Coville succeeds

60ft Sodebo demolishes Route of Discovery record held by 90ft IDEC

French solo sailor Thomas Coville crossed the San Salvador finish line at 20:30:50GMT this even to set a new solo record for the Route of Discovery course west across the North Atlantic from Cadiz, Spain in a time of 10 days, 11 hours, 50 minutes and 20 seconds.

This broke the previous record held by Francis Joyon and the 90ft trimaran IDEC by 15 hours and 27 minutes, although this still awaits ratification from the World Sailing Speed Record Council. Sodebo made the 4,614 mile crossing via the mandatory mark off the Canary Islands at an impressive average speed of 18.3 knots.

Coville was lucky to arrive when he did as San Salvador is now feeling the effects of Hurricane Dennis, which is this evening moving over central Cuba with winds exceeding 100 knots. Sodebo crossed the line in 30 knots of wind sailing at 24 knots, having sailed most of the way under her large genniker, making speeds usually between 18 and 25 knots. This will bode well for next year's Route du Rhum between St Malo and Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe.

Patricia Brochard, Joint President of Group Sodebo, who makes frozen foods such as pizza, expressed admiration for her skipper. "We admire the ability of Thomas to succeeded in setting himself goals and managing situations. This record is an example of courage and the world needs his kind of example."