From Lending Club Sailing
After an action-packed 6 month charter, today the maxi-trimaran* Lending Club 2* project has come to an end and we hand the boat back to its owner.
We knew from the start back in March that this was going to be a busy year, but I don’t think anyone realized how many people would come and see the boat or come sailing with us.
From the start we agreed we would have an open door policy and whenever possible we made the boat available for visits at the dock. Our skipper, Renaud invited all the Lending Club employees to come sailing and over 1000 of them took him up on the offer. We took children from sailing schools and students from all backgrounds and as young as 5 and 6 years old. We took hundreds of Lending Club guests and business partners in both New York and San Francisco. Everyone without exception had the opportunity to drive the boat if they wanted to and everyone came back to shore with a huge smile and an unforgettable souvenir.
We set three new world records in Europe, the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.
We made friends.
We had fun.
Heartfelt thanks to the entire team for working so hard; literally every single day for weeks on end and for taking such great care of all 1500+ guests. Thanks to the racing team who stepped up to the challenge and brought home three new records. Thanks to our technical partners Switlik, Marlow, Guy Cotten, and Underwater Kinetics who supported us from the start and finally a huge thanks to our leader Renaud Laplanche for making all this possible.
– Ryan Breymaier, co-skipper Lending Club 2
The maxi-trimaran has a history of setting records, as Groupama 3 under Franck Cammas, as Solo Banque Populaire VII under Loick Peyron and of course as Lending Club 2. The boat will be changing hands to once again attempt the Jules Verne Trophy record under Francis Joyon.
