End of stand-by in New York for Thomas Coville and Sodeb'O
14.08.2009
Thomas Coville on Brooklyn bridge
Holder of the solo North Atlantic crossing record, the skipper of Sodeb'O really hoped that he would encounter optimal conditions this year to enable him to improve on his record time of 5 days and 19 hours. Instead, it has to be said that he’s getting to know his boat increasingly well and she has evolved a great deal.
These technical evolutions, added to the extraordinary knowledge and experience of the skipper in terms of solo sailing, could have enabled Thomas to improve on the reference time set by Sodeb’O in July 2008 by a few hours.
However the weather, justice of the peace in these record attempts, didn’t come up with the necessary conditions to enable Sodeb’O and her skipper to envisage improving their time. Indeed, it would have taken a low traversing the entire width of the Atlantic at a speed of between 20 and 25 knots, the average speed at which Thomas is able to drive Sodeb’O single-handed. Setting off ahead of the front, the skipper could have then targeted an express crossing on flat seas, a scenario which hasn’t presented itself since the start of stand-by on 28th June 2009. “The records have reached a requirement level which forces us to be with the weather system all the more,” confides the skipper.
Thomas, currently in New York with several members of his team, is unable to conceal his disappointment: “We got the boat into stand-by mode in New York with the whole Sodeb’O team some two months ago and since then, we haven’t had a single favourable weather window to attempt to beat the solo North Atlantic record in under 5 days and 19 hours. It’s true that there are years without such systems. It’s all part and parcel of record attempts, though it’s hard to accept.”
And he continues: “Our playmates, Groupama 3 and Banque Populaire V, raced across the North Atlantic in a fabulous time. That means that conditions were good and that they were really suited to their big boats in crewed configuration. These conditions could at no time be favourable for single-handed sailing in the sense that the low, which carried them to the other side, was going much too fast for a boat driven by a single man as is the case for Sodeb’O.”
Thomas will deliver the boat home next week either in single-handed or crewed configuration, from which point he will begin “a public relations programme in La Trinité-sur-Mer followed by some further testing on the race zones of North West France, in order to round off 2009. As such it will have been a very rich year in terms of technical developments, notably with a view to next year’s Route du Rhum.”
DOCUMENTS LIÉS À CET ARTICLE
- Voir les articles liés
- 29/07/09 : NEWS - No departure for single-handed sailor Thomas Coville today
- Toutes les news
Par Hurth : Plein de réussite pour le calendrier 2010, refais-nous vibrer comme les années précédentes. A bientôt. Par Vanessa : Quel programme pour 2010 !!! Je te souhaite de grandes victoires et je suis certaine que tu y parviendra. 2010, c'est ton année Thomas !!! Je te suivrai de près en tout cas.
