Thomas Coville crossed the finish line of the Route du Rhum, Destination Guadeloupe in second place on Sunday at 12:42:05 local time (17:42:05 Paris time). The French skipper completed the course in 7 days, 4 hours, 40 minutes and 5 seconds, finishing 15 hours, 12 minutes and 25 seconds behind race winner Tom Laperche aboard SVR-Lazartigue.
It was a brutal race for Coville. He lost his large gennaker along the way, and it later emerged at the Pointe-à-Pitre dock that both foils on his Sodebo Ultim 3 had broken in quick succession. Despite that, the 58-year-old held off a hard-charging Louis Burton to secure the podium.
That he managed it at all, given the damage, says something about his resolve.
This is Coville's sixth podium finish from eight Route du Rhum campaigns. He spent the race caught between hunter and hunted, chasing an untouchable Laperche up front while fending off an incisive Burton from behind.
The finish caps an extraordinary year for the veteran skipper. Back in January, Coville set the solo round-the-world record, completing the Jules Verne Trophy in 40 days and 10 hours. He has spoken about wanting to inject fresh energy into his team, bringing in "new faces and new profiles to challenge ourselves," as he put it before the start.
Léonard Legrand's standout performance in the Ocean Fifty class backs that up.
Coville has also found himself watching a new generation of sailors emerge, Laperche chief among them. The connection runs deep: Laperche sailed aboard Coville's ORMA trimaran at just eight years old, long before becoming the Route du Rhum's latest winner.
Looking ahead, Coville plans to support Benjamin Schwartz in preparation for the Arkea Ultim Challenge, Brest. As for his own future, the tireless skipper, long accustomed to the hardships of ocean racing, is ruling nothing out.
"I don't set myself limits," he said before the start. "I never have."
