London Business School’s teams scored a 1-2-3 in very strong winds at the MBA Winter Regatta in Lanzarote last week. LBS’s three teams came first, second and third in the six boat regatta.
The crews enjoyed a taste of winter sun and warmth in the Canary Islands, although they faced wind gusts of up to 42 knots in conditions that meant that racing was white- sails only and which verged on survival conditions at times – especially during the return from the racing area on Saturday 21st, and the curtailed racing on the afternoon of Friday 20th. The weather was severe enough to snap the shrouds on the rigging of two boats – one on each day, although thankfully masts stayed upright, and no other damages were experienced.
The event was hosted by Instituto de Empresa (IE) business school. All the competitors expressed their thanks to Alex Pistulli who organised the event. It took place at Puerto Calero, on the South-Eastern coast of the Canary Island of Lanzarote. The racing was in J80 sports boats provided by Puerto Calero Sailing Center. Events were held at various restaurants and hotels in Puerto Calero and nearby Puerto del Carmen. The regatta does not yet form part of the Sunsail MBA Global Sailing League.
The winning team, LBS Blue, was skippered by Alastair Stewart, who won both races on Friday 20th, and a further three out of five on Saturday 21st, scoring a 2 and a 3 in the other two races, to be the only team with less than 20 points in the no- discard series. Rob Cotterill’s LBS Red team won one race, came second in three, fourth in two and abandoned one race with rig failure. Stephen Paige’s LBS White team won the final race in the series, making it an LBS whitewash, and finished the regatta 2 points ahead of an RSM team skippered by Chris Barnet, who had an exccellent second day’s racing, bringing home two second places. The fleet and the scoreboard was rounded out by two boats from IE.
The MBA Global Sailing League 