The former Banque Populaire VII (ex-Groupama 3), double winner of the Route du Rhum is going to Francis Joyon, and will be called IDEC. But not immediately. The boat has been chartered for a record program, under the name Lending Club 2. Skippered by Ryan Breymaier, and co-skippered by Renaud Laplanche, CEO of Lending Club, the trimaran has already beaten the record for crossing the Channel between Cowes and Dinard (France). 138 miles in 5h 15min, an average speed of 23.36 knots: not bad! The second record broken by the crew was Newport-Bermuda, with a time of 23 hours, 9 min and 52 seconds, an average of 27 knots over the theoretical 635 miles. A 15-year-old record, which was held by the sorely-missed Steve Fossett, on his catamaran Playstation.
The crew is now sailing the boat to the west coast of the USA via Panama, to then attempt to take the record for crossing the Pacific to Hawaii...
Follow them on: www.facebook.com/LendingClubSailing
