Video: Sodebo sets new Cape Leeuwin Record - Is the Jules Verne Trophy now in reach?

Sodebo 3 Ultim © Jeremie Lecaudey

We start today's video with some stunning drone footage sent inn from the Sodebo team, taken on 30th December in the Indian Ocean. This really demonstrates just how fast this yacht is travelling, and remember they've been doing this 24/7 for over 17 days, without a break.

We then take a look at the round the world course.

The Sodebo team have smashed record after record over the first 17 days.

The first major point is crossing the equator from north to south, which the Sodebo team completed in 4 days, 4 hours and 2 minutes, smashing the previous record set by Spindrift of 4 days, 20 hours and 7 minutes, and put them over 500 nautical miles ahead of Francis Joyon's IDEC Sport, who currently hold the Jules Verne Trophy and the round the world record.

The Sodebo team then stayed close to the South American coastline as they made their way down the South Atlantic and extended their lead to over 1000 nautical miles. In this animation, the yellow boat is Sodebo, with the red boat being the course that IDEC Sport took in 2016/17 when they set the record. This was a slow section for Joyon and his team back then, but Sodebo has had to take a longer route that IDEC Sport, who managed to cut the corner of the Saint Helena high pressure system. Thomas Coville and his team though smashed the record to the Cape of Good Hope, setting a new reference time of 10 days, 23 hours and 55 minutes, beating Gitana's record of 11 days, 9 hours and 53 minutes, and was nearly two days quicker than Joyon and IDEC Sport's time.

The threat though in the deep south is icebergs.

The team have to balance up the benefits of the shorter route, and potentially stronger winds, to the south, with the danger of hitting one of these, which wouldn't just be an end of their record attempt, it would put their lives in severe danger.

The passage across the Indian Ocean is when IDEC Sport enjoyed a near-perfect run, and Sodebo could do nothing as they watched their lead reduced to under 200 nautical miles at times as they gybed to find the best winds, knowing that Joyon and his team back in 2016/17 covered the entire ocean on one gybe at incredible speed. Sodebo has though held the lead and set a new record to Cape Leeuwin of 17 days, 1 hour, and 17 minutes, over 5 and a half hours quicker than IDEC's time.

We end today’s video with another amazing drone flight, from start to finish, recorded on 29th December.

At the time of recording, Sodebo is to the south of Australia, having covered 770 nautical miles over the past 24 hours at an average speed of 32.2 knots as the crow flies. The Pacific Ocean saw IDEC Sport having to duck north after passing New Zealand, which took them off the ideal path. If Thomas Coville and his team have good weather systems in the Pacific then they could rebuild their lead over the reference time and set a new record to Cape Horn, setting themselves up for the final push up the Atlantic.

You can track Sodebo via sodebo-ultim3.sodebo.com