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2012 SAP 505 World Championship sets sail in La Rochelle, France

by Mark Angell
21-27 July 2012

The SAP 505 World Championship is taking place in La Rochelle from 21-27 July

SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) have announced that its sponsorship of the 505 World Championship, the pinnacle regatta for the international 505 sailing class, will feature new interactive analytics and technologies for fans and sailors to experience the event. The 2012 SAP 5O5 World Championship will take place in La Rochelle, France, from July 21-27. With over 190 teams registered, this is the biggest regatta in the history of the class.

“The development of the 5O5 Class began in La Baule, France, in 1953, and the first 5O5 boat was designed in Paris a year later,” Michel Boiry, president of the Organizing Committee. “Given our country's proud history, we are thrilled to bring the 2012 SAP 5O5 World Championship to beautiful La Rochelle. We look forward to some fantastic racing and working with SAP to provide sailors and fans with a high-quality experience on and off the water.”

To deliver the on-water action directly to fans, the 2012 SAP 5O5 World Championship races will be streamed live on the official regatta website, www.sap505worlds.com/2012. Key races will also feature 3-D race visualization and live commentary from top sailing personalities, including Klaus Stammerjohann, Penny Ydgren, Marcus Hutchinson and more. An online “Live Center” from SAP will offer spectators, sailors and online fans real-time access to leader boards, race visualization and regatta updates, making it easier than ever before to follow all the race action as it happens.

A live leader board, live stream and in-race commentary from SAP will also be available on mobile devices through a fully integrated mobile version of the website, m.sap505worlds.com. This will be available cross-platform, giving spectators and fans access to all the action from the 2012 SAP 5O5 World Championship in the palm of their hand and on the device of their preference, whether they're watching on shore or tuning in from the other side of the world.

“Understanding what happens out on the race course isn't always easy. To help solve this challenge and bring the excitement of sailing to the fans, we developed the ‘Race Viewer' and live leader board based on analytics from SAP.” said Stefan Lacher, Head of Technology, SAP Sponsorships. “Through analyzing GPS data together with integrated wind measurements from sensors out on the race course, we can display information such as in-race ranking, average speeds, distance travelled, ETA at the next mark rounding, gaps to leader and gains and losses per leg.”

SAP will work with the sailors throughout the event to enhance their regatta and race experience. At the end of each day, sailor debriefs will take place in the SAP lounge, where SAP technology experts will take the sailors through cutting-edge sailing analytics. These analytics solutions provide a comprehensive breakdown of race performance and allow sailors to pinpoint areas where they can optimise their strategy and performance.

The event in La Rochelle marks the fourth year of SAP's involvement with the 5O5 class as title sponsor. The company was previously title sponsor of the SAP 5O5 World Championship in San Francisco (2009), Aarhus (2010) and Hamilton Island (2011). In that time, SAP has developed solutions to help competing crews, spectators and online fans follow the race and get live information on what is happening out on the water. This year in La Rochelle, SAP will apply innovative sailing solutions to help the Championship run like never before.

The on-water action in La Rochelle begins July 17, 2012, with the French Nationals and continues with the 5O5 World Championship racing from July 21-27.

www.sap505worlds.com/2012.

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