More records ahead for Coville

First up is the Miami to New York time

2005 has so far been a successful one for Thomas Coville, having already won the Oryx Quest on board Doha 2006, the first to set the Record SNSM around the Breton coast and then a week ago setting a new solo time for the Route of Discovery course between Cadiz and San Salvador.

On a roll, Coville has delivered his red 60ft trimaran Sodebo up to Fort Lauderdale and plan to leave for Miami on Sunday where he will make an attempt on the record from Miami to New York. 'What record from Miami to New York?' you ask? This record does exist and is currently held by Steve Fossett and PlayStation with a time of 2 days, 5 hours and 54 minutes. No singlehanded record currently exists for this course.

So how does he feel having broken the Route of Discovery record? "It puts confidence into all the team to have had such success on the longest record of our program this year. It was a difficult and a tough time and we managed it without damaging the boat. The last ten days we have been giving the boat a thorough technical check-up. We will continue to improve the boat for these next two records and also will the prospect in mind of the 2006 Route du Rhum as the conditions we encountered here will be very similar to that. We have lots of new ideas for the sails, the electronics, etc."

Which suffered the most, you or the boat? "Me, for sure. I still need to improve managing my sleep and the food, but we are getting close to reaching the optimum. 12 hours before my arrival, I was at the limit of what I can deal with in terms of sleep deficiency. It is the first time that I was afraid from my lack of sleep and the physical consequences that can result from that. It was necessary to negotiate the islands and you do not know if the boat will stop without you attending it. But all was well. It is not the boat which cracks before you."

"How does one recover from a voyage like that? "The first night, I collapsed, almost comatose. I really didn't know if had arrived or not. I had dreams, some nightmares... I was very shocked by Francis's accident [Joyon is a close friend] and I saw myself not being able to stop and missing the finish. But afterwards I slept well and ate a lot of proteins to build myself back up and after about 48 hours, I was alright again. Then on the third day, I started training again. It helps me to concentrate, and motivates me to want to set sail on Sunday. It is a little like my own personal triathlon these three records, after swimming, there is the bicycle and then race. It prevents me from letting up."

And what about this record from Miami to New York? "It is approximately 1,000 miles on the direct course and it has never been attempted singlehanded, so we will set the reference time. We are not in a particularly great weather situation for it but we want to limit the risks and make it to New York as fast as possible. On Sunday, we will have an easterly or southeasterly wind of 10-15 nodes which it will then weaken, and will go west, but once it is west it should allow us to finish quickly. In total the record should take three days."

Following his Miami-New York passage, Coville will go on standby for an attempt on Joyon's new west to east transatlantic record, most likely to take place in August.