Following news that Francis Joyon is to challenge one of his records, Thomas Coville has announced that his 105 foot maxi trimaran Sodeb'O is currently moored at Brooklyn's Gateway Marina in New York, ready to set off on the North Atlantic record attempt - currently held by Joyon.

Sodeb'O has already covered nearly 40,000 miles around the world. Last winter, Thomas attempted to beat the solo round the world record and, twenty days after the start, the skipper broke the 24 hour speed record with an average of 25.8 knots, sailing 619.3 miles in the space of 24 hours.

A few minutes later, Sodeb'O lost one of its bows and the skipper was forced to retire from his round the world record attempt. Disappointed but never tiring of the adventure, Thomas headed back to South Africa. After over a month of repairs in Cape Town at the America's Cup base of Shosholoza, Thomas Coville and his crew left the South African coast bound for New York.

Coville aims to complete the route from New York to Lizard Point, Cornwall, single-handed in less than 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds, a time set by arch-rival Francis Joyon aboard his trimaran IDEC in 2005.

"It's true that the bar has been set high. Francis' route is exceptional once again. However, maintaining the maxi Sodeb'O at an average of over 19.75 knots over 2,980 miles for 6 days remains an achievable performance" confides the skipper of Sodeb'O. Crossing the Atlantic on a 105 foot multihull single-handed is an extreme challenge. "You react like a metronome in your manoeuvres, eating, slaloming. the most important thing is to keep up a good pace. I'm expecting to be at 200% for 6 days!"

Keep up with his attempt here
Yachting Monthly, 20 May 2008