MONSTERS OF THE DEEP

Many of the racing world’s record breakers cast off from Brittany, or the adjoining province of Vendee and the fastest of them are the ultime trimarans, 100-foot-plus monsters of the deep who chase the low-pressure systems around the globe to claim the Jules Verne Trophy.

There’s only a handful of them so being invited onto the newest, Sodebo3, was the highlight of my three-week assignment in NW France earlier this year, especially as I spent time with superstar skipper Thomas Coville and designer Renauld Banuls.

Record-breaker Thomas went around the world solo in a staggering 49 days in his previous ultime but had just launched the Sodebo3 (costing €10million) a few days before my arrival in La Trinity Sur La Mer, an hour’s drive north of the major town of Nantes.

…because of their scale and the shape of the foils, you can push them hard.

A deafening noise from the mast hydraulics filled the air as I climbed over the 100-foot ama of the mast. “You have to think and act differently on this boat and the cockpit here allows us to lower the boom,” laughed Thomas when I questioned the design.