Apart from their 7th in Italy, Insead’s league victory came with a  first place at the Cranfield regatta, third at the ABC regatta and 4th at the GMT regatta.

With a third place in Santa Margharita, Warwick are the joint biggest climbers, going 6 places up the rankings to 5th, behind MIP, who were not able to race in the Rolex MBA’s Regatta.  Also climbing six places are second place Columbia – up to 13th and winners Sauder, now equal 18th.

The top ten of the league is rounded out by Rotterdam who, along with Insead and LBS attended all four regattas this year, coming in 9th. It also hasfour British teams who did well in the Cranfield regatta. Manchester come 6th with good scores at both Cranfield and Bocconi, Cranfield Glasgow and Henly make it in with just their top scores at Cranfield.

Winning the MBA’s cup takes luck and skill: Luck to choose the right boat, allocated by lottery at the start of the weekend, and skill to take advantage of having the right boat. The regatta consists of an “A” division of 19 boats, racing with spinnakers and a “B” division of  of 24 boats racing without spinnakers.

The losing semi- finalists in the A division were Warwick and IESE, with Warwick coming 3rd, having won the petit- final. The B division was won by the home team, SDA Bocconi.

Division A consisted of two fleets: 12 Benneteau 36.7s and 7 Jeanneau Sunfast 37s. The top two boats in each fleet are chosen to match- race for the title. Among the Benneteau’s, Columbia, Sauder and Bocconi did well in the boat lottery, and pulled off positions 1, 2 and 3, in boats that had all been in the top three at least once in 2009 and 2010 as well as this year.  In the Sunfasts, Warwick picked the 2010 winner out of the hat and managed to sail it to another win in 2011.  Meanwhile, at the bottom of the fleet, RSM and Kellogg came home in 11th and 12 in boats that hadn’t previously finished above 10th in the regatta.

Final Results: Division A

Match Racing

1. Sauder

2. Columbia

3. Warwick

4. IESE

Benneteau 36.7

Jeanneau Sunfast 37

Final Results: Division B

Anything is, of course possible at the MBA’s cup, for two reasons: Firstly, because teams in the “A” racing division must be comprised mainly of students currently at the business school they are representing. This means that may be very different crews competing than at other regattas, where school Alumni compete. Secondly, because of the variable quality of the boats in the fleet, which mean that a great team may end up with a particularly slow boat and be consigned to the lower reaches of the results.

The Rolex MBA’s Conference & Regatta, to give it its full name, starts on Thursday 22nd September, with the first race on Friday 23rd. It has been taking place since the mid 2000s and gets bigger every year: over 50 boats participated in 2010. The regatta has 2 divisions: An “A” division, competing with spinnakers in either Benneteau First 36.7s or Jeanneau Sunfast 37s, and a “B” division, competing under handicap without spinnakers in a variety of charter boats. Both divisions race on Friday 23rd and Saturday 24th. The winners of the Beneteau fleet and of the Jeanneau fleet then face off in match races on Sunday 25th, to decide the regatta champion.

1. Jeroen Gijzen (RSM)
2. Ina Spiess (Kelogg/WHU)
3. Klaus Rasmussen (LBS)
4. Chris Best (Warwick)
5. Johannes Francisco (IE)
6. Peter Cortie (RSM)
7. Johannes Vriesendorp (RSM)
8. Wendy Frigge (RSM)
9. Yannis Pagoulatos (RSM)

By winning the Cranfield regatta, Insead climb to the top of the rankings, where they lead by two points from Bocconi , who were third at Cranfield.

London Business School trail by 13 points in third, badly affected by their poor showings in Sta Margharita and Rhodes, while Cranfield and MIP round out the top 5.

Previously top ranked Warwick drop out of the top 5 altogether with their 22 in the Cranfield regatta.

Glasgow make a strong showing, at 8 after their first MBA Sailing regatta. Aberdeen, Ashridge, Portsmounth and Oxford Said drop out of the rankings, having not competed since Cranfield 2010.

It looks like 2011 is Insead’s year.  With just one scoring event left in the competition, they are 6 points ahead of their nearest rivals, LBS, and so would need to do very badly at the Bocconi regatta to miss out on the MBA Sailing League trophy.

Insead’s consistent top four placings in all three regattas, brought them the first place. The win at Cranfield has bought them the large gap between first and second that they’ll need to defend in Italy in September.

Bocconi’s third place in the Solent sees them overtake MIP and Chicago. MIP hold onto 4th, while Cranfield’s second spot in the only regatta in which they’ve competed this year sees them fifth.

Global MBA Trophy winners, Chicago drop out of the top ten because they didn’t compete at Cranfield,  while Warwick fall to 11th. Glasgow, Rotterdam, Manchester, Henly and Leeds are big climbers.

With a win, two seconds a 3 and a 4, they beat a regatta field where a different boat won each race, and where only Insead and second placed Cranfield 13 managed to avoid finishing outside of the top 10 in each race.

In the 20th edition of this regatta, 36 crews from 15 business schools made for dramatic starts and big differences in performances.

The regatta was made up five races over two days in a fleet of identical Benneteau F40s. The crews spent Friday night in Port Solent, and Saturday night in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Second place went to Cranfield 13, who also managed a first and a second, but discarded a 6th, and brought in a 3 and a 4 to finish 2 points behind.

Third place went to Bocconi, on countback, having finished level on points with LBS, who ended up 15th in the last race. Glasgow round out the top 5.

This is the 20th edition of the Cranfield regatta, which has taken place in the Solent, on England’s South Coast every year since the early 90s. The regatta will have a massive 36 boats lining up at the start of the races, 17 of whom from the host school Cranfield. The regatta is made up of up to five races over two days in a fleet of identical Benneteau F40s. The crews will be spending Friday night in Port Solent, and Saturday night in Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Insead are first in the 2011 MBA sailing league after two events, but have not attended the Cranfield regatta in the last few years. As a result, they have lost out in their league placing and world rankings. Any schools that do not attend a regatta are scored one more than the number of participants in the regatta. Last year, this meant that Insead  and Bocconi got 37 points for missing Cranfield, which pushed them right out of the running.

Insead’s consistent form so far in 2011, and Bocconi’s strong showing at Sta Margharita last year and Rhodes in April mean that a good result for either here will make them the top ranked school.

As for the 2011 sailing league, Insead need to come less than three places behind LBS or MIP to be sure of remaining top.

This years fleet will again be 36 strong, so the league will be heavily influenced by the results of this regatta. Chigago, winners in Rhodes will drop a long way further down the league as will IMD and Columbia, two others who can’t make it to the Solent.

Apart from the 17 Cranfield crews, and the defending champions, Exeter, there will be three from Imperial, 2 each from Bath, Manchester and London Business Schools, and one each from Warwick, Henley, Smurfit, Bocconi, MIP, RSM, Leeds, Glasgow and Insead.

This is the second edition of the RSM regatta, and here is what the organisers have asked us to pass on:

“Come and spend a sailing weekend this summer while networking with the RSM MBA community.

For more info, and to sign up, go to: www.rsmsailing.com, or email info@rsmsailing.

You do not need to be a certified sailor, all we need is your energy and enthusiasm to join your fellow MBA’s from other institutions or colleagues/classmates from the RSM community for an activity to be remembered.

This year RSM proudly presents the 2nd RSM Regatta in Lemmer.
Lemmer is an old Dutch town known for top watersport events in the Province of Friesland. In the summer, the town is busy with tourists both local and international. In this year’s regatta, the participants will fortunately be able to have a glimpse and be a part of a tradition: the championship of the annual IFKS Skûtsjesilen 2011 http://www.ifks.nl

The weekend will start on Friday afternoon to get acquainted with your fellow crew and races will fill up your Saturday and half a day on Sunday.  There will be a BBQ event on Saturday evening, an opportunity to meet your fellow sailors in a casual atmosphere which will of course be followed by drinks and party for a fun Saturday night!  Prize giving ceremony will be held on Sunday afternoon.

So what are you waiting for?
Sailing season has started with a beautiful early spring weather this year in the Netherlands. Strong wind, real fun sailing.
Come and join us!”