Akademy - Because the future is being prepared today, K-Challenge is launching its Akademy.
Inclusion, knowledge transfer, and training have been a major focus for K-Challenge since its creation in 2001. “With the appointment of Dawn Riley as Team Manager in 2001, and by giving opportunities to a younger generation including Guillaume Verdier, Nicolas Charbonnier, and Sébastien Col, we were already pioneers at t he highest level with convincing results,” says Kandler, founder and co-CEO of K-Challenge.
In line with these commitments and the 2024 Youth and Women's America's Cup, K-Challenge is continuing its efforts to train young people and women, with the support of its partners, foremost among which are L'Oréal Group, Accor, Leyton, and Nextworld. Bruno Dubois and Stephan Kandler are launching an Akademy K-Challenge to support their development, improve the skills of sailors on inshore circuits, and thus create a pool of talent among future generations. The ultimate goal is to enable France to shine on the international podiums of inshore racing.
Stephan Kandler: "Our sporting ambition is for France to be among the leaders and win the most prestigious trophies in highly demanding, high-level international inshore competitions, including the SailGP championship and the America's Cup. However, knowing how to sail at high speed on foiling boats remains a complex skill to master. It is therefore our responsibility to help the current and next generation develop their skills on this type of boat. While this Akademy is an essential pillar in the development of our K-Challenge Racing team, it also helps to create a pathway that allows women and young people to express their talent on an equal footing. This is one of the key missions of K-Challenge's commitments, which we share with our supporting partners: L'Oréal Group, Accor, Leyton, and Nextworld"
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Two crews on the ETF26 circuit
Specifically, for the 2025 season, K-Challenge has chosen the ETF26 circuit as its means of expression and is entering two catamarans, one skippered by Lou Mourniac and the other by Quentin Delapierre.
"Since the end of the Youth and Women's America's Cup, we have obviously remained in close contact with our sailors and have sought the best way for them to continue what we started in 2023. Today, we are embarking on the ETF26 circuit, which we believe is very appropriate both in terms of the support, a flying catamaran, and the level of competition, which is very competitive and challenging," explains Bruno Dubois, co-CEO of K-Challenge. "Lou Mourniac, who successfully completed this ETF26 project, is therefore in charge of it for K-Challenge. She will also be the skipper of a mixed boat, with Camille Lecointre at the helm, Manon Peyre, and Enzo Balanger. With this crew, there is a clear desire to prioritize the training of women, few of whom have the necessary qualifications to sail high-speed foiling catamarans. Beyond the pure sailing aspect, we also want to support young people like Lou in project and team management. “
Alongside this young, female team, a second K-Challenge boat will be competing, skippered by Quentin Delapierre.
Bruno Dubois: ”To learn, you have to practice your skills on the water over and over again, of course, but you also have to observe and listen to those who have more expertise. In this respect, Quentin and his crew—Kevin Péponnet, Mathieu Vandame, Jason Saunders, and Timothé Lapauw, who will take turns throughout the season—will act as mentors. They will encourage the development of Lou's crew's skills by sharing their know-how and experience. Once again, this is simply a continuation of what was started during the last America's Cup. In addition, this support also allows Quentin's team to sail between SailGP events, which is also beneficial to the cohesion of the group and its performance."
The ETF26 circuit, but that's not all...
K-Challenge also supports Enzo Balanger, who is preparing for the 2025 Moth World Championship.
Stephan Kandler: "Enzo is part of the K-Challenge sailing team. He has been to all the Sail Grand Prix events in season 5 to observe how the team works, learn the subtleties of sailing an F50, and perfect his data analysis to improve performance. Now he is going to devote himself to a project that is close to his heart: winning the Moth World Championship title. This is a class he knows well, having been crowned French champion in 2023 and 2024, winning two championship titles at Foiling Week in Malcesine, and finishing 6th overall and 1st among French competitors at the World Championships in New Zealand last January. With our partners L'Oréal Groupe, Accor, Leyton, and Nextworld, we will be by his side in his quest for the world title next July in Malcesine, Italy! "
They said:
Quentin Delapierre, skipper of ETF26 K-Challenge Blue: "We're very happy to be back on a high-level circuit and on a flying boat that's smaller than the ones we usually sail on. We're entering a series against some big names, and we're clearly not the favorites. It's going to be interesting to work hard to get up to speed and fight for the top spots. It's a great challenge for our team. We're going to gain sailing time and perfect our reflexes in competition. We'll also be training with Lou and her team, challenging ourselves so that we can all learn and improve. It's going to be an interesting season.“
Lou Mourniac, skipper of ETF26 K-Challenge White: ”The ETF26 is a dynamic class that I know well because I competed in two seasons in 2022 and 2023. There is a mix of pros and amateurs with a fairly high level. I am very happy to be able to lead this project as a continuation of what we did in Barcelona in 2024. We will form a mainly female crew, although Enzo Balanger will be with us on board for the first two events. And this season, we will be the only female crew in the fleet.
The goal is to work with Quentin's team in terms of logistics, preparation with Antoine Rucard, who will be our shared trainer, and of course in terms of sharing experience. We're not starting from the same level, as our crew has never sailed together before. We're going to progress step by step without rushing things, but with the aim of reaching a good level. In addition to my role as skipper, I am responsible for leading the entire ETF26 project within the academy: management, budget, logistics, processes, communication flow management. It's a huge opportunity for me."
K-Challenge White crew – GP Quiberon from April 9 to 12
Lou Mourniac (skipper - flight trimmer)
Camille Lecointre (helmswoman)
Enzo Balanger (mainsail trimmer)
Manon Peyre (No. 1)
K-Challenge Blue crew - GP Quiberon from April 9 to 12
Quentin Delapierre (skipper – helmsman)
Kevin Péponnet (mainsail trimmer)
Jason Saunders (foil height trimmer)
ETF26 2025 season program
Quiberon GP – April 9
Naval Academy GP (Brest) – May 28
Foiling Week (Malcesine, Italy) – June 25
Riva del Garda GP (Italy) – April 27
Marmenor GP (Spain) – October 15