We recently got wind of a new piece of software designed by local pro sailor Nic Cranch which is designed to make the running of a raceboat and raceteam a more orderly and efficient affair !
We caught up with Nic recently to find out a bit more:
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in the Yachting industry.
I was basically born, bred and salt-water fed in Guernsey. I spent the majority of my childhood in, on, and around boats. Aged nine, my uncle introduced me to team racing on a Melges24. It was this experience that was to be the kindling of a life-long passion.
I was making money from professional sailing within my last year at university and self-sufficient within a six months of graduation.
Since then, I have sailed and competed with a number of competitive teams. For the last three years I was running a 115’ race boat whilst trying to fit in additional freelance racing whenever possible.
What made you develop Nautinet and give us a brief description of its functions?
Almost every boat I have ever sailed with seems to struggle with efficient organisation and communication.
It also became evident that the same problems grow with the size of the boat and the crew as well as a few other problems getting added to the mix with a full international race program.
I’ve always been good with computers and quite organised and problematic so I thought I might be able to develop something that could help the vast majority of all professional crew and race program management.
A brief description is near-impossible, but to list the main sections of the site is easy:
Calendar & Events – A list of forthcoming lists where you can simply click “Yes” or “No” to attending. Also a shared calendar where you can overlay calendars from different boats at the click of a button. (Great printing and putting on your family fridge, or for working out your availability!)
Logistics – A form showing, amongst other things, accommodation details and inbound and outbound flight details for all the crew. You can easily sort this data to see in ascending order (Great to see who arrives on what day in what order!)
Crew Lists – All automatically generated ‘smart-lists’ whereby if a crew member clicks “Yes” to attending an event, then his name gets automatically added to lists including a Catering list, Medical Information list, NOK Information list and a Crew Weight list (Great for having information automatically on hand and not having to chase crew!)
Contact Crew – Send an email or send a SMS text message (Great for getting hold of all the crew with last minute changes!)
Photos – Upload photos, add names, details, dates, etc (Great for sail settings or rig settings!)
Documents – Upload any file format without a fils size limit or file allowance limit (Great for race training videos!)
Discussions – Start a discussion about anything you want and (Great for discussing future optimisation!)
Jobs List – A jobs list and job history (Great for winch servicing notes and schedules!)
Uniform – Another smart list that will count how many of each garment required for each race whilst incorporating a simple stock system (Great for highlighting when you might not have enough stock, or when you can issue two of everything!)
Invoicing – A super simple form for all the crew to use, where all the maths and current exchange rates are done for you (Great for quick, great-looking and errorless invoices!)
Have you designed software previously?
I have never really designed software previously. I studied Graphic Design at University which gave me an appreciation for good design. I was also able to incorporate a typographic-based design which keeps things looking neat, stylish and most-importantly fast to load (even when on below-average internet in a marina or a hotel). But no, not software.
If you had to pinpoint one feature of the software as being invaluable, which one would it be?
I think the most invaluable feature of the software is SMS messaging. This is a feature that enables an administrator of the account to type a message on screen and then send it to either all the crew, specifically selected crew, or a smart list of crew attending each event. This service is free, works worldwide and without 3G roaming. It can, (and has), proved invaluable when plans have changed last minute and all the crew, who have geographically exploded, need to be informed asap.
The target market seems to be the superyachts, but would this be useful to other “ normal sized” raceboats?
The target market is not necessarily super yachts. The website will work efficiently with any team willing and wanting to improve organisation and communication.
In the beginning, I wanted to aim high and get the best teams I could onboard first so that other teams would see this and follow suit.
There a multiple account-types available ranging in functionality and cost. To any professional race team however, an account with full functionality is really the only option.
What is the biggest advantage to a race team in your opinion?
In my opinion, the biggest advantage of using Nautinet to a race team is the ease and efficiency of sharing information.
This works to both the crew and the management’s favour and ultimately reduces the amount of endless and incessant emails.
The online format allows any number of crew from around the globe to access and edit information at any time. This of huge benefit to crew or management who might live away from the boat.
As well as a communication tool, can the system be used for race mode settings and a tuning tool?
There is a wealth of features to help with documenting settings and set ups for racing and tuning. Namely the Photos feature and the Documents feature.
The Photos feature enables you to upload any number of photos, add names details and dates.
The Documents feature allows you to upload and download and share any file types. You can also add different versions of the same file and see a full incremental history. This helps look back in history over something that might have evolved such as rig jack pressures or sail shapes.
Is this the finished article, or are you developing further enhancements?
The website is finished as far as I would like to go for now (or as far as I can afford to go right now!) Occasionally, when a new boat signs up, they might suggest a slight modification or addition which I am happy to work out and upload. On the horizon there are a number of more detailed features and functionality that I would like to add, but not for a little while yet.
How many yachts are using the system now and what is your target within , say, another 12 months?
There are currently 14 of the world’s most competitive and successful yachts, including ‘Velsheda’, ‘Caol Ila R’, ‘Wild Oats XI’, ‘Armin Strom’ a GC32 and ‘Firefly’ signed up to Nautinet which I’m stoked about! With regards to target growth, I have found it difficult to predict growth accurately so far. Whilst the website is within its early years I think growth is directly proportionate to the time I put in to meet with yacht captains and managers and pitch the website to them individually. I guess in 12 months’ time I would like to have two or three times that number.
What is the cost to a yacht ?
The cost to a yacht for a full Pro Account is 900EUR per annum. This includes full functionality, free set up, free 24/7 admin and support, and free SMS messaging. For any professional team only racing one or two times a year I’m happy to negotiate fees. But as I mentioned earlier- there are lesser accounts available for amateur teams as cheap as just 20GBP per annum.
Having had a look at the vast amount of detail Nic has managed to incorporate into this package, it would seem a no brainer in my opinion. The cost is negligible when considering a raceboat’s annual budget, and would seem to tick just about every box .
The Islander wishes Nic well and fully endorses the product.
For further details contact :
Nicolas Cranch
+34 634 368 133
www.nicolascranch.com
www.nautinet.com
