Geronimo (yacht)

Geronimo is a French trimaran designed to break great offshore records. It was skippered by the French yachtsman Olivier de Kersauson. It was launched on Saturday 29 September 2001 in Brest, France by Marie Tabarly. In January 2003, skipper Kersauson said that the Geronimo was attacked by a giant squid during an attempt to win the Jules Verne Trophy.^[1][2]

Geronimo

Designer(s)	VPLP
Launched	2001
Racing career
Skippers	Olivier de Kersauson
Specifications
Displacement	20 t (20 long tons; 22 short tons)
Length	33.80 m (110.9 ft) (LOA) 32 m (105 ft) (LWL)
Beam	21.1 m (69 ft)
Mast height	39 m (128 ft)
Sail area	535 m2 (5,760 sq ft) (upwind) 925 m2 (9,960 sq ft) (downwind)
Crew	10

Sodebo Ultim

Designer(s)	VPLP
Launched	2013 (re-launch after modification)
Racing career
Skippers	Thomas Coville
Specifications
Displacement	13 t (13 long tons; 14 short tons)
Length	102 ft (31 m)
Beam	70 ft (21 m)
Mast height	115 ft (35 m)
Sail area	4,779 sq ft (444.0 m2) (upwind) 7,136 sq ft (663.0 m2) (downwind)
Crew	1

In February 2013, the Geronimo was purchased by the agri-food company Sodebo and renamed Sodebo Ultim. The trimaran was heavily modified with a shorter and lighter central hull, a new mast and new cockpit configuration, making it more suitable for long-distance solo sailing.^[3] It is now skippered by Thomas Coville.

In 2019, Actual acquired Sodebo Ultim' and the boat was renamed Actual Leader.^[4]

Successor bearing Sodebo name

On 20 December 2024, the boat's successor, the Ultim class Sodebo Ultim 3 [fr], built to an innovative new design and launched on 2 March 2019, set off on an attempt at the Jules Verne Trophy.^[5]

Records

• 29 April 2004, after three unsuccessful attempts, Geronimo, skippered by Olivier de Kersauson, wins the Jules Verne Trophy from Bruno Peyron in 63 days, 13 hours and 59 minutes. Trophy taken back in 2005 by the same Bruno Peyron.
• July 2005 : Fastest sailing around Australia in nearly 17 days and 13 hours.^[6]
• November 2005 : Geronimo, skippered by Olivier de Kersauson, breaks the Los Angeles - Honolulu record in 4 days and 19 hours.^[6] This record was broken in July 2015 by Lending Club 2 co-skippered by Renaud Laplanche, and Ryan Breymaier with a time of 3 days, 18 hours, 9 seconds.
• April 2006 : Transpacific, east to west (San Francisco - Yokohama) in 14 days and 22 hours.^[7] Record beaten in 2008 by Gitana 13.
• June 2006 : Transpacific, west to east (Yokohama - San Francisco) in 13 days and 22 hours.^[6]
• December 2016 : Around the world sailing record single-handed as Sodebo Ultim by Thomas Coville in 49 days 3 hours 7 minutes and 38 seconds (7 days less than Francis Joyon's previous record).