Lending Club 2 records: the wolf “changes its coat” but not its vice

The record is still being ratified, but it appears that Renaud Laplanche and Ryan Breymaier’s 105-foot maxi trimaran Lending Club 2 (with six other crew on board has set a new record on the 635-mile route from Castle Hill Lighthouse (Newport, Rhode Island) to Kitchen Shoal Beacon (Bermuda). The time taken by the superboat was 23 hours, 9 minutes and 52 seconds, at an average speed of 27 knots. The previous record was much higher, 38 hours, set by Steve Fossett aboard Playstation back in January 2000.

THE SLEEVE RECORD
Only a few days ago, on April 1, Lending Club 2 had captured another record, that on the Cowes (UK) – Dinard (France) route, taking 5 hours, 14 minutes and 47 seconds to travel the 138 miles planned, at an average speed of 26.28 knots. This time here the victory had been a bit more drawn out: only 9 minutes less than the Thompson/Darvelid pair’s Maiden II time from 2002.

A BOAT BORN TO BREAK ANY RECORD
The trimaran is none other than the former Groupama 3 / Banque Populaire VII, owned by such holy monsters as Franck Cammas, Loick Peyron and Armel Le Cleac’h. A boat launched in 2006 designed by VPLP and record shatterer (on all, the current fastest crewed round-the-world race, Cadiz-San Salvador, Marseille-Carthage, Miami-York). In 2014, Peyron won the Route du Rhum, setting a new distance record. In short, it is a real fireball to have in your hands. But they have to be the right hands, like those of Ryan Breymaier, a four-time 505 world champion.