Edhec Cup

Some Grand Surprise during the 37th Edition

Boats during the 38th Edition

Organised by 50 students from EDHEC Business School, located in Lille (North of France) and Nice (French Riviera), the Edhec Cup competition is the largest European sporting event for students, and the largest student sailing race. Several famous skippers such as Marc Thiercelin, Joe Seeten, Franck Cammas... have taken part to date.

51 students from Edhec Business School are involved in the association. Aged between 20 and 23 years old, they organise and are responsible for all aspects of the race. This includes hiring the boats, building the Village, organising parties, distributing food, etc.

Participants say that taking part in the Edhec Cup (Course Croisière Edhec in French) is an amazing and unique experience, a mix between sport and entertainment, with a convivial and fair play atmosphere with students from around the world.

In addition to the Edhec Boat Cup, there are also several "off" events such as the Sea Trophy, the Land Trophy, the Village and the Training Regattas.

The Sea Trophy

The historical sport is sailing. Over 200 international student crews from around the world take part in the sailing competition from Canada, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, New Zealand...and France. There are two Sea Trophy categories:

• The 100% Students trophy for students or recent graduates
• The International trophy for foreign students to sail for their country's colours. Teams may either be from the same country or sail as a mixed crew.

The Land Trophy

More than a regatta, the Edhec Boat Cup is also a trek in the local hinterland. The Land Trophy is a sport challenge, that gives competitors the opportunity to discover the landscape. With a compass, on foot or on a bike, they will have to find your way through forests, beaches... They will so discover the Land across the Sea... There also will be questions during each leg, concerning the culture and the history of the region. The land trophy is limited to 110 teams. Each team is made up of 3 to 5 members, but only 3 compete in each leg. Teams can be mixed, or not. The teams take part in diverse activities during the 6-day event, such as canoeing, abseiling... Students come to support their sailing friends and the Trophy enables them to discover the region's landscapes. Up to 110 teams annually join the Land Trophy challenge.

The Village

The village is the key venue of the Edhec Boat Cup. students, sponsors, journalists, skippers, race committee, organization team, doctors, safety team, elected local officials and visitors intermingle for a one week in the 10,000 sq.m village. In the evening, the students gather in the marquee for huge student partie and during the day they can take part in beach volley, rugby, and football.

History

• 1969: Three students from Edhec Business School decided to share their love ofsailing by creating the European Business School Cup. 19 crews took part and set off from Dunkerque in May.

• 1973: 65 registrations for the 5th edition and foreign crews took part in the event for the first time. The race became international.

• 1975: The name of the event became the "Course Croisière Edhec" (Edhec Cup in English). 107 boats and around 600 students took part. The eighties consecrated this great sailing festival.

• 1980: A round in Guernsey, England, during the 11th edition illustrated the event's international vocation.

• 1982: Brest became the home port of the Edhec Cup. more and more students took part in preparing the week of sport competition and sponsors began to get involved.

• 1985: A record year: 350 crews come to La Rochelle for the 17th edition. The nineties were the golden age for ports such as La Rochelle, Lorient and Les Sables d'Olonne.

• 1994: The Edhec Cup created the Land Trophy and the French Student Cup organising training weekends during the academic year.

• 2000: A special navigation area was introduced for monotypes: the standard of the Edhec Cup began to come into line with the major nautical competitions to meet the expectations of the participants

• 2003: The 35th anniversary of the Edhec Cup and the 10th anniversary of the Land trophy and the French Student Cup.

• 2005: The Edhec Cup took place in Les Sables d'Olonne the same year as the Vendée Globe. Crews sailed for only 2 months after the arrival of the Vendée Globe candidates.

• 2008 : The competition celebrates its 40 years in Les Sables-d'Olonne (19–26 April). Maud Fontenoy and Patrick Poivre d'Arvor sponsored this anniversary edition. At the same time, the Land Trophy celebrated its 15 years.

History of Edhec Cup Sailing Participants

1994, at least 10 participating universities, including:

Confirmed

- Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

- Unspecified university from Denmark

- Unspecified university from Germany

- Unspecified university from Italy

- Unspecified university from Spain

Unconfirmed

- Universities from England, Belgium, France, Sweden

1995:

Unconfirmed

- University of Western Ontario, London, Canada

Associated sailing cups

The Edhec cup joined the Student Yachting World Cup (SYWoC). The 100%-student winning team in the Edhec Cup is selected to take part to the Student Yachting World Cup (SYWoC) organized by students from the Ecole Polytechnique, France.

External links

• Official website of the Edhec Cup organisation
• Official website of the Edhec Business School