EDHEC Sailing Cup

EDHEC Sailing Cup logo.
History
Established:	1969
Headquarters:	Lille, France
Sponsors:	Lidl, Orange, Xerox, Ernst & Young, La Banque postale, Arzon, Port du Crouesty and Department of Morbihan
Current Race
Start:	Brest, France: 20.04.2018
Finish:	Brest, France: 28.04.2018
Entries:	3.000 (overall)
Yachts Used:	One-Design division: Grand Surprise, Longtze and J/80 IRC division: monohull boats with a Length Over All from 8m to 16m and a rating between 14 and 33.5 net handicap
Websites:	www.cce.fr/en/

The EDHEC Sailing Cup (« ESC ») (Course Croisière EDHEC or « CCE » in French) is the leading student sporting event in Europe and the world’s biggest intercollegiate offshore regatta.^[1] Created in 1969, it nowadays gathers 3,000 participants coming from 23 countries and from more than 160 universities. In 2017 the association was nominated best student organisation in France by the ANEO challenge.

Throughout the years the EDHEC Sailing Cup has grown in diversity. Today the ESC is composed of four different trophies that include diverse sports: the Sea Trophy (the regatta), the Land Trophy (a Multi-sport raid) and the Sand Trophy (a beach soccer, beach rugby and beach volley competition).^[2]

History

Three French students from the prestigious EDHEC Business School willing to broaden the sport of sailing, Jean-Luc Picot, Francis Prat and Pierre Jouannet, decided in 1968 to organize a student regatta. It took place from May 1 to May 4, 1969 at Dunkerque. For its first edition the then-called EDHEC Business School Cup gathered 18 crews, and was won by a Dutch boat. Older than the Vendée Globe, the Volvo Ocean Race and other sailing event, the EDHEC Sailing Cup was a precursor in the high-level competitions.

Seven years after its creation the regatta reached 100 crews from 10 nationalities and took is actual name, the "EDHEC Sailing Cup". 329 boats attended the 18th edition, a record. For the 19th edition the organizing team decided to build a Village to welcome participants, partners and activities in one place. The same year the "Chaîne Avitaillement", an open air free supermarket, was also created. For its 23rd edition, 20 international boats participated in the regatta including the first African boat, from Tunisia, and boats from the United States and from Brazil. In 1994 was created the Land Trophy. It was at the beginning created as a substitution for the Sea Trophy. Since it was a great success, it became a full Trophy. In 1998 an Israeli-Palestinian participated in the regatta, the "Peace Boat."^[3] 6,000 participants attend to the EDHEC Sailing Cup in Brest. In 1999, the EDHEC Sailing Cup became the leading sporting student event in Europe.

In order to give a more sporting dimension to the event, the Sand Trophy was created in 2007. For the first time in 2010 was organized the Orange Port of call, a coastal race that gathers the participants, at night in an area away from the Village under a marquee. In 2013, the EDHEC Sailing Cup and the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta, organized by Storm Trysail Foundation and Larchmont Yacht Club, created a partnership, which offers the winner of each regatta the whole cost of the participation in the other one.^[4]

The Sea Trophy

Grand Surprise boats at race during the 37th Edition in Les Sables d'Olonne.

The Sea Trophy, created in 1969, is the historical heart of the EDHEC Sailing Cup and remains the biggest Trophy of the EDHEC Sailing Cup. Each year, the competition gathers more than 180 boats. The French Sailing Federation (FFVoile) National Race Committee supervises the race.^[5] The race is open to all monohull boats with a Length Over All between 8 and 16 meters (approximately 25 to 50 feet) with a rating of 14 to 33.5 net handicap are admitted as well as Longtze boats. The three common boats used are Grand Surprise (around 40 boats), J/80 (around 40 boats) and Longtze (around 10 boats). The competition is divided in several rankings: an Overall Ranking, a 100% Student and the 100% International, and each competition is rewarded by different prices.

The other Trophies

The Village

La Rochelle Harbour during the 38th Edition.

First installed in 1987, the EDHEC Sailing Cup Village is the center of the event. It is the place where all teams, all sponsors and all visitors meet. With a 20,000m2surface, it is composed of several parts:^[6] The institutional village: place that gathers all the partners and the sponsors and also receives animations for students and animators; The Official Club: where official partners can come to meet the students around cocktails; The International Club: a dedicated area for international crews where they can meet each other and enjoy punctual animations such as food-tastings; A medical room with a hundred of specialists (osteopaths, physiotherapists, podiatrists and doctors); A 300m2 bar/restaurant; The "seabercafé" with a bar and computers in free-access; A Great Marquee with concerts and DJs such as Kavinsky or Laurent Wolf; and finally The Sand Trophy fields A wide range of activities and animations are organized to entertain the participants all along the week from bungee jumping and concerts to sailing simulator.

Organization

The EDHEC Sailing Cup is an event organized by students for students. Every year, 50 EDHEC Business School students (in Lille, France) take up the challenge of organizing the leading student sporting event in Europe. The entire event is organized by students, from the logistic to the communication of the event and its 3 trophies. Organized into four divisions, - Logistic, Sports, External Relations and Communication - with a head office, the association works likes a real SME, with presidents that devote their whole gap year to this mission.

References