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SDA Bocconi Sails to Victory

, by Susanna Della Vedova, translated by Jenna Walker
The crew of the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club were the winners of the Rolex MBA's Conference and Regatta where more than 400 students from 22 of the best Business Schools in the world faced off at sailing for three days at Santa Margherita Ligure

Excellent weather conditions, sunny skies and a constant wind between 5 and 7 knots allowed the SDA Bocconi crew, led by Federico Albano, President of the 2010 Sailing Club, already star performers during the first two days of the fleet regatta, to win the Rolex MBA's Conference & Regatta.

That's how the SDA Bocconi crew beat the crew from Cranfield University School of Management, the Sauder crew placed third and Kellog fourth, leaving the eighteen other teams that participated in this year's edition in harbor.

"We worked on this event for a whole year," says Federico Albano, President of the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club. "We were responsible for the organization and the pressure of getting good competitive results. The event was a great success and the win was the crowning moment of a dream come true. Participants appreciated Saturday's conference very much and the setting at Villa Cervara ensured an unmatched location. And the enthusiasm, hard work and commitment we put into all this allowed us to have fun and be happy."

But their victory was not only a competitive one. On Saturday evening the crews officially acted as Master students and participated in an interesting conference focusing on "Excellence as an Antidote to Crisis," in which the academic world met with the economic and financial world to look beyond the recession. They looked at how to face, deal with and use the experience of difficult periods to face future challenges more positively and knowingly. Guest speakers included Alberto Franzone, Managing Director of Alvarez & Marsal; Andrea Illy, President and CEO of Illycaffè S.p.A; Matteo Marzotto, President of ENIT – Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo; Bruno Meier, CEO of Rolex and Yoel Zaoui, Head of Investment Banking Division for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Goldman Sachs. The debate was moderated by Professor Maurizio Dallocchio, Full Professor and holder of the Nomura Chair of Corporate Finance at Bocconi.

The entire event, which is in its seventh edition this year, was organized by the members of the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club, along with the Italian Yacht Club. This was the first year the event featured a partnership with Rolex. Over 400 students from 60 countries and 22 Business Schools participated. The schools were: (SDA Bocconi (Italy); Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece); Chicago Booth (USA); Columbia Business School (USA); Cranfield University School of Management (UK); Harvard Business School (USA); HEC (France); IESE Business School (Spain); IMD (Switzerland); INSEAD (France); Istituto de Impresa Business School (Spain); Kellogg School of Management (USA); Kellogg/WHU (USA); London Business School (UK); Manchester Business School (UK); MIT Sloan Management (USA); NYU Stern (USA); Rsm Erasmus University (Netherlands); Sauder School of Business (Canada); Warwick Business School (UK); Wharton University of Pennsylvania (USA); WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany).

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