The MBA Global Sailing League

After three years in a row coming in second place, and for the first time since they originally entered the event in 1993,  London Business School won the Alumni Business Cup regatta in La Ciotat, France.

The ABC website is here: http://www.alumnibusinesscup.org/abca/Home.html

The 18th ABC regatta took place in La Ciotat and Cassis, near Marseilles in the South of France. Racing took place over three days in “Grand Surprise” 30- ft day racing yachts on the 17th, 18th and 19th June. There were five technical windward- leeward races and two coastal races, plus a practice race. Twelve teams of MBA Alumni from as many schools competed for the trophy.

The regatta was the most evenly competed for years, with five crews battling it out near the top of the rankings: LBS, last- year’s winners IMD, 2007 winners Vienna, 2006 winners Insead and first- time entrants MIP, fresh from their second place in the Global MBA trophy in Athens.

Vienna, for the second time in three years, won the regatta “on the water”, but had a poor result with the on- shore games, meaning that LBS and MIP overtook them in the overall results.

Warwick surprised everyone to win the practice race, but could not repeat that form, their best result being a 3rd in race 2.

Day 1 belonged to the Insead boat skippered by Marteen de Vries, ending the day ahead with a very consistent 3,2,2.  The day 1 race honours were shared between LBS, Vienna and IMD, and Insead led LBS, Vienna and HEC that evening.

Day 2’s coastal races and big seas saw Vienna come to the fore, pulling off a similarly consistent 2,2,3, with the races being won by MIP, LBS and IMD. MIP made great strides too, scoring 1, 4,2.  By the time of Race 6, the wind had built to such a level that the committee banned the use of spinnakers.Unfortunately Insead (deVries)’s form did not hold,  especially after their bad luck in race 4 to see the committee place the finishing mark right on the other side of the course from where they were sailing.  After the discards kicked in,  Vienna had 10 points to LBS’s 12 and IMD’s 13.

On Day 3 , the wind had really set in hard. The Audi Med Cup professional sailors, down the coast in Marseilles had their racing called off. The ABC race committee decided to start a race, but to enforce a strict sail plan of a reefed main and storm jib.  In the heavy airs, MIP sailed to their second win, with Marc LeBorgne’s Insead team grabbing second.  Vienna’s 3rd meant that they won the on- the- water regatta, with 13 points, ahead of LBS with 17 and MIP with 20.  The regatta was called off after that race, as teh winds had built, and a committee boat’s float had been burst after a collision with one of the competing boats

The “onshore games” involved flying model aircraft, where the winning technique seemed to be to send the plane low so that it skids along the ground, rather than flying high in a graceful arc back towards the launch point. They finished with each team asked to do a presentation/sketch based on the book “Le Petit Prince”, whose author came from the area. MIP won the onshores with an incredibly well prepared presentation. LBS came second, by creating a 1 metre high prince and bringing on the King of Rock and Roll.  Vienna, unfortunately came 12th – last – in the onshore, and so lost their regatta lead.

London Business School’s own report of the event is here:  http://lbsalumnisailing.blogspot.com/2010/07/lobon-business-school-win-abc-regatta.html