Seeing the Bigger Picture

We’re not much on heroes of any sort, but the individual who comes closest to fitting that description for us is Frances Joyon, the soft-spoken, semi-reclusive, and universally-admired French soul sailor who has astounded sailing experts with his singlehanded around-the-world and transoceanic exploits, and who is the current owner of the singlehanded around-the-world record. Back in ’08, Joyon sailed his trimaran IDEC II around the world in 57 days — just a few days longer than the crewed around-the-world record. Typical of Joyon is what he had to say about Thomas Coville’s attempt — aboard the 105-ft trimaran Sodeb’O — at the record attempt that wrapped up last Thursday, which fell short of Joyon’s record by 3.5 days:

"In a world where oil escaped from the sea bed for weeks on end offshore of New Orleans, a world where nuclear power stations are throwing out radioactive clouds, and where seawater has been irradiated to the extent that it has damaged life for generations to come, Thomas Coville has proven, through his journey around the world under sail, that natural energies aren’t lacking in strength.

"The fact that he hasn’t beaten the ’round-the-world record isn’t the most important thing. The key to this journey is that our circumnavigations of the globe, in crewed as well as solo configuration, have been more effective under sail than under power.

"Right now, no boat powered by an engine has managed to circumnavigate the globe as quickly as we do under sail, due to their weight and range associated with the massive amount of fuel required aboard.

"If our sailboats could influence the upcoming decisions about energy, which are both vital and urgent, they could help us understand that the only way forward is free of pollution, CO² and radiation, using natural energies: the wind, the current and the sun. Congratulations to Thomas for this fast, damage-free journey across the ocean."