5O5 Worlds: Of Rabbits and Analytics

Bridgetown, Barbados (May 1, 2013) – Morten Bogacki didn’t want anything to do with being the appointed “rabbit,” also known as the pathfinder, to set the start for race six of the SAP 505 World Championship. He figured the role consigned him to oblivion in the standings. But then, when he won the race, it was amazing how far he and crewman Lars Dehne had come around to warm and fuzzy feelings about this bunny business.

Turning to race six, brothers Jorgen and Jacob Mojsen-Moller got past their troubles of race five (they hit one of the marks of the race and lost places) and proved to themselves that their retuned rig—allowing the sails to set with a slightly deeper shape—accomplished the mission of making them fast upwind as well as down. The brothers from Denmark ran away with that race and rose to sixth in the standings, but Jorgen said, “I think the 2013 world champion is going to be a German, not a Dane.”

There is evidence that he might be right. The leaderboard after six races has two German teams at the top. In first with two more days of racing ahead are Stefan Boehm and Gerald Roos, carrying a four-point advantage over Wolfgang Hunger and crewman Holger Jess. No doubt Boehm and Roos would have liked to repeat their two firsts of the opening day, but a fifth and a second were more than good enough to keep them ahead of a five-time world champion.

Proving that, even if you don’t get what you want, you still might get what you need.

Bogacki, who made a strong bid for Germany’s Olympic team, has employed SAP Analytics extensively, he said, not only here at the 505 Worlds: “I used the tools in my Olympic campaign. SAP gives the German Olympic movement that support, and I’ve also used the tools here to look back at the early races.” Bogacki will take an edge where he can find it, he said:  “The German 5O5 sailors sail together and train together, and it just makes us want to beat the other guys all that much more.”

One race is scheduled for Thursday, but one race was lost to weather on Monday. The race committee operating out of host Barbados Yacht Club has the option of making up that race on Thursday, if conditions warrant.

CURRENT Top Three Competitors:
1. GER9035      STEFAN BOEHM / GERALD ROOS
2. GER9071      WOLFGANG HUNGER / HOLGER JESS
3. USA9072       MIKE HOLT / CARL SMIT

LATEST RACING RESULTS: http://www.sap505worlds.com/live-mashup/race-results/

Written by Kimball Livingston

ABOUT SAP 5O5 World Championships 2013:

Event Site: http://www.sap505worlds.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SAP505WorldChampionship
Twitter: @SAP5O5Worlds #SAP5O5 #505Worlds
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/SAPSponsorships

About SAP:
SAP, the market and technology leader in enterprise application software, continues to play a major role at the forefront of international sailing and the sponsorship of SAP 5O5 World Championships helps SAP to continue on its course in assisting the development of sailing around the world. SAP applications and services enable more than 197,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. www.sapsponsorships.com

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