 minutes and 20 seconds. For comparison’s sake, Rambler 100, the most powerful and modern of racing monohulls, just had a brilliant crossing last week of 6 days, 22 hours, with about 20 more mouths to feed than Joyon…
Words: Alan Block
31
Mar 11
Mar 11
Sodebo, Thomas Coville Arrival
La Trinité sur Mer, Brittany, France 47º33’78″N 3º00’85″W
Christophe Launay was on hand to catch some memorable shots of poor Thomas Coville after his third attempt at the solo RTW record in three years fell short. “Valiant Tom” and Sodeb’O were beaten first by a damaged ama, but ultimately by an uncooperative North Atlantic. Given his clear love for the massive challenge he faces at beating the near-perfect run Francis Joyon put together to get the record, we hope to see him try again next year. BRAVO Thomas!!
Words: Alan Block 
15
May 10
May 10
Pink Star: Jessica Watson
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 33º49’26″S 151º18’73″E
Jessica Watson, crosses the finish line of her unassisted solo voyage around the world in her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady S&S (Sparkman and Stephens) 34 at Sydney Harbour.
One 16 year-old girl, weighing about 100 pounds, just sailed a heavy 34′ cruiser around the Southern Ocean – alone – without stopping. She stood up to rogue waves as she stood up to critics, taking the shot, rolling back upright, and continuing on her way. Her pictures and notes were always cheerful and bright, and she seems incapable of a frown, and her accomplishment blows away those 99% of the population.
