Pushing the Envelope - Act 10 reviewed by BMWOR

by www.bmworacleracing.twoday.net on 18 May 2006 On a warm and hazy Thursday morning in Valencia, and with the luxury of a half-day off between Acts 10 and 11, one can reflect for a moment on where we are in the big AC picture....

Before Valencia Louis Vuitton Act 10 our team's Executive Committee had set two clear goals, which were well articulated by CEO and Skipper Chris Dickson. I think everyone on the team understood them:

+ Learn as much as possible about ourselves, our new boat and the competition.
+ Stay on top of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Rankings.

This morning I think we can place a tick beside both.

Notice our mission was not, necessarily, to win Act 10. Whille winning is always an objective -- and nice when it happens -- it goes without saying (but never hurts to remind ourselves) that the overarching goal is to win the America's Cup.

If anything, winning Act 10 was yet another reminder for us, a wake up call perhaps for some of the other teams, about just how hard winning the Cup is in the first place, and how much harder it is going to be this time around given all that has been done to the AC 32 event format, class rule, and the racing itself to make it closer and more exciting for all concerned.

Act 10 also brings to mind the old saw, 'you better be careful what you ask for -- you might get it!'

For sure this is no time to rest on our laurels. The Act 10 goals are unchanged for Act 11. Winning 11, too, would be nice. Far more important, however, is to stay focused, keep our collective shoulders to the wheel, learn all we can, innovate, and take calculated risks that expand the teamwork and technology envelopes.

It is said you learn more from failing; and failing to take risks and trying new things is a recipe for losing the Cup.

As any student of Cup history will tell you, innovation, taking carefully calculated risks, and striving for constant improvement is what usually wins:

+ 1983: Aus II's winged keel
+ 1987: DC's last minute decision to build a third, more powerful hull.
+ 1988: DC's audacious catamaran when faced with no time to build a big monohull.
+ 1992: Bill Koch's last minute appendage swap which tested well in the tank and computer but with which they had little full-scale experience.
+ 1995: TNZ's brave new shapes above the water.
+ 2000: TNZ's brave new shapes below the water.
+ 2003: Alinghi's innovative new shapes above and below the water. (TNZ took calculated risks as well, but failed to take into account the structural impact of a windy AC final -- and large spectator fleet.

Likewise our team's mantra has to be innovation and constant improvement. Sure, at times we will take two steps forward and one backward. But make your mistakes in a hurry, learn from them, and fix them just as fast.

There is 'no excuse for excellence' -- excellence is simply not good enough. Superiority in all critical success factors, which in this game means just about every department. The best teams are not those with the most money, but those with clear goals, the best strategy, the best people, and are best at judging and then acting on risk/reward and cost/benefit.

Each evening every one of us needs ask, 'Did I do my job just a little better today than yesterday?' And in the morning you must look yourself in the mirror and ask, no matter how tired and beaten up you may be from the day before, 'How can I do my job even better today?'

There is a good reason why these Cup endeavors are called 'campaigns' not 'seasons' or 'championships.' That's because doing the Cup is like a political campaign: first you have to have a party platform, raise the money, mold the candidate, win the primary election, then win the general election; if you win you get to govern; lose, well, as the Queen Victoria's aid supposedly said, 'there is no second.' Sometimes not even a second chance.

Or as Larry Ellison has said, 'Sport has this finite, clear ending that is not present in business. That clarity between winning and losing is a dramatic difference. In business, there are more gray areas. In business, there are lots of winners. Being second is not so bad. In the America’s Cup, there is no second.'

And the AC is even harder than other sports. At least if your team loses in Formula One or the NFL, there's always next season.

Bottom line -- the America's Cup is the hardest game in the world, but the best game. Bring on Act 11, and once again let's see what we can learn and who pushes the envelope the hardest and farthest.

There's several other good AC stories and insights on: www.bmworacleracing.twoday.net