Record Breaking Sailing Attempt Underway
[Updated] The Lending Club 2 racing yacht left Newport, Rhode Island early this morning [April 19] aiming to break the 635-nautical mile Newport to Bermuda record, which presently stands at just under 39 hours.
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 in 2000. Lending Club 2 – which is capable of speeds over 40 knots – is hoping to finish in 28 hours or less.
Screencap of the tracker showing their position as of 2pm Bermuda time:
Two weeks ago the maxi-trimaran set a new sailing speed record on the English Channel: from Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, to Dinard, France.
Driven by Renaud Laplanche with co-skipper Ryan Breymaier, the 138-nautical mile passage was completed in 5 hours and 15 minutes, shaving 8 minutes off the record that had stood since 2002.
Laplanche chartered the the 105-foot Lending Club 2 for the 2015 season with the express goal of conquering three speed sailing records: Cowes to Dinard, Newport to Bermuda and Los Angeles to Honolulu.
With one course record under their belts, Laplanche and Breymaier are hoping to sail Lending Club 2 to a new Newport-Bermuda record.
Laplanche, 45, is a two-time French National Champion in the Laser class, and Breymaier, a native of Maryland currently holds the world sailing speed record for New York to San Francisco: 13,225 nautical miles in 47 days.
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.
You can follow Lending Club 2‘s record breaking attempt via the online tracking here.
Update 8.43pm: According to the tracker, the sailors are moving at a very good pace, and are over halfway to Bermuda as of now. The screenshot below shows their positioning as of 8.40pm.
Update April 20, 3.30am: Lending Club 2 has arrived in Bermuda, shattering the Newport to Bermuda sailing record, setting a new time of 23 hours, 9 minutes.
- Photos courtesy of Lloyd Images
No big deal.
Hell…..I helped break the record 44 years ago on Yellow Bird.
1 hour 39.5 minutes………………………………….
As I’d mentioned to others, “Keep the sun in your face and the winds at you back.”
This is truly exciting! May the Lending Club 2s passage be safe one.
As the financial backer behind Steve Fossett’s journey and this latest attempt to break Steve’s I am filled with excitement! I will be at the finish line with a Balthazar of Dom Perignon to celebrate!
What a fantastic sight it was to see the sleek lines of The Lending Club 2 cross the finish line and set a new record. I would normally be crawling into my bed at 3:30 am but it was well worth it being on the high seas to welcome my fellow yachtsman with glasses of Dom Perignon!!! Well done to Renaud and Ryan and all of your fantastic crew.