The K-Challenge campaign led by Stéphan Kandler and Bruno Dubois wants to make their new team name the motto for the 37th America's Cup: France's "Orient Express" should get off to a fast and successful start in the 37th America's Cup despite the last-minute start. "We want to be the surprise team in the 37th America's Cup," says French initiator and co-team manager Stéphan Kandler, whose father and Airbus manager Ortwin Kandler, who died in 2013, once co-founded the German sailing campaign AeroSail.
Team Orient Express is France's 13th challenger in 172 years of Cup history
The Orient Express brand belongs to the Accor hotel group, which has decided to enter the America's Cup under the French flag. The team has a dual leadership and is headed by the experienced Cup managers Stéphan Kandler and Bruno Dubois. Other celebrities have already been recruited.
The French come into play as the fifth and final challenger. They want to compete against the Cup superpowers from the USA, Great Britain, Italy and Switzerland in the challenger series off Barcelona in September 2024. If the sailing drivers of the Grande Nation have their way, the teams NYYC American Magic, Ineos Britannia, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and Alinghi Red Bull Racing will have to dress warmly. Six years after the last French Cup challenge by Groupama Team France in 2017, Team Orient Express may be a last-minute challenger, but they certainly don't see themselves as underdogs.
France wants to benefit from the technology pact with the Kiwis
"The final of the challenger round would be a success," says Stéphan Kandler, emphasising his team's ambition. The 52-year-old says that reactions to the ambitious plan have been positive. The French team has made a pact with the New Zealand Cup defenders. For the first time in France's America's Cup history, a challenger will benefit from a latest-generation technology package provided by the Kiwis. This will save Team Orient Express time and enable it to get off to a faster start on an equal footing with its opponents.
"This opportunity was my main reason for launching a campaign again. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but we will have our new boat no later than the other teams. And it will be very competitive. That's a huge advantage for us. The most important thing in the America's Cup is to have the right machine. We are under less pressure than the other challengers, who have to design everything from scratch."
"The Kiwis have always developed great boats"
The technology package from the New Zealanders to the French includes all developments of the Cup yacht up to the start of construction. After that, each team is on its own for further developments and details as part of the technology agreement. "We've already been working in the background for six months," explains Kandler, who hopes that the deal with the Kiwis will result in a strong boat like the Defenders themselves. "The New Zealanders have never had the biggest budgets, but they have always developed great boats," says the passionate Cup hunter from Toulouse, who is in his third Cup campaign.
"The New Zealand-French technology partnership includes a latest-generation design package that we can work with," says Stéphan Kandler, explaining the facts. They will build their own AC75 "Made in France" on this basis. "We are not the richest team, but we are going into the two years with a good budget," says Kandler, explaining where Team Orient Express stands financially. Several well-known shipyards in Brittany are to be involved in the creation of the boat.
Multiplast, CDK and other shipyards are involved
Bruno Dubois gives the details: "We are fortunate to have exceptional expertise in France, which we will utilise to the full. We will be working with Multiplast in Vannes in the department of Morbihan, with CDK in Lorient and Port-La-Forêt and with numerous subcontractors. Some of these shipyards are also working with Chantiers de l'Atlantique on the Orient Express Silenseas project. By working with several companies, we can save time. The construction of our AC75 will start in April and will be completed in spring 2024."
Stéphan Kandler liked the foiling Cup yachts right from the start. The passionate Cup hunter and kiter says: "An AC75 is an eight-pilot fighter plane that flies 30 centimetres above the water. It is a high-tech machine that can compete with the latest aerospace technology." The launch of the AC75 "Orient Express" is planned for spring 2024. In the meantime, the sailing team will train on an AC40. The smaller but equally powerful monohulls also serve as a platform for the America's Cup for youth and women. The French are hoping to receive their AC40 by the beginning of August.
A well-rehearsed dual leadership for the "Orient Express"
The official challenger for the French team is the Société Nautique de Saint-Tropez. Their club counterparts from the other teams are the New York Yacht Club, the British Royal Yacht Squadron, the Italian Circolo de la Vela and the Swiss Société Nautique de Genève. In the challenger round, their teams will fight for the right to challenge the defending Emirates Team New Zealand in the 37th America's Cup duel.
Stéphan Kandler founded the K-Challenge back in 2001. France's top regatta organiser Bruno Dubois has been on board since 2021. The former Whitbread Round the World Race participant, manager of the victorious Dongfeng Race Team in the 2017/2018 Volvo Ocean Race and all-round experienced driver with a huge international network fits well into the picture. Together, Kandler and Dubois have dedicated themselves to building a strong and talented French team, which is now set to take off as the "Orient Express". Kandler says: "The demands of managing an America's Cup team are so complex today that we believe it makes a lot of sense to tackle them in pairs."
"France's best are heard here"
Kandler goes on to say that many team members had worked for international cup teams in the past, but did not always get the hearing they deserved. Now they are proud to use their knowledge for a French team "where they are heard". Bruno Dubois confirms: "Stéphan and I want to bring together as many of these skills as possible to form a strong French team. Thanks to the support of the Accor Group and the commitment of Orient Express, we have put together a leading group of experts: Benjamin Muyl in design, Antoine Carraz in engineering, Franck Cammas for performance and Quentin Delapierre as head of the sailing team."
Many tasks await Team Orient Express over the next two years or so: On land, the team base in Barcelona will be set up and should be ready for operation in the summer. On the water, the sailing team will train with the AC40 in Barcelona. At the same time, skipper Quentin Delapierre and other sailors will be broadening their horizons in the professional SailGP series. Team Orient Express also wants to compete in the America's Cup for youth and women in October 2024.
