Thomas Coville's radical new maxi-trimaran, Sodeb'O arrived in France last month after her maiden voyage from Australia.  Built at BoatSpeed near Sydney, the 32-metre (105-ft.) Nigel Irens-Benoit Cabaret designed Sodeb'O has been developed to take long distance solo records in her stride.

With a beam of 54-ft., the boat looks set to be a rocket ship.  All primary sail controls are led aft and by working closely with Benoit’s technical team all winches drive from a single pedestal using a custom overdrive gearbox. The drive train solution gives increased power to the primaries, traveller, slave and halyard winches which can all be operated from the safety of the specially constructed cockpit.

Sodeb'O also has a Lewmar custom double ball race (DBR) mainsheet car, specifically designed for this super-fast tri.  With two rows of Torlon balls circulating in machined races, one above the other, the cars are designed to reduce point contact within the bearing system, thus reducing the loads required to tow the car. 
 
Because of Sodeb'O’s aft beam structure, a horizontal curved radius track was made to custom dimensions.  This design enables a constant sail shape through any traveller position.  The double ball race system allows the cars to be halved in length, maximizing travel and giving a more compact design.