TEAM SOBED'OSobed'O is a 105' Maxi Trimaran Ready for Record-Setting 

Thomas Coville and his 105' maxi trimaran Sobed'O are waiting at a Brooklyn, New York marina for the right weather window bo begin a new record attempt at a North Atlantic crossing. The current record of 6 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 37 seconds is held by Francis Joyon, who established the mark in 2005 aboard his trimaran iDEC.

"It's true that the bar has been set high," said Coville. "Howver, maintaining the maxi Sobed'O at an average of over 19.75 knots, over 2,980 miles for 6 days remains an achievable performance," he added.

Coville's confidence may be justified.  During an abortive round-the-world record attempt last year, he broke the 24-hour speed record with an average of 25.8 knots, sailing 619.3 miles in that one day.  Unfortunately for the record attempt, just a few minutes after setting that record, the trimaran lost one of it's bows and Coville was forced to give up on the record attempt.

Coville took Sobed'O to a South African yard where repairs were made, then brought the boat to New York to prepared for the trans-Atlantic record attempt. During the last few days, the team has re-configured the yacht for the record attempt by removing the crew bunks, lightening the tool kit, emptying the diesel fuel tank and dismantling the engine's propeller shaft.

The record attempt will follow the traditional route from New York to Lizard Point in Great Britain. A century ago, it took the 184-foot schooner Charlie Barr, with its 50-man crew, 12 days and 4 hours to make the crossing. The Sobed'O team plans to wait in New York for an approaching low-pressure system.  "Ideally, I'll set out ahead (of the low), which will push us all the way to the finish line," said Coville.