Founder of the sport-tech company K-Challenge, Stephan Kandler is a leading figure in international sailing who has forged a solid background in the sport over the past three decades. After a break he is back for a second America’s Cup campaign with the same desire, but broader ambitions beyond the competition.

Born to a German father, a pioneer of the Airbus programme in the 1960s, and a French mother, Stephan left Germany for France at a very young age. After attending business school in Toulouse, he embarked on an entrepreneurial adventure creating K-Yachting International, a racing yacht import and brokerage company. Despite the scepticism of some, the visionary imported the Mumm 30 and positioned it as the future boat for the Tour de France à la Voile. His gamble paid off and the boat replaced the JOD 35 in 1999 – a success which confirmed his belief that you must always believe in your convictions.

Stephan then turned his hand to organising sailing events including the K-Yachting Pro-Am Cup, the double-handed Tour of Corsica, the Mumm 30 World and European Championships, while continuing to pursue his brokerage and sailing activities, including winning the One Ton Cup in 1999. This experience was formative as it led him to seek sponsors, and work with local authorities and sailors. During his career, he has raised over 50 million euros in sponsorship and has managed teams and companies from 10 to 80 people.

In regular touch with the sailing elite, the man whose company contributed to Juan Kouyoumdjian’s career as a naval architect, kept up his own sailing activities and his rich and varied experience led him to found K-Challenge on 4 December 2001 with a view to the 32nd America’s Cup held in Valencia, Spain, in 2007.

Bringing a pioneering spirit to everything that he touches, a quality inherited from his father Ortwin, Stephan built a young and talented team. A forerunner of diversity, he gave pride of place to women both ashore and on the water appointing Dawn Riley to the post of Team Manager. “We had the second smallest budget in the Cup, but we tried to open the game, to innovate. We finished 8th but were the 3rd best French Challenger in terms of number of wins compared to the number of races sailed," he said.

The campaign was a first for future talents such as Guillaume Verdier, Sébastien Col, Nicolas Charbonnier and Benjamin Muyl. In 2009, Stephan joined forces with three-time German Olympic champion and two-time America’s Cup winner Jochen Schümann to create ALL4ONE, which he managed. With Audi as a sponsor, the team scored three podiums and a victory in the Audi Med Cup in 2010 and 2011, won the Copa de Rey in 2012, and representing Geodis twice reached the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Trophy in 2012, an international circuit with the first stage in Nice, also organised by Stephan.

After an aborted America’s Cup campaign with Olivier de Kersauson, the withdrawal of Audi from the project, and the death of his father, Stephan put sailing on hold from 2014 until 2021. He concentrated on the family business, including Château Tourril in the Languedoc, and acquired a second vineyard, Domaine des Pentelines, in the Rhône Valley.

His passion for sailing continued unabated however, and he followed the America’s Cup in 2021 closely. Convinced of the interest of returning to the prestigious competition and of France’s performance, he approached Bruno Dubois. The two joined forces for the 37th America’s Cup, and in 2022, against all the odds, the project became reality with a real desire to support a competitive French team. Accor Group and its Orient Express brand allowed them to launch the campaign.

“The Cup is a breeding ground for innovation in the maritime sector. Several engineers created their own companies following the 2007 campaign, with major innovations. One of our goals this time is to apply what we develop for the America’s Cup to industry,” said Stephan.

The aim is to contribute to the decarbonisation of transport, and to retain the engineers once the competition is over. “Our aim is for K-Challenge, the world’s leading sport-tech, to continue after the Cup. We are currently working on several technologies, including digital simulation, which we could apply to other fields, and the hydrogen foiling boat. Our ambition is to contribute to making French industry more competitive and Accor has also invested in the subsidiary K-Challenge Labs with this in mind.”

Sailing achievements

2012: Winner of the Copa del Rey (TP52)
2010, 2011: 3x Audi Med Cup podiums (TP52)
1999 and 2001: Winner of the One Ton Cup (IC45)
1999: Trofeo Majorica 1999 (IC45)

What does the America's Cup mean to you?

“The America's Cup is a childhood dream that attracted me in the 1980s, especially with the Australian victory, which was one of the greatest sporting achievements in history. There is no more complex and uneven event, which makes it the most motivating human, sporting, and technological challenge ever.”

What do you remember most about the America's Cup?

“Australia's victory in 1983 and K-Challenge's victory over Alinghi in 2005 in Trapani.”

Your motto?

“Nothing is impossible.”

Born on 11 July 1970 in Munich, Germany
Dual nationality: French and German

Offshore racer, sailor, company director, master sailmaker or team manager, Bruno Dubois is well known for his successful leadership of many large-scale projects throughout his career. Now CEO of the France SailGP Team, this legend of ocean racing is also co-partner of K-Challenge, and sports director of the Orient Express Team, the French challenger for the 37th America’s Cup.

The son of a Belgian professional football player, Bruno Dubois grew up in Belgium. He discovered the joys of sailing at a very young age, first during the summer holidays, and later with family friends. Driven by a spirit of adventure and escape, Bruno experimented with different platforms notching up many sea miles on the 420, 470, and Hobbie Cat. Inspired by stories of Bernard Moitessier, Jacques Brel’s around the world adventures, the singer Antoine, and Gérard Janichon and Jérôme Poncet’s adventures on board Damien, the young Belgian also dreamt of the open ocean. 

After his studies, he spent his military service with the Belgian national sailing team, competing in many RORC races. From there it was a short step to finding rides and delivering boats back and forth across the Atlantic, before buying a Muscadet and competing in the 1983 Mini Transat.

In 1984, he moved to Canada – later obtaining Canadian nationality – where he started a family and took part in the first edition of the Transat Quebec-Saint Malo onboard a trimaran. A year later, he chose the Tour de France à la Voile and his work as a sailmaker over a Whitbread Race, a temporary delay as he skippered Rucanor Sport in the 1989/90 edition.

Back in Europe he took over the management of North Sails France, determined to pursue both a professional land-based career in parallel to his ocean racing, the two being closely linked. There followed a Jules Verne Trophy with Ellen MacArthur, two Transat Jacques Vabre events with Mike Golding, deliveries, and regattas on numerous different circuits, racing one, two and three hulls, until a capsize in 2009 on an Extreme 40 at the age of 50.

“I was injured and a bit traumatised by the accident, and after the 2011 Transat Jacques Vabre, I decided that the time had come to hang up my boots,” he said.    

But his story doesn’t end there! Mark Turner reached out, and in 2013 Bruno took over the management of the Dongfeng Race Team ahead of the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race, resigning his position at North Sails but remaining a shareholder. From there, he moved on to the America’s Cup with Groupama Team France as team manager. Having raced in the event in 2007 as trimmer and head of sails for Areva Challenge under the leadership of Stephan Kandler, he knew the competition well. Then it was back to Dongfeng Race Team for a second attempt on the Volvo Ocean Race which the team won.  

Two weeks after the end of the project, the phone rang again. This time it was Russell Coutts offering him the opportunity to lead the Chinese team in the inaugural season of SailGP. “I accepted, and after a year the Chinese decided to stop, and I joined the France SailGP Team which I have been managing since 2020. Having made some changes, we are starting to notch up some good results and give the best teams a run for their money,” he said, with two SailGP victories under his belt.

Always in search of new challenges, Bruno again joined forces with Stephan Kandler, the founder of K-Challenge. “I have known Stephan since 1997. When I came back from Canada, I made the sails for his father’s boat at North Sails and Stephan was sailing on board,” said Bruno. “For Orient Express Team, I decided to concentrate on the sporting side of things in collaboration with Franck Cammas who is in charge of performance within the Design Team.”

Currently based in the UK, he dreams of achieving a good result in the America’s Cup. “We have an exceptional opportunity with a high-performance team and boat. It makes me dream. I want to go as far as possible with this team and bring my experience to a new generation.”   

Bruno, who has just graduated in coaching, remains focussed on a career in sailing. “I did a master’s degree in coaching focussed on mental preparation last year and would like to turn to that after the America’s Cup, following one or two athletes in their career. I also bought a catamaran to cruise.” Some great projects on the horizon! 

Your favourite quote?

"Sometimes it's better to apologise than to ask for permission.”

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

"Never give up" - advice from my grandfather when I was about 10 years old.

What does the America's Cup mean to you?

“It's the biggest technological competition in sailing. Along with the SailGP it's elite racing.” 

A memory from the Cup?

“A text message from Larry Ellison when we beat the Brits and Swedes in the Cup in Bermuda in 2017.”

In brief

Since 2021, co-partner of K-Challenge and sports director of Orient Express Team
Since 2020, Director of France SailGP Team
2015-17: Director of Groupama Team France (35th America's Cup)
2014-15: Director of Dongfeng Race Team (Volvo Ocean Race)
2007-2011: 2 x Transat Jacques Vabre
2003: Jules Verne with Ellen Macarthur
1999: Farr 45 European and World Champion
1991-2015: North Sails
1989-90: Skipper, Rucanor Sport for the Whitbread Round the World Race
1983: Victory in the Mini-Transat

Born in Belgium on 8 September 1959
Dual nationality: Belgian and Canadian

Mer Agitée, Spindrift Racing, Mer Concept: from the outset, Antoine Carraz has worked for organisations where excellence and performance go hand in hand. He joined Orient Express Racing Team in March 2022, first as Shore Team Manager before becoming Technical Director.

Antoine grew up in the Haute-Savoie between Thônes, Annecy and La Clusaz, and while he spent his childhood far from the sea he discovered cruising at an early age with his parents during the holidays. "I must have been two or three years old when I went on my first cruise. Later I started going to sailing school in the summer on Lake Annecy, which I really enjoyed. I started double-handed racing at the age of ten as a crew member on a L’Équipe dinghy,” he said.

In parallel, Antoine was passionate about skiing. "I skied competitively between the ages of nine and 12, but at some point my sailing level became higher than my skiing level. I continued to do it as a hobby, but competing at an elite standard is very demanding. It doesn't leave much time to do anything else on the side.” So, he set his sights on sailing.

With the title of French Team Champion in the bag, he moved on to other disciplines, including the 420 and keelboats. He went on to become French Espoir Match Race Champion, French 420 Vice-Champion, and then finished 20th in the 420 World Championships. Antoine competed at home and abroad. "I've done quite a bit of match racing on the world circuit and taken part in the Tour Voile five times.”

Despite all the sport, he did not neglect his studies. Armed with a scientific baccalaureate, he studied Mechanical Engineering at a University Institute of Technology before moving to an Engineering School in Le Mans. Antoine, who had been immersed in the world of sailing since he was a child, was determined to shape a career in yachting. "When you compete in dinghies you sail every Wednesday and every weekend. I've always wanted to work in sailing, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to do it. I chose not to go to a naval architecture school but rather a general engineering school. I didn't want to do anything too specific, especially as at the time ocean racing teams as we know them now didn't really exist apart from Mer Agitée. Places were very hard to secure and it wasn't easy to get in.”

Luck smiled on Antoine, and he did his end-of-studies work placement at Mer Agitée working on the design of Michel Desjoyeaux's IMOCA Foncia for the 2008 Vendée Globe.

After a three-year stint as an IMOCA engineer (2007 to 2010) he became Boat Captain of the Foncia D35, and after that of the team’s MOD70. He was able to combine shore-based work with sailing, mainly on the D35 and the MOD70, while continuing to match race. "This first experience with Michel Desjoyeaux, who has very high expectations and has both technical and sailing skills, formed the basis of everything. It gave me my foot in the door. I cut my teeth at Mer Agitée and I learned a lot.”

The next chapter in Antoine’s career started in 2013 with Spindrift Racing as Technical Director. During this period he did a lot of sailing on the Maxi trimaran. "This experience was different from the previous one, but just as rewarding. The Maxi had already been built and the other boats were one-design, so I sailed a lot and learned to better understand the boats at sea. That helps with the design work.”  

From there, Antoine joined Mer Concept in 2018 as Design and Construction Manager for the IMOCA Apivia project. "I joined Mer Concept at the very start of Charlie Dalin's Vendée Globe project. I managed the technical side from start to finish, from design through construction to operation over four years. It was a great experience. I did less sailing, but it was a more global project. We had to build the boat, test it and run it.”

Antoine joined Orient Express Racing Team in March 2022. "The team was looking for a shore crew manager and they contacted me. I'd always worked in ocean racing in France. I started my career during the 32ndAmerica's Cup and, apart from Groupama, there hasn't been another French campaign since. This kind of opportunity doesn't come along very often in this country. And obviously when you have a background in inshore sailing and you're a technician and a sailor, it's a very attractive prospect! I'd thought about it in the past, but just had to find the right opportunity to go for it. In 2017, during Groupama's campaign, I wanted to do the Jules Verne Trophy with Spindrift.

“It was the right time to seize the opportunity because we were coming to the end of the Apivia project. When I arrived at Orient Express Racing Team, Dimitri Despierres was in this role. But the initial project didn't come to fruition when the partner withdrew, and Dimitri went back to American Magic. Bruno Dubois asked me if I felt capable of taking on this role, given that I had no Cup experience. I accepted. My experience at the heart of different projects, which are quite complementary, will help me. In particular, I ticked the design box with the Apivia project, which was an enriching experience. Many of my fellow Orient Express Racing Team colleagues have America’s Cup experience, so that will compensate," he concluded with all the humility that characterises him.

What does the America's Cup mean to you?

"The America's Cup represents excellence. At Orient Express Racing Team, we will have different resources and we will go into more detail around each parameter. As a technician, that's really interesting because we're going to be able to do things that we've never had the means or the resources to do before. And there's an international dimension. The Cup attracts a lot of foreigners. I can't wait to be able to compare my ideas and my way of seeing things and working with that of the Italians, the Anglo-Saxons and the Swiss. It's going to allow me to evolve and learn even more.”

Do you have any particular memories of the America's Cup?

"I'm from Haute-Savoie, 30 minutes from Geneva. So I'd say Alinghi's victory in 2003. I went to Geneva to see the America’s Cup. It was a remarkable event because the America's Cup seemed a long way away before that moment. Suddenly it was right next door to us, in a country where there's no sea. It just goes to show that if you weren't born by the sea, you can still have a winning campaign. You could rub shoulders with members of the team on Lake Geneva. This victory put a face and an image on the Cup.” 

Your motto?

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

 Results in brief

2022: Winner, Spi Ouest-France, Open 7.50 class
2017:2nd Bol d'Or Mirabaud, Spindrift
2016:Winner, Québec - Saint-Malo, Spindrift
2015:Jules Verne Trophy, Spindrift (circumnavigation completed, record not broken)
2013: Record, Route de la Découverte, Spindrift
2012: Winner, MOD70 European Tour, Foncia / 3rd Krys Ocean Race, MOD70, Foncia
2011: Winner, Vulcain Trophy, D35 class, Foncia / French Match Racing Champion
2009: 5th Tour Voile, Farr30, Val Thorens / 3rd French Match Racing Championship
2008: 4th Tour Voile

Date of birth: 1 February 1983
French