Lending Club 2 is slated to cross the start line at Castle Hill Light in the early hours of Sunday morning, 19 April, beginning the passage which is anticipated to earn the team its second world speed sailing record in as many tries. The Newport to Bermuda course record is currently held by Steve Fossett, who, aboard his 125-foot catamaran Playstation, set a time of 38 hours, 35 minutes and 53 seconds – at an average speed of 16 knots – in 2000.
With ideal conditions predicted, Lending Club 2 – which is capable of speeds over 40 knots – looks likely to complete the 635-nautical mile course in 28 hours or less. Details on how to follow the team follow below.
- Live tracking updates every 15 minutes : https://my.yb.tl/lendingclub2/
• The Facebook page will include the tracker link and news as it comes in from the boat: www.facebook.com/lendingclubsailing/
• This dropbox folder will be updated with new photos as soon as they arrive from the boat : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ekprgrtkputjuzf/AAAGfMpV8RYNLUyHWCMOXn3ga?dl=0
• On Thursday, the Cowes to Dinard record, which the team set just two weeks ago (138-nautical miles in 5 hours and 15 minutes at an average speed of 26.36 knots) was ratified by the World Sailing Speed Racing Council and will be included, as well, in the Guinness World Records.
Lending Club 2 (Photo by George Bekris)
The Lending Club Sailing team: Co-skippers Renaud Laplanche (FRA/USA) and Ryan Breymaier (USA), who is also the Project Manager; Captain Jan Majer (USA); Navigator Boris Herrman (GER); Roland Jourdain (FRA); Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant (FRA); Stanislas Delbarre (FRA) and Quin Bisset (NZL) who handles onboard media.
About Lending Club 2
The trimaran, designed by VPLP and built in France in 2006, was originally named Groupama 3. Franck Cammas and his crew on Groupama 3 won the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe (48 days, 7 hours, 44 minutes, 52 seconds) in the spring of 2010. The yacht was then modified for solo sailing (principally with a shorter mast) and has been sailed to victory in the last two editions of the Route du Rhum, from northern France to Guadeloupe.
For the record-breaking passages that San Francisco-based Laplanche and co-skipper Ryan Breymaier are undertaking during the 2015 season, the trimaran was chartered and then refitted with its taller rig, bringing the yacht back to full power mode, ideal for crewed record-breaking attempts.
Lending Club Sailing technical partners: Switlik Survival Equipment www.switlik.com; Marlow Ropes www.marlowropes.com; Guy Cotten foul weather gear www.guycotten.com; Events Clothing www.eventsclothing.co.nz; Underwater Kinetics technical equipment www.uwkinetics.com
