COWES, England, April 1, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Lending Club
(NYSE: LC), the world's largest marketplace connecting borrowers
and investors, today announced that CEO Renaud Laplanche and co-skipper Ryan Breymaier established a new world speed
sailing record across the English Channel from the Royal Yacht
Squadron Cowes, Isle of Wight to
Dinard, France in 5 hours, 15
minutes, subject to ratification by the World Speed Sailing Record
Council (WSSRC) aboard their 105-foot offshore trimaran
"Lending Club 2" at an average speed of 26.36 knots.
Other crew members included Jan
Majer, Stanislas Delbarre,
Olivier Laplanche, navigator
Boris Herrmann, French racing
veterans Jean-Baptiste Le Vaillant
and Roland Jourdain, and OBR Quin
Bisset. Shore based weather routing was provided by Wouter Verbraak.
Following preparation overseen by Breymaier in France and training in the past week, the boat
had been stationed in Gosport, UK waiting for the perfect weather
window, while Laplanche flew in at the last minute on Monday to
take the helm once weather conditions had been confirmed.
The previous record of 5 hours, 23 minutes was established by
skipper Brian Thompson, navigator
Adrienne Cahalan and the crew of
"Maiden II," a 110-foot catamaran, in September 2002 at an average speed of 25.6
knots.
"After our attempt at breaking the Transpacific record in 2013,
we had been working on assembling the right boat, crew and weather
conditions to make another record attempt," said Laplanche. "The
Cowes to Dinard record is a very special challenge that had been
around for over 10 years; I am very proud of what the crew
accomplished today."
"We always knew the Cowes to Dinard record would be very tough
to break as Maiden set the bar high. We're overjoyed with our
result today; it's a great start to our record-breaking plans for
the year," added Breymaier, member of Royal Ocean Racing Club.
Laplanche has personally chartered the 105-foot offshore
trimaran (formerly "Banque Populaire 7") and renamed it "Lending
Club 2" for a series of races and record-breaking attempts
throughout 2015. Pictures and videos of the record-breaking run can
be viewed on the team's Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/LendingClubSailing.
Special thanks to Lending Club Technical partners: Switlik
Survival Equipment, Marlow Ropes,
Guy Cotton clothing, and Underwater
Kinetics technical equipment.
About Lending Club
Lending Club's mission is to transform the banking system to
make credit more affordable and investing more rewarding. The
company's technology platform enables it to deliver innovative
solutions to borrowers and investors. Lending Club has been
prominently recognized as a leader for its growth and innovation,
including being named one of Forbes' America's Most Promising
Companies three years in a row, a CNBC Disruptor two years in a
row, a 2012 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer, and one of The
World's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Finance by Fast Company.
Lending Club is based in San Francisco,
California. More information is available at
https://www.lendingclub.com.
Currently only residents of the following states may invest in
Lending Club notes: CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, KY
(accredited investors), LA, MA, ME, MN, MS, MT, NH, NV, NY, RI, SD,
UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV, or WY.
Some of the statements in this above are "forward-looking
statements." The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "will,"
"would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking
statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain
these identifying words. The Company may not actually achieve the
plans, intentions or expectations disclosed in forward-looking
statements, and you should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ
materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in
forward-looking statements. The Company does not assume any
obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
Information in this press release is not an offer to sell
securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor
shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration or qualification under the securities laws of such
jurisdiction.
Additional information about Lending Club is available in the
prospectus for Lending Club's notes, which can be obtained on
Lending Club's website
at https://www.lendingclub.com/info/prospectus.action.
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SOURCE Lending Club