The America’s Cup, the pinnacle of yachting, was first contested in 1851, making it the oldest trophy in international sport, predating the modern Olympic Games by 45 years*.
The trophy’s roots date back to when a syndicate of businessmen from New York sailed the schooner America across the Atlantic Ocean for the World’s Fair in England. The schooner won a race around the Isle of Wight against a fleet of British yachts, and claimed the £100 Cup.
From there, the United States embarked on what would become the longest winning streak in the history of sport. A 132-year stretch saw boats representing the country successfully defend the trophy 24 times from 1870 through 1980 — until 1983, when Australia became the first successful challenger to lift the trophy from the Americans.
It was August 2012 when the sailing world was turned upside down by a 72-foot catamaran flying in the Hauraki Gulf. Emirates Team New Zealand had brought the foils to the America’s Cup and changed the face of top-level yacht racing forever.
Since then the increase in performance for the America’s Cup boats has been greater than at any point in the 170-year history of the event.
So, what makes these yachts so fast? Well, there are tons of technologies around them, as well as some of the best engineers and designers from the aerospace and marine industries and Formula1, and of course, top-notch skippers and professional sailing crews.
But the big impact and sheer speed come from the foils. The foils are shaped like an aircraft wing that is attached to the body of the yacht. The lift that is created on the foil in the water (similar physics principles as of the wing of an airplane) brings the body of the yacht above the water.
Drag is the main factor that impacts the speed of a vessel. The fact that the body of the yacht is out of the water and the drag of the foil is considerably low, creates perfect conditions to develop speeds of 60 mph (96 km/h) by using sails alone.
The same way that the use of foils boosts the efficiency of the vessel and its speed on/above the water, the use of software tools and automation is critical for a small company that is entering into its growth stage and wants to scale.
When an early-stage company reaches its commercial phase, this is usually the time to implement the right processes and software tools that will allow a smooth transition to the growth phase.
ERP, CRM, marketing automation, social media, PLM, customer-complaint handling, and other tools — once the need for these tools appears, it’s usually too late, as there is already a gap between implementing such a tool (which may take months), and the urgent need for it at growth.
Budget-wise, this is something that will be delayed until the last minute as something that “can wait”, “not urgent” and “with no necessity at this point of time”.
Now, imagine that your company is this yacht that is picking up speed and would like to be competitive against all rivals.
If you don’t plan and put the right resources, processes and software tools in place early enough, you’ll be lagging behind. You’ll never be able to lift your company above the water, out of the drag, to compete, to scale.
Some companies realize that early, some notice it once they feel the need, and others don’t get it at all and may get stuck at the point where a lack of proper infrastructure hinders their growth forever.
Which one of the above do you want to be?
*America’s Cup official website, www.americascup.com
