July 2011

Hasso Plattner (GER)

 Nomination
A fine 13th in Race 1 and an overall finish of 53rd in a competitive 85-strong fleet at the 2011 505 worlds in Hamilton Island are just one reason for nominating the founder of the SAP software giant. We are big fans of keeping on racing against the best as you ‘mature’, rather than seeking soft targets… it seems Plattner shares our view. The ‘60-something’ racer is also a generous supporter of sailing events
 Why they won
It was good to see the international range of names who put their support behind this vigorous racing sailor and equally vigorous sailing benefactor. Torben Grael, Henrik Soderlund, Manfred Schreiber, Jim Pugh and Mads Ehrhardt were among those who made great play of the example set by this German sailor who at weekends can be found racing everything from his beloved 505 to his maxi Morning Glory and his superyacht of the same name.