Lending Club to Attempt New Transpacific Sailing Record

SAN FRANCISCO, June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lending Club (https://www.lendingclub.com) today announced that it has partnered with Tritium Racing to attempt a new Transpacific Yacht Race record next month on board a 73-foot offshore trimaran, now named "Lending Club." The Transpacific Yacht Race (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). 

First raced in 1906, Transpac is one of yachting's premier offshore races and attracts entrants from all over the world. The current race record was set by 86-foot catamaran Commodore Explorer in five days, nine hours, 18 minutes and 26 seconds. More than 60 boats will compete in the 2013 race starting July 8.

"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 honored 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 Gino Morrelli, four-time 505 World Champion Howard Hamlin and New York - San Francisco World Speed Record holder Ryan Breymaier.

The Lending Club trimaran is a former ORMA 60 lengthened to 73 feet and enhanced with a new foil system designed to make the boat faster and more stable at high speed.  

About the Transpacific Yacht Race
With 44 races starting in 1906, the Transpacific Race is the longer of the two oldest ocean races in the world. The race was inspired by King Kalakaua who believed that such an event would strengthen the islands' economic and cultural ties to the mainland. Clarence MacFarlane, a Honolulu racing sailor, invited several contemporaries in San Francisco and Los Angeles to race to the Hawaiian Islands. The race was scheduled to start from San Francisco in the early summer of 1906, but when MacFarlane sailed into San Francisco Bay he found the city lying in ruins following the great earthquake 27 days earlier. MacFarlane donated supplies to the city and changed the starting point to Los Angeles, and except for one nostalgic return to San Francisco for the start in 1939, the race has started from LA ever since. The starting line is now off the bluffs of Point Fermin in San Pedro and the finish is off the Diamond Head lighthouse just east of Honolulu, establishing a distance of 2,225 nautical miles.

About Lending Club
Lending Club utilizes 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 recognized 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. 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, ME, MN, MO, MS, MT, NH, NV, NY, RI, SC, SD, UT, VA, WA, WI, WV, or WY.

About Tritium Racing
Tritium Racing acquired an ORMA 73 as a platform to set several Pacific Ocean race records. The boat is a modified ORMA (Offshore Racing Multi-hull Association) 60 now lengthened to 73'. The team will set sight on the Transpac elapsed time record in July 2013 with an exceptional crew including Ryan Breymaier, Howard Hamlin, Renaud Laplanche, Gino Morrelli, Will Oxley, John Sangmeister, Peter Stoneberg, Jay Steinbeck and Jacques Vincent.

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.

SOURCE Lending Club