Press Release – 14/06/2002

Subject : K Challenge / America’s Cup XXXII

K CHALLENGE, Saint-Tropez, 13th June 2002

K CHALLENGE’S OFFICIAL CHRISTENING

TARGET : AMERICA’S CUP XXXII

            In the Saint-Tropez’s harbour, on the last 13th of June, the K Challenge has been blessed by its godmother, Florence Masnada, who put all her enthusiasm in the champagne bottles which broke magically on the 2 IC45’s hulls, training boats of the team : K Challenge ONE and K Challenge TWO.

Triple medallist at the Olympic Games and Ski World Championships, Florence Masnada is above all a woman, and nothing less than a godmother working and moving in extreme sports was required to support a team where women represent a very important part in the project of taking part to the 32^th America’s Cup, which will take place in 2006.

The 2 boats came in the Saint-Tropez Bay to train for 4 days, 6 months after the project’s launch at the Paris Boat Show and with a few regattas behind where the teams have already been noticed. So another step has been completed, before revealing the place of the future base and purchasing a first Class America boat in 2003, while starting actively the programme to look for future partners and sponsors.

Emotion could be felt amongst all K Challenge’s members, who wore for the first time their « official uniform » like the 2 IC45. This allowed to realize how motivated and united this multicultural team is towards its participation to the 32nd America’s Cup. Don’t forget that the team is taking advantage from the early start of the project, which no other French Challenge has ever been able to complete till now, and which is mainly why financial problems occurred around those projects.

The  team spirit is already applying very efficiently amongst the 41 crew members, where 8 are women and 16 are foreigners, just like Dawn Riley who is at the head of the team, as an American who already won the America’s Cup.

We can also find amongst others in the team Thierry Peponnet, Alain Fedensieu, François Brenac and Nicolas Charbonnier, to name only a few, parts of a mix between experience, diversity and youth.

Nicolas Charbonnier and Dawn Riley are also training towards the 2004 Olympic Games.

For now, the crews are already working at getting a victory at the One Ton Cup, which will take place from the next 7th till the 12th October in Saint-Tropez.

Tel : +33(0)6 11 50 65 21                                          Images free of rights available on request

stephanie.nadin@k-yachting.com