Regatta photos

See our regatta photo album for our pics of the MBA regatta.

Race report

On the 7th & 8th July, Henley's sailing team competed in the 2012 Cranfield MBA Regatta, a weekend of tough ocean yacht races against business schools from all over Europe. Our team scored a great result, coming 8th out of 28 boats.

Weather on the Saturday was appalling with wind gusting to 30mph and torrential rain for much of the day. The crew experienced very rough conditions but battled on to complete the races. Some boats retired due to crew members becoming seasick.

Stop over on Saturday night was at Cowes with all the teams moored in the town's yacht haven. We proudly flew the Henley flag high up the mast and received many comments on our smart Henley branded shirts.

Sunday was a much better day with sunny, although windy conditions. The team performed well including an impressive sprint to the finish on the last race, overtaking four other boats due to a quick sail change as a storm hit.

Our team this year consisted of Steve Ellwood (skipper), Tim Lawson (team leader), Michiel Commandeur (first mate), Alison Fellows, Lynn Ellwood, Carl de Verteuil, Tom Brackenbury and Joanne Lloyd.  The crew are looking to take part in other regattas which are part of the MBA Sailing series in the future.

Great result in Cranfield MBA Regatta

The Henley team had a great result at the 2012 Cranfield MBA Regatta coming 8th out of 28 boats. This was an especially good performance as five of the top eight boats were run by professional skippers. Henley was one of the top three who had business school MBA skippers, along with LBS and Insead.

See below for the official results table. Click on the image to expand.

Second training day

A small but perfectly formed team of Tim, Paul, Alison and Michiel met in Swanick Marina for a day out on Sash. The weather was rough but we enjoyed our sail over to Cowes. Finding the marina's all busy we cruised up the river to the Folly Inn for lunch.

An afternoon cruise back was very relaxing and the day finished with a drink in the bar at Swanick. Not the most arduous training day but good to be out on the water in Sash.

Successful first training day

Saturday 26th May was the first training day for the team in 2012. Paul Bennett and Richard Steele hosted the crew on board 'Sash'. Fresh winds and a warm sunny day made for an excellent sailing session where we spent time in both the Solent and Southampton Water.

We had plenty of practice with all the main sail movements including spinnaker work. At the end of the day we sailed right past some massive cruise and container ships making Sash seem very small. Next training due on 23rd June.

Team for 2012 confirmed

The Henley team for the 2012 regattas is confirmed as:

Tim Lawson (Team Leader)
Steve Ellwood (Skipper)
Michiel Commandeur (First Mate)
Joanna Lloyd
Tom Brack
Lynn Ellwood
Alison Fellows
Carl de Verteuil

Our team coach is Paul Bennett.

MBA Sailing League dates confirmed for 2012

The 2012 MBA Sailing League Calendar is now confirmed as:

1. The Global MBA Trophy Regatta in Athens
27 – 29 April.

2. The Alumni Business Cup (ABC) Regatta in La Trinite Sur Mer, France
6 – 9 June.

3. The Cranfield Regatta in The Solent, England
6 – 8 July.

4. The RSM Regatta,in Lemmer, The Netherlands
24 – 26 August.

5. The Rolex MBAs Cup, in Santa Margharita Ligure, Italy
27 – 30 September.

The Henley team are looking at entering at least two regattas in the series this year. More news soon!

Recruitment for 2012 under way

We are looking to put together the crew to compete under the Henley Business School banner in the 2012 Cranfield MBA Regatta. This will be on the 6th to 8th July 2012 and will depart from Sunsail in Port Solent, Portsmouth. There will be a stop over in Cowes on the Saturday night. The boats used will Sunsail's fleet of Beneteau First 40 yachts.

The Henley team will usually have at least one practice weekend ahead of the regatta – details to be advised later. If you are interested in taking part, please reply to the author.

Mark wears the Henley colours mid-Atlantic

One of Henley Sailing Group's members, Mark Henry, recently sailed the Atlantic in the 2011ARC on a 49'Jeanneau Kotari. Mark had quite an adventure with engine and gear failures throughout meaning they were one of the few boats to have sailed the full distance. It took them just under 20 days and they experienced various conditions from F8 to F0!

Mark proudly wore his Henley cap all the way across the Atlantic demonstrated by this photo at the half way point, with over 1000 miles to the nearest land in Venezuala.