Thomas Coville has claimed his sixth podium finish on the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, battling home in second place behind an untouchable Tom Laperche and ahead of an incisive Louis Burton, despite breaking two foils along the way.
At 58, Coville was the most experienced multihull sailor in the fleet and the reigning Jules Verne Trophy record holder with crew. On paper, though, he lined up in Saint-Malo as something of an outsider. Sodebo Ultim 3 is known to be less outright quick than the top boats in the Ultim class, but its versatility and solidity count for plenty across a winter transatlantic crossing.
From the start, Coville noticed the lighter boats capable of foiling early were taking command in a light-wind scenario that didn't suit him. The route towards Ireland and then the Azores looked straightforward enough, but the pace set by the leaders was merciless. Retirements from Actual Ultim 4 and Gitana 18 cleared up the podium picture, and sitting a solid third, Sodebo Ultim 3 was 100 miles behind Tom Laperche at the entrance to the weather trough, with Louis Burton on Armand Thiéry closing fast from behind.
Follow the leaders' ideal route and risk losing ground on pure speed? Or gamble on a different path and risk losing third to Burton?
Coville took matters into his own hands on the Tuesday, abandoning the ridge route and diving into a narrow north-westerly wind corridor, even though the weather models didn't back it as the winning move. What nobody knew at the time was that he had already broken a foil and was no longer racing on equal terms. He gybed repeatedly, lost his big gennaker (J0) in the process, and was forced back in behind Tom Laperche 24 hours later, by then the lone leader following Armel Le Cléac'h's capsize.
That capsize rattled Coville too. By Thursday's radio check-in he sounded on edge, worn down by conditions he described as one "where no situation is standard, where everything is wild".
To make matters worse, the Sodebo Ultim 3 skipper had to serve a 45-minute penalty for breaking a propeller shaft fuse at the start. He used a lull in the weather to make repairs with minimal time lost, focused by then on securing a strong second place, adding to his two previous podiums in 2006 and 2010, and his surprise monohull win back in 1998.
In the final thousand miles, Coville managed his lead over Burton with the composure of experience, pushed through a tropical depression, and nailed his approach into Guadeloupe. That was no small relief, given that four years ago Sodebo Ultim 3 got caught in a fishing device off the island, forcing him into an unplanned swim.
History nearly repeated itself anyway. On Friday the 13th, of all days, he broke his second foil. It explained the surprise at the finish: Sodebo Ultim 3 was no longer flying, and now everyone knew why.
It was a fine second place, earned the hard way. Afterwards, Coville spoke of the race's scars, and paid tribute to the young talent of Tom Laperche, whose rise he has watched up close. Credit too for Louis Burton, the IMOCA convert, who has shown that the Ultim class isn't quite as exclusive as it might seem.
