Former ORMA 60 to take on Transpac

Backing found for ex-Bonduelle/Gitana XII/Artemis Racing tri in attempt to beat race record

Lending Club has announced that it has partnered with Tritium Racing to attempt a new Transpacific Yacht Race record next month on board the 73ft trimaran, to be named Lending Club. This boat is the former Bonduelle VPLP ORMA 60 that was subsequently Gitana XII and then lengthened as Artemis Racing's test platform for her prototype AC72 wing rig. She is currently 73ft long with elongated floats and an a new foil system designed to make the boat faster and more stable at high speed.

The Transpac starts off Point Fermin near Los Angeles and finishes off Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, a distance of 2,225 nautical miles (2,560 miles; 4,121 kilometers). More than 60 boats will compete in the 2013 race starting July 8.

The current race record was set by Bruno Peyron and the crew of the 86ft catamaran Commodore Explorer with a time of five days, nine hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds.

“We are very excited to compete in an event as prestigious as the Transpacific Yacht Race,” said Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche. “Transpac has an incredible history, and I’m honoured to become a part of it, and especially with such a world-class crew. In 1906, the winner took 12 days to complete the course, and better technology has enabled new records every few years, to the point that this year we hope to complete the race in less than five and a half days.”

Lending Club and Tritium Racing have assembled a team of highly accomplished sailors including America’s Cup winners John Sangmeister and multihull designer Gino Morrelli, four-time 505 World Champion and 18ft skiff sailor Howie Hamlin and Barcelona World Race skipper and former Veolia Environnement MOD70 crewman Ryan Breymaier as well as Camper VO70 navigator Will Oxley, John Sangmeister, Peter Stoneberg, Jay Steinbeck and (the legend that is...) Jacques Vincent.

Lending Club utilises technology and innovation to reduce the cost of traditional banking and offer borrowers better rates and investors better returns. Over $1.9 billion in personal loans have been issued through the Lending Club platform, which has more than doubled annual loan volume each year since launching in 2007.

The Company has been prominently recognised as a leader for its growth and innovation, including being named one of Forbes’ America’s Most Promising Companies in 2011 and 2012, a 2012 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and one of The World’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Finance by Fast Company in 2013. Lending Club is based in San Francisco, California.