K-Challenge Racing is now Orient Express Team, after the ACCOR hotel group’s commitment to backing their challenge for the 37th America’s Cup.
As previously reported on Afloat.ie, K-Challenge — who previously contested for the 32nd America’s Cup in 2007 as Areva Challenge — threw their hat among the already announced challengers earlier this year.
Now the team and their AC75 boat will promote ACCOR’s prestigious Orient Express brand, which is extending its legacy from the rails to the sea with the inclusion of two luxury cruise liners in its offering by 2027.
The team, led by Stéphan Kandler and Bruno Dubois — and including talented French specialists such as naval architect Benjamin Muyl, skipper Quentin Delapierre, head of performance Franck Cammas and technical director Antoine Carraz — will face four other challengers at the Challenger Selection Series in September 2024.
Its supporting club Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez (SNST) will challenge its British (Royal Yacht Squadron), Italian (Circollo de la Vella), Swiss (Société Nautique de Genève), and American (New York Yacht Club) counterparts for the right to race against the current defender, the Royal New-Zealand Yacht Squadron.
Sébastien Bazin, chair and CEO of ACCOR said: “All of us at ACCOR are motivated by passion, adventure, and team spirit, which is why sailing resonates so strongly with us.
“At 172 years old, the America’s Cup is an icon of the sailing world. Legendary in terms of its history and its unrelenting pursuit of excellence, it is the natural choice for the first ever Orient Express-sponsored competitive boat!”
The French team has also signed a technology agreement with the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, which will nullify the time lost in being a late entry and put the French on an equal footing with their talented competitors.
Kandler said: “Our starting point was to ensure that the French team was competitive. Beyond the budget that we had to put together, we very quickly entered discussions with the defender, Emirates Team New Zealand, with whom we have had a very good relationship since the first K-Challenge campaign in 2003.
“The resulting technological partnership includes a latest generation design package to work from and we will build our own AC75 Made in France. This partnership allows us to compete on equal terms with the other challengers. This is a great precedent in the history of a French challenge.”
The AC75 Orient Express is scheduled to launch in spring 2024. In the meantime, the team base in Barcelona will be operational from this summer, and the sailing team will train on an AC40, a smaller but equally powerful monohull that will also be used as the platform for the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup, as well as get more elite international racing experience on the SailGP circuit.
