HEC Wins Sixth Edition of the MBA Cup

After two days of intense sailing in the waters of Santa Margherita Ligure, the HEC crew won the sixth edition of the MBA Cup, beating 13 boats representing as many Business Schools. Kellogg-WHU placed second and Sauder third at the regata, which was held on 25 and 26 September.

An amateur regata was held was held alongside the official race and the SDA Bocconi crew placed first.

Organized by the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club and the Italian Yacht Club, the sixth edition of the MBA Cup involved over 260 yachtsmen, including students and alumni from 14 Business Schools from all over the world representing 37 countries. Participants came from countries including Switzerland, Poland, Australia, Thailand, Greece and the United States.

The annual MBA Cup started in 2004, but the idea originated in 2000 when a group of SDA Bocconi students decided to participate in a regata organized by Cranfield University at the Isle of Wight. That became a project which involved the entire school and not just a group of students and was what caused the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club to be founded. Victory at Wight came in 2003 and, using the America's Cup as a reference, the school took the honors and decided to host the following regatas.

Sailing a boat is like leading a company in that it needs strategy, knowledge and rules, leadership skills and lots of imagination, all qualities that are taught to Master students.

The final ranking:

HEC
Kellogg-WHU
Sauder
INSEAD
Instituto De Empresa
Warwick
WHU
Columbia Business School
Chicago Booth
SDA Bocconi
London Business School
RSM Erasmus
Wharton
Duke

Participating business schools:
Chicago Booth; Columbia; Kellogg-WHU; London Business School; Sauder; Warwick; Wharton; WHU; HEC; Duke; INSEAD; SDA Bocconi; RSM; Instituto de Empresa

The 2009 MBA Cup was developed with the partnership of BMW, Deloitte and Santandrea.