Parlez-vous LendingClub?

LendingClub’s IPO, which was trading 65% higher than its IPO price today, is big news here in the United States.

But the peer-to-peer credit company might be more notable news in France.

As has been well-documented, LendingClub’s founder, Renaud Laplanche, is French. He appears to have more notable status there, although he lives in San Francisco now. While raising $870 million in today’s offering will help cultivate that status, the French might have another reason to laud Laplanche. Laplanche sailed for the French national team in the late 1980s, winning French sailing championships in four categories.

And now he could afford more than a few additional sailboats.