Jules Verne Trophy: the story of the record
The Jules Verne Trophy goes to the fastest crewed sail around the world, non-stop and unassisted. There is no start date: crews wait for a weather window in winter, then cross the line between the Créac'h lighthouse on Ushant and the Lizard in Cornwall. The theoretical course is 21,760 miles, leaving the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn to port.
The current record: Thomas Coville, 40 days 10 hours
On 25 January 2026, Thomas Coville and his six crew crossed the line aboard Sodebo Ultim 3 after 40 days 10 hours 45 minutes and 50 seconds (CNews, in French). They beat Francis Joyon's time, which had stood since January 2017, by 12 hours and 44 minutes. Their arrival in Brest is covered by France 3 Bretagne (in French).
The most telling figure is the distance actually sailed: about 28,315 miles for Sodebo, against 26,412 for IDEC Sport in 2017. Coville sailed nearly 2,000 miles more and was still faster.
Thirty years of records
From the trophy's history:
| Year | Skipper | Boat | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Bruno Peyron | Commodore Explorer | 79 d 6 h 15 |
| 1994 | Peter Blake, Robin Knox-Johnston | Enza New Zealand | 74 d 22 h 17 |
| 1997 | Olivier de Kersauson | Sport-Elec | 71 d 14 h 22 |
| 2002 | Bruno Peyron | Orange | 64 d 8 h 37 |
| 2004 | Olivier de Kersauson | Géronimo | 63 d 13 h 59 |
| 2005 | Bruno Peyron | Orange II | 50 d 16 h 20 |
| 2010 | Franck Cammas | Groupama 3 | 48 d 7 h 44 |
| 2012 | Loïck Peyron | Banque Populaire V | 45 d 13 h 42 |
| 2017 | Francis Joyon | IDEC Sport | 40 d 23 h 30 |
| 2026 | Thomas Coville | Sodebo Ultim 3 | 40 d 10 h 45 |
In 1993 Bruno Peyron became the first to sail around the world in under 80 days, the wager of Jules Verne's novel. Thirty-three years later the record has been halved. Crews have shrunk too: fourteen sailors on Orange II or Banque Populaire V, seven on Sodebo.
Further reading
The line and the track are on the Jules Verne Trophy page of the globe. The giant trimarans that attempt it also race the Route du Rhum: see the Ultim races page and the history of the Route du Rhum record. Alone on a monohull, the world still takes 64 days: that is the Vendée Globe record.