JULES VERNE RACE DRAMA

 31 January 2026: 

End of January; 1/12 of 2026 gone we on the East Coast of the United States are feeling the full might of Mother Nature's winter! In fact, for the first time in many years, my friends in New Jersey and New York are iceboating in local waters- a real treat for them.[ed: your scribe was for many years an iceboat sailor, but as of now, there are no frozen lakes here in the Southwest of Florida.] But fond memories abound of sixty, seventy MPH producing ice chips bouncing of your face shield and your helmet as we screamed around our rivers. And speaking of racing, the Jules Verne around the world race is finishing (it has by now) and two contestants battling for line honors suffered the worst offered by the Bay of Biscay. From Yachting World.

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Damage for Sodebo and The Famous Project in final miles of Jules Verne record bids

The two teams making Jules Verne Trophy attempts have both faced damage to their trimarans in their final approaches to the finish line off Ushant, northern France. Sodebo has suffered damage to their seaboard rudder sleeve in ferocious seas, while The two teams making Jules Verne Trophy attempts have both faced damage to their trimarans in their final approaches to the finish line off Ushant, northern France.

Thomas Coville’s Sodebo is this afternoon, Saturday 24 January, just 400 miles from the finish line and more than 470 miles ahead of the record pace set by Francis Joyon on Idec Sport in 2017. They are expected to finish around 0700 tomorrow, Sunday 25 January, and are currently on course to break the around the world non-stop record.

However, it will truly go to the wire and the record is likely to be broken by hours, rather than below the 40-day barrier.

The Famous Project has almost completely lost the use of their mainsail

Yesterday the Ultim Sodebo sailed through winds of 40-knots while tracking around Storm Ingrid, sailing under J3 and a reefed mainsail, intentionally making slow progress to the north rather than sailing at a reaching angle – around 90° becomes a ‘no go zone’ in these conditions for the Ultim trimarans.

 

Despite nursing the boat in atrocious sea states, the team sent photos of the starboard rudder sleeve ripping off, the carbon shredding under force.

In the team update they explain that, although dramatic, the damage should luckily have little impact.

“This incident could have affected the rudder and steering system, but fortunately the robustness of the systems allowed the steering system to remain intact. Only the rudder trim tab is lost.

“In the evening, the sleeve detached from the boat, seemingly without causing any further complications.”

Skipper Thomas Coville added: “We had a hell of an encounter with Ingrid, with gusts of over 50 knots and 8 to 10-meter swells.

“The last 36 hours have been the most difficult and longest of this attempt: we’ve damaged more things than during the entire round-the-world voyage.

“A breaking wave ripped off a support that allowed us to raise and lower the rudder, and we’re lucky because it’s still operational. Naturally, this adds extra tension and stress on board.

“Were working hard to find the physical, technical, and mental resources. This is what the crew is doing perfectly, just like the shore team that prepared the boat.”

This afternoon the boat was back up to 30-knot speeds.

Follow at https://sodebo-ultim3.sodebo.com where there will be live updates as the team approaches the finish tomorrow, with a live video broadcast of their arrival.

Famous Project loses mainsail

Meanwhile the all-female team The Famous Project are continuing on their non-stop around the world voyage despite having completely lost the use of their mainsail.

The Famous Project, skippered by Alexia Barrier together with Dee Caffari, is not in the running for an all-out circumnavigation record, but have committed to setting a benchmark time as the first all-female crew to complete the non-stop around the world lap.

The Famous Project is currently around 800 miles from the finish, mostly sailing under bare wingmast and headsail alone. The mainsail of their giant trimaran initially tore at the second reef — a setback, but manageable given the strong wind conditions they faced in Biscay. However, the mainsail then ripped from luff to leech, leaving it unable to be hoisted, and the crew were reliant on the power generated by the giant wingmast, together with a headsail.

 “We are sailing with just the headboard of the mainsail plugged in and the mast (the rotational mast is 30 square metres on its own,” Caffari explained on Facebook.

 

After some reconfigurations, she then updated today: “The final stretch is getting smaller. We survived the storm conditions and now enjoy a slight respite for a few hours.

“In this time we have looked at how we can make best use of the sails we have available. We now have the head of the mainsail hoisted as a reef it never knew it had and the J2. This is giving us some better and more consistent boat speeds. This afternoon we will see an increase in wind but with the right angle we can make use of this with our limited sail area.

“Tomorrow will test us once more with wind and waves but we have handled it once, we will not be beaten by it now!”

The trimaran, which was formerly Idec Sport, has also lost the use of its starboard daggerboard and both autopilots have ceased functioning. Follow their progress at https://thefamousproject.io/

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Scary stuff for sure and these intrepid sailors don't quit - they fight on! Well done and congratulations on finishing - whether you got the record or not!  See below:

UPDATE: 

 When Alexia Barrier's giant trimaran, The Famous Project crossed the Ushant finishing line off the Brittany coast after 57 days at sea, she and her crew entered the record books. The eight strong crew were now the first all female crew to complete a non-stop circumnavigation. Their initial target was to make an assault on the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest fully crewed lap of the planet in the trimaran that had set the record that has only just fallen back in 2017. And while they knew this target was ambitious, they were also aiming to set a new reference time for an all female crew. And that is now done. The only previous all female campaign was by Tracy Edwards aboard Royal & Sun Alliance back in 1998 which ended in the Southern Ocean after the cat was dismasted. And when you look at the overall stats for the race it's easy to see what a challenge this has been for anyone that has taken it on. Until 2025 there had been 30 Jules Verne attempts in total and only 14 had successfully circumnavigated the globe. Of these, only 9 had achieved a record. So, as The Famous Project became the 16th to complete the course they entered the record book too.

AND:

 Thomas Coville and his team on Sodebo Ultim 3 has smashed the Jules Verne Trophy Record set by Francis Joyon and his team on IDEC Sport. The record was held for a day under nine years. After navigating their way through Storm Ingrid to cross the Bay of Biscay, the team finished in the darkness on the morning of Sunday 25th January. IDEC Sport's time in 2016/17 was 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes and 30 seconds. Sodebo Ultim 3's in 2025/26 was 40 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes and 50 seconds. [ed: while not exactly "smashing" the record, they did set a new one!]

Until next time, stay safe (and warm)!

                                             Fair winds

                                                        Old Salt 

 

 

UNEXPECTED ARTIFACTS

 16 January 2026: 

Two weeks into the new year and it seems like little has changed or improved! Not sure what we expected, but I guess "hope springs eternal!" So on we go. Now, at the risk of offering more "shipwreck" information, (we have been accused of being nothing but a shipwreck site in the past) we bring you from Fox News an interesting piece on the unusual artifacts found in some of the wrecks - possibly some of the ones we have written about in these pages. 

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 When thinking about items on a shipwreck, one might imagine a treasure chest full of coins, stacks of gold bars, ship cargo or passengers' personal belongings. But inside some wrecks lie even rarer artifacts.

These objects are unique, priceless and once-in-a-lifetime discoveries which have caused some shipwrecks to become legendary.

From 200-year-old beer to rare emeralds, here are five of the most unique items found on a shipwreck:

 17th-Century Cheese

Coming in first on the list is 17th-century cheese. A group of divers came across a tin can of cheese while exploring a 300-year-old shipwreck, the Kronan.

When the divers brought the can up to the surface, they were able to get a whiff of the stinky cheese.

 

Some divers told local news outlets that the cheese smelt like a mixture of yeast and Roquefort. They also didn’t recommend tasting it.

The Kronan was a battleship that sank in 1676 off the coast of Sweden after a battle against a Danish-Dutch Fleet. Since its discovery in 1980, archeologists have found more than 30,000 artifacts.

 A Now-Endangered Fish 

Second on the list is a now-endangered fish. In the late 90s, a group of marine archeologists found a barrel that contained nearly a whole fish on the Gribshunden.

This ship sank in 1495 after it caught on fire in the Baltic Sea. But before its demise, the Danish King Hans set sail on this ship from Copenhagen to Kalmar, Sweden.

Hoping to claim the Swedish throne, the king brought a 6-foot sturgeon with him to dazzle the Swedish royal court. This fish was known to be a luxurious item in the 15th century.

 

One night when the King wasn’t onboard the ship, the Gribshunden caught on fire and sank to the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

The Atocha Emeralds 

Lost at sea for over 360 years, the Atocha emeralds were found in 1985 by a team of treasure hunters. [Mel Fisher's group]

The treasure hunters found about 70 pounds of emeralds and several tons of silver. One of the emeralds that were found weighed more than 25.87 carats.

The Atocha emeralds are worth more than $400 million.

 

 

The emeralds were found on the Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which was part of a fleet of Spanish ships. The fleet of ships sank off the coast of the Florida Keys in 1622 from a hurricane. 

 200-Year-Old Beer

It was discovered in the early 1990s off the coast of Sydney, Australia, when a team of marine archeologists found sealed glass bottles of beer inside the wrecked merchant ship, the Sydney Cove.

The ship was transporting goods from India to Port Jackson when the vessel encountered bad weather and was heavily damaged in 1797.

The vessel laid undisturbed for over 170 years until it was rediscovered in 1977.

When the team found the 18th-century booze, they uncovered that there was a rare yeast hybrid strain still inside the bottles.

This rare strain was no longer used by modern brewers until 2018, when an Australian brewery worked with a group of scientists to turn the rare yeast into porter-style beer that can be bought at local stores.

  

The Antikythera Mechanism 

Last on the list is the Antikythera Mechanism. This mechanism was found in 1901 on a Roman ship that sank near the Greek island of Antikythera in the first century BCE. 

 

When divers first found the object, no one could figure out what it was. But decades later, scientists found out that the Antikythera Mechanism was used to predict celestial events. 

The device was programmed with calculations which caused it to forecast eclipses, phases of the moon and other astronomical cycles. 

Some call the Antikythera Mechanism the world's oldest analog computer.

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 So, some pretty unusual items we think! Of course the chests of coins and precious stones were there too, but these things were/are unique! 

Stay safe this week, stay warm (if you are in winter weather!) and enjoy your life!

Until next time,

                                         Fair Winds,

                                             Old Salt 

 

SS UNITED STATES: UPDATE

 3 January 2026: 

Here we are, back with you in a shiny new year (still trying to figure out where 2025 got to!), and still (hopefully) offering some interesting bits and pieces of maritime news, trivia, and historical stories. For those of you new to Maritime Maunder - welcome! You are joining some 316,000 other folks world wide who have followed us over the 11 /2 years of our existence.

Several months ago, we announced the removal of the ocean liner SS United States from its berth in Philadelphia PA after being evicted from its home there for non-payment of the dockage. The ship  had fallen into terrible disrepair and was unsafe for any one to board, obviating it intended purpose as a tourist attraction. After months - actually years - of negotiation, the ship was sold for $1 million to Pensacola, Florida where it would ultimately be sunk and used as a reef for sport divers (never mind it would be in 180' of water when the generally accepted sport diving depth limit is 120'.) So now, a new wrinkle has appeared. From supercarblondie.com:

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This historic seven-figure ocean liner is caught up in the middle of a battle – NYC is fighting to save it, whilst its Florida owner wants to sink it.

The SS United States holds the distinction of having the transatlantic speed record.

 

But its glory days are far behind it now, and Okaloosa County in Florida want to sink it as part of a reef project.

But New York City has other plans and wants it to be restored for use as a museum and waterfront attraction.

The ship was bought by Okaloosa County last year for $1 million.

 

In a move that will have surprised many people, the county announced it had plans to sink it as part of a reef project.

The hope was that it could be promoted as the ‘World’s Largest Artificial Reef’ and become a tourist dive attraction.

However, up in New York City, there were objections to this plan.

Councilwoman Gale Brewer introduced a resolution urging Congress and President Trump to intervene.

She wanted the ship to be made a historic location, restore it to its former glory, and make it a waterfront attraction.

“Letting this iconic vessel slip away would mean losing a huge opportunity to create a great new public space and maritime museum that could educate and inspire New Yorkers about our maritime history for generations,” a representative for Brewer told The New York Post.

A petition from the New York Coalition to save the SS United States has gained more than 15,000 signatures.

That sounds all pretty good, right?

There’d be a lot of people who relish the opportunity to look around a historic ocean liner.

So why are the Floridian owners planning to sink it?

The president of Visit Pensacola, Darien Schaefer, hopes that making the vessel a diving attraction will put the region on the world’s radar.

If sunk 180 feet below the water, the SS United States would join a dozen other shipwrecks in the area. [ed: note sport diving generally limits depths to 120' for obvious safety reasons]

However, historians have testified in favor of Councilwoman Brewer’s resolution.

“There is an extraordinary opportunity to transform this national treasure into a stationary, dynamic cultural and economic asset,” retired education administrator David Di Gregorio testified on November 20th.

“The exterior of the SS United States — sleek, iconic and nearly as long as the Chrysler Building is tall — can once again inspire millions.”

Gilma Fields, from the SS United States Ocean Liner Preservation Foundation, called the planned sinking an ‘unthinkable catastrophe’.

Things aren’t looking good though, as the ship is still set to sink by March, as reported by The Daily Gazette.

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So, 3 months to go; will Florida carry out its plan to sink the ship, or will New York prevail? Given the results of the recent election in NYC, we suspect that saving this icon of capitalistic success will fail, and the ship will find its new home under 180 feet of salt water in the Gulf. Should more on this appear, we will bring to these pages.

Until next time, stay safe.

                                            Fair Winds,

                                               Old Salt 

 

 

CHRISTMAS AT SEA

 20 December 2025: Done for this year, folks! Our final and traditional Robert Louis Stevenson verse follows as we have presented traditionally for the past seven or eight years. This is one of my very most favorite poems, and the words are evocative of the winter experience of sailing a big ship in the depth of nasty cold weather. And I have to offer that Mr. Stevenson knew of that which he wrote. Enjoy!

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CHRISTMAS AT SEA

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)

 

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;

The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;

The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea;

And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.

They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day’

But ‘twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.

We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,

And we gave her the main tops’l, and stood by to go about.

 

All day we tacked and tacked between the South head and the North;

All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;

All day was cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,

For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.

 

We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide race roared;

But every tack we made brought the North Head close aboard.

Soon’s we saw the cliff and houses and the breakers running high,

And the coastguard in his garden, with this glass against his eye.

 

The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;

The good red fires were burning bright in every longshore home;

The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;

And I vow we smelled the victuals as the vessel went about.

 

The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;

For it’s just that I should tell you how (of all the days in the year)

This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn,

And the house above the coastguard’s was the house where I was born.

 

O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,

My mother’s silver spectacles, my father’s silver hair;

And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,

Go dancing round the china plates that stand upon the shelves.

 

And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,

Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;

And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,

To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day.

 

They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.

“All hands to loose t’gallant sails,” I heard the captain call.

“By the Lord, she’ll never stand it,” our first mate, Jackson, cried.

….”It’s one way or the other, Mr. Jackson,” he replied.

 

She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,

And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood;

As the winter’s day was ending, in the entry of the night,

We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.

 

And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,

As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;

But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,

Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.

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 Anyone who has ever ventured offshore in the northern hemisphere winter can feel the bitter cold of the spray, the unwieldy lines, and the slippery decks. We at Maritime Maunder wish all of our readers a happy safe and fun-filled holiday season, and a prosperous and healthy new year. Signing off (for now).

See you in 2026! Stay safe!

                      Fair Winds,

                        Old Salt