Sailors Break Around-the-World Record in 40 Days

Six sailors and their skipper just proved that dreams fueled by decades of determination can change what humans thought possible on the open ocean.

Thomas Coville and his crew aboard Sodebo Ultim 3 crossed the finish line off the French coast this morning, completing a non-stop sail around the world in 40 days, 10 hours, and 45 minutes. They shattered the previous record by nearly 13 hours, a milestone that had stood unbroken since 2017 despite 13 attempts by other teams.

The numbers tell an astonishing story. The team covered 28,315 miles at an average speed of 27.17 knots, reaching the equator in just over four days and rounding the Cape of Good Hope in under 11 days. At the halfway point, they were maintaining a blistering 32.1 knots.

But this wasn't a smooth victory lap. The crew faced ice fields in the Southern Ocean, had to add extra miles due to tricky weather systems in the South Atlantic, and battled 50-knot winds from Storm Ingrid in the final stretch. The storm damaged their starboard rudder casing and forced them to slow down just miles from breaking the symbolic 40-day barrier.

For 68-year-old skipper Thomas Coville, this represents the culmination of a life dedicated to pushing boundaries. He'd previously set two Jules Verne Trophy records as crew member and spent a decade attempting a solo circumnavigation before succeeding in 2016. Over the past six years, his Sodebo team made three attempts at this record, each ending in equipment failure as their cutting-edge foiling trimaran pushed technology to its limits.

Why This Inspires

What makes this achievement remarkable isn't just the speed. It's the persistence. Thirteen teams tried and failed to break the 2017 record. Coville's own team failed three times before this attempt. Each failure could have been the end of the dream.

Instead, Coville and his sponsors at Sodebo, a family-run company that has backed him for 27 years, kept believing. As co-president Patricia Brochard said at the finish: "What we love is seeing men and women united around a common project, with unwavering determination."

Even as Storm Ingrid threatened to derail their record attempt in the final hours, Coville sent a message to supporters: "There are seven guys out here having a blast and dreaming of sharing it with you!"

They showed us that the gap between impossible and inevitable is filled with people who refuse to give up.