Internal Events

Are you ready to take part in the V edition of the ESCP Europe Regatta? Well, now's the time to save the date!

This year's event will take place from 17th to 20th May on and around the beautiful Ischia island, Italy.

Tickets are now on sale! For more information, please visit the official Regatte homepage. You can also keep track via the Regatta Facebook.

From 12th to 15th May, we took over Ischia in Italy for the 4th annual ESCP Europe Regatta.

The Regatta has become a landmark in the School's sporting, networking and social calendar, with each one bigger and better than the last. Four years ago, the 1st edition of the ESCP Europe Regatta took place with 60 participants; in 2010, the Regatta had grown to 23 sailboats and more than 230 participants. This year, there were 450 people who attended the event, and together we will hit the Italian coast for four unforgettable days!

The Regatta symbolises what ESCP Europe is all about. Students and Alumni from Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin and Turin fly in for a weekend that will strengthen and broaden the group spirit that is key to the ESCP Europe community. 

This was a great experience for all who attended from the London campus! To see pictures taken by members of the London staff and faculty, please visit our Flickr or Facebook pages. 

For more information on the Regatta itself, please visit the event website.

By Matthias Stuckle (09) and Andreas Kaeshammer, with contributions from Florence Mele, Francesco Morrone and Cristiano Cardarelli.

Blue sea. Pure sunshine. A white gala. Unlimited networking. And above all: sailing in breath-taking scenery. That’s the ESCP Europe Regatta. An event organised by 25 students, supported by the Torino Campus and alumni, driven by a passion for sailing, sporting challenges, proactive teamwork and new encounters.

Increasing Popularity Among Students and Alumni
The Regatta's organisation started six months ago with the attraction of sponsors, the selection of sailing boats, hotel accommodation, event venues and the communication of the event to all ESCP Europe alumni and students. We could see the event becoming increasingly popular.

The first regatta four years ago was still a very small event, limited to the Torino campus. Last year, 250 alumni and students attended the event on Capri. Because of the increasing interest, the number of participants was increased to 480 this year - almost twice as many as the year before. Why so many? Because we are bringing people together in a fantastic setting, people from all campuses and countries. The interest was so overwhelming that the four-day event was sold out within 20 minutes of the start of the online registration. More than 700 applications were taken within this short period, resulting in a long waiting list.

From Naples to Ischia – Networking at Sea
Francesco Morrone of the London Campus wrote: "As soon as the London campus team arrived at Naples international airport, a delegation of the regatta committee welcomed us and facilitated our transfer to the base camp where all the boats were awaiting the regatta participants.  Once we got to the base camp, a private harbour located in the centre of the city, we were all impressed by the precision of the organisation team and also by the natural beauty of the fantastic location: the gulf and the famous volcano Mount Vesuvius on one side, and the city centre on the other."

The event officially started on the evening of 12th May with a welcome drinks reception on the rooftop of a sailing club, overlooking the yacht harbour of Naples. In addition to senior representatives of the main sponsors, the French consul based in Naples addressed a few words to the participants at the opening ceremony of the event, which was otherwise informal. The participants stayed out late, taking the opportunity to get to know each other and make new contacts, mainly in the local pizzerias in the historical city centre.

There were 480 participants in 42 sailing yachts.  Students, lecturers, sponsors, alumni all sharing boats, something that gives the regatta its special appeal. Participants stand together and get to know each other while crossing the challenging waters. The day ended with a long night out, including a live concert and a party in a club booked specially for our event.

Three Days, Three Races
Despite the late night, Saturday morning saw everyone up for the BCG-Social-Game to demonstrate their teamwork, initiative, spirit, passion for challenges, adaptability to multicultural environments and exacting guidance. The task involved constructing a shelter out of materials provided in limited quantities (expanded polystyrene, slats, cardboard, cord).  Similar skills were demanded during the subsequent sailing regatta, the main event of the weekend.

The wind conditions were not ideal, but all boats showed a good team spirit. The first race, the Campus race, was run by five boats representing the five ESCP Europe campuses: the Paris campus boat won. The next day, a coastal race, involving all 43 boats, from Naples to Ischia was won by Azzurra with skipper Flavio Nappi, a student from the London Madrid Paris track. The final race on the third day off Ischia was again won by Azzurra. Flavio Nappi is a successful skipper who has earned many international sailing titles such as 420 world team champion (1998, 2000), 3 qualifications for the world and European championships (1998-2000), Italian champion match race U20 (2003).

Cristiano Carderelli, Finance Director ESCP Europe London wrote: "The next day, after a breakfast with Nutella, neapolitan pastries and exceptional coffee, we reunited with our skippers for the induction. They explained to us how boats work and what our role on the bridge would be during the competition. As respected Londoners, we showed that we were more expert at catching the underground than dealing with the helm, so our role would be the one of the strategic weight, counterbalancing the boat during its veers. We (the London campus team) were all excited to be able to take part in this challenging day, and our Hansen Vessel was probably the best of the 43 vessels in the competition.

At eleven, after leaving harbour we set sail toward Ischia to start testing our Hansen for some trial manoeuvres, as a warm up for the competition to come in the next hour. There were 15 of us in total on the boat. As some of the other sponsors had been assigned to navigate with us we could meet nice people while enjoying the wind and the speed.

Once we were in the races we could see the precision and the experience of our skipper Flavio Nappi, and how close the other boats would come while taking the wind. One missed our mast by a couple of inches - the cables on the masts collided but not the masts themselves, otherwise we would have broken them.  Luckily no harm was done and we won the competition, arriving first at the port of Forio d’Ischia!

After a restoring beer with the crew, we went to the aperitif organised at the Hotel Vila Carolina; as sponsors we were reserved the terrace, where we could meet alumni from JP Morgan, Bain Capital, Kappa, Ferrero and many of the other event sponsors. So we passed by the bubbly Gancia Spumante to the dinner, organised close to our boats in the harbour square, where under a purple sunset we celebrated the 150 years of Italy unification. While eating the national dish (pasta!) we waited for the start of the concert. The music from the harbour attracted all the village of Forio, making the ESCP Regatta the major event in town!"

Famous Sponsors – Fantastic Prizes
The extraordinary prizes of this year’s regatta included a weekend in the 5-star Fortevillage resort in Sardinia and a week on a Sailitalia luxury yacht in the Gulf of Naples. Other sponsors included Kappa, BCG, BPI, 3H, Ferrero, BPSec, Gancia, Banca Patrimoni Sella & C., AON, Superga, K-Way.

One of the sponsors, well-known sportswear brand Kappa, is run by the family of two members of our community: students Alessandro and Lorenzo Boglione (MIM 2010). Kappa provided all participants with polo shirts, caps and Kway' bags. Ferrero Nutella provided enough Nutella to feed all participants for three days, and BCG organised the social game.  ESCP Europe also contributed to the regatta as a sponsor, whose overall budget was 230,000 Euros.

At this point we would like to thank all the Alumni who got involved in this event with their companies and made the event happen. We hope to see you again next year and that you will be able to motivate even more stakeholders of ESCP Europe to get involved in this new form of European networking.

The Final Showdown in White
The final gala party with the dress code "white with a touch of your nationality" has already become a hallmark of the ESCP Europe Regatta. This year, the white gala took place in a gorgeous spot on the seashore, surrounded by towering cliffs. While some participants passed the time together on the deck chairs, others danced the night away.

Overall the participants agreed with exhausted but smiling faces on one thing: we will be back in 2012! This was very satisfying feedback for the organisation team and a compensation for the hard work not only throughout the last few months, but especially during the event. It provided plenty of motivation for next year's regatta, where we hope to welcome even more alumni and sponsors.

See you next year, and ship ahoy!

THE PRIZES:
1st small cruiser: Artemisia Grand Soleil 40  (Skipper Enrico Lanzillo; Greta-Kristina Fitschen; Cecile Gaulke; Jacopo Stock; Paolo Giabardo).

1st medium cruiser: Pacifier (Kamil Smoczynski skipper; Andreas Meier; Nora Ruddeck; Steven Neftel; Alessandro Vasapolli; Charlotte Traeger; Yaohui Xu; Isabel Alesanco; Tiziano Giorgio Cormio). This crew won a week on a sail boat of 41 feets, provided by Sailitalia.

1st big cruiser: Azzurra ( Flavio Nappi Skipper; Florence Mele; Cristiano Cardarelli; Emily Abols; Linda Brunello0; Francesco Morrone; Simone Medin - The Boston Consulting Group- Valentina Lugli - Ferrero-; Massimo Castiglia - Ferrero-; Christian Corbani - BP SEC-; Daniele Barbone- BP SEC-; Raffaella Traverso - Basic Net-; Francesca Boglione - Basic Net- Federica Basso - Basic Net- Giovanni D'andria - Next Energy Capital-; Lorenzo Colonna - J.P. Morgan)

1st place in overall: Artemisia (Skipper Enrico Lanzillo; Greta-Kristina Fitschen; Cecile Gaulke; jacopo Stock Paolo Giabardo) Prize: a week end in Sardina at La Maddalena Hotel&SPA

Sailing in pink (1st female crew): Raging bull

Spirit on sail: who best represent the ESCP Europe spirit: Valentina (Giovanni Clavarino skipper; Alessandra Aglietta; Barbara Bertelè; Paolo Della Rovere; Gabriella Gregori; Michele Grosso; Alessia Officio; Enrica Profumo; Francesco Profumo; Luca Ruisecco; Charlotte Thomee.

The Unicorn's crew won 14 vouchers of 130€ for the products of the Group Basic Net: K-way, Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Superga, Anzi Besson, Jeusus jeans.

Members of the 2011 Board:
•    Roberto Quaglia
•    Flavio Nappi
•    Andrea Marini
•    Giorgio Riccò
•    Lorenzo Boglione
•    Renato Rolle
•    David Kruck

The Regatta Team 2011:
Flavio Nappi: TMP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2010
Alessandro Casablanca: TLP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2011
Umberto Cravero: Turin, Italian, Promo 2013
Andrea Marini: TLP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2011
Andreas Kaeshammer: Paris, option entrepreneurship, German, Promo 2011
Angela Lo Pinto: TLP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2010
Antoine Starcky: Paris, option entrepreneurship, French, Promo 2011
Benedetta Pininfarina: TLP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2011
David Kruck: London Paris, Suisse, Promo 2010
Davide Cantoro: TLP, Italian, Promo 2011
Federico Momigliano: Turin, Italian, Promo 2013
Florian Kuester: Paris, option entrepreneurship, German, Promo 2011
Francesca Rena: TLP, Italian, Promo 2011
Giorgio Riccò: TLP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2011
Giovanni Clavarino: Turin, Italian, Promo 2013
Giovanni Natella: Turin, Italian, Promo 2013
Giulia Vecchiati: TLP, Italian, Promo 2011
Helene Fantasia: TLP, Italian, Promo 2011
Lorenzo Boglione: TLP, option entrepreneurship, Italian, Promo 2010
Marco Righetti: TLP, Italian, Promo 2011
Renato Rolle: TLP, Italian, Promo 2012
Stephen Leguillon-Millar: Paris, option entrepreneurship, French, Promo 2011
Dany Tello: Paris, option entrepreneurship, French, Promo 2011

German readers can have a look at the e-fellows.net blog