390 MBA STUDENTS FROM 20 OF THE WORLD'S BEST SCHOOLS, INCLUDING HARVARD, MIT, CAMBRIDGE, HEC, IESE AND IMD, WILL COMPETE FROM SEPTEMBER 28 TO OCTOBER 1 IN A SAILING EVENT IN SANTA MARGHERITA LIGURE, ON THE MEDITERRANEAN COAST, WHERE SDA BOCCONI SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AND THE YACHT CLUB ITALIANO PARTNER WITH ROLEX TO ORGANIZE THE 2017 ROLEX MBA'S CONFERENCE AND REGATTA

By boat as in business. With this spirit, 390 MBA students from the 20 best business schools in the world will meet in Santa Margherita Ligure, on the Mediterranean coast in Italy, from 28 September to 1 October at the 14th edition of the Rolex MBA's Conference and Regatta, the international sailing event organized by SDA Bocconi School of Management with the Yacht Club Italiano in partnership with Rolex. Participating schools include IESE, INSEAD, HEC, London Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School, Harvard, MIT, IMD, Sauder, Goethe Business School, and HKUST from Hong Kong.

Why “By boat as in business”? Because in order to be competitive and win, you need a leader, a team, a tactic and a strategy. All conditions that over the years brought only 8 schools to win the cup out of the 30 that have participated. In fact, in addition to SDA Bocconi, past winners include IESE (Spain), Warwick (Uk), Columbia and MIT (USA), HEC (France), Sauder (Canada), EPFL (Switzerland).

"Business schools and MBA programs are used to competition: the reputation of study programs and schools goes hand in hand with the positions they gain in international rankings. And SDA Bocconi’s MBA is placed in the top ten in Europe by the Financial Times and the Economist," says Beppe Soda, Dean of SDA Bocconi School of Management. “To transfer this competition to a different field like the Rolex MBA's Conference and Regatta is also an opportunity for our students to share and compare with colleagues who are living the same educational experience."

"A leader, a team, a tactic and a strategy," confirms the President of the Italian Yacht Club Nicolò Reggio, "exactly the principles that govern the management of the Yacht Club Italiano, gained from experience in regattas around the world by members of the management team of the Club and transposed into individual business activities”.

Since its first edition in 2004, about 4,000 MBA students from more than 60 nationalities from five continents have enjoyed the regatta experience that combines sporting spirit, networking and cultural enrichment thanks to the conference which characterizes the program of the event.

Starting from this edition, SDA Bocconi School of Management has decided to create a connecting thread that will unite the Conferences for many years: topics related to beauty, art, culture and heritage. The title of the Conference for 2017 will be "A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever: Building Credibility and Sustainability Through Culture" and will be moderated by Maurizio Dallocchio. Appearing will be Rachel Sanderson of the Financial Times and Andrea Carandini, President of FAI (the Italian Environment Fund) will attend. Alexander Pereira, Superintendent and Artistic Director of La Scala Theater is also on the program as a discussant.

The highlights of the sporting event will be Friday 29 and Saturday 30 September when 50 boats take up the challenge, divided into three classes: Open (10 monotypes J70), Offshore (9 first 36.7 boats) and Cruising for the remaining 31 boats. For each class, three crews will be rewarded while the Challenge Trophy MBA's Cup will be equally awarded to the first two Open and Offshore crews.

 
The Rolex MBA's Conference and Regatta 2017, by numbers:
14 editions
20 schools
50 boats
60 nationalities
390 participating MBA students

Schools participating in the 2017 edition:
SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy)
Chicago Booth School of Business (United States)
Columbia Business School (United States)
Goethe Business School (Germany)
Harvard Business School (United States)
HEC (France)
HKUST Business School (Hong Kong)
IE Business School (Spain)
IESE Business School (Spain)
IMD Business School (Switzerland)
INSEAD (France and Singapore)
WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management (Germany)
London Business School (Great Britain)
Manchester Business School (Great Britain)
MIT Sloan School of Management (United States)
Rotterdam School of Management (Netherlands)
Sauder School of Business (Canada)
Tuck School of Business (United States)
Wharton University of Pennsylvania (United States)
Cambridge Judge Business School (United Kingdom)