Sailing: Combining business with pleasure

Counting the Cost host Kamahl Santamaria travelled to Kiel in Germany for ‘Kieler Woche’ – the biggest sailing regatta in the world. Not only was it a spectacular event, it was a huge convergence of sport and technology.

Sailing Team Germany has brought German corporate giants Audi and SAP on board to assist with its training programme for London 2012. Kamahl spent the day with SAP co-CEO Jim Snabe, talking to him about how SAP is offering the German sailors real technology rather than just sponsorship money.

They also held a lengthy discussion about the state of the German and eurozone economy, and why Germany has managed to survive the crisis better than others. A 20-year veteran of SAP, Snabe spoke of the need for innovation and apprenticeships to keep employment chances alive for young Germans.

Snabe says: “While there is uncertainty in Europe and no doubt the southern part of Europe is in a crisis because of the debt situation, Germany is proving that you can be a European market and be very successful. There are a couple of reasons for that. First of all they kept a production, so they didn’t outsource everything to other parts of the world. They are very global in their approach, so companies in Germany are successful, because they go global very early. And thirdly, and we have seen that at SAP, we focus on innovation so you can drive growth, not just efficiency.”