W: Over the past year, Portera has been working closely together with five Dutch national team sailors to understand how we can help them optimize their training and performance through data and analytics towards their ultimate dreams. Today we’re going to spend some time with them to understand the impact that Portera had on their Olympic campaign, their World Championship, training, and performance both before and after their campaigns.

Part I: The Olympic Journey

W: So ladies, thanks for joining us on this beautiful afternoon and strolling in the dog park it seems. You guys have just come back from the America’s Cup and before that the Olympic Games, which was an amazing success for you guys. Would you like to walk me through what the feelings of that were? What does it feel like to work through something your entire life? And that moment, which was also a very nervous moment, and all the stuff that happened walked me through this whole journey.

A: It has been a really special, special journey. Like we’ve worked for it for so long and then it’s finally there. Like especially the last months up into the games, we’re like on one end it’s like, oh, it’s scary. It’s because it’s getting close. But at one end it’s like, let it come. We are, we are so ready for it. But it is really exciting and it makes you really nervous. We have had pressure before on World Championships, but then you come there as Olympics and it’s so cool, but it’s also so much, you know, Yeah, yeah.

O: And it, it feels like your emotions are amplified by like 1000. So normally if you feel sad now you feel super sad and all the other emotions, which is really hard because it’s actually also the moment where you need to be focused and you need to sometimes put those emotions aside because you have a job to do, you know? So we really tried to make all of our routines as normal as possible so that we could focus on those jobs and not get fully caught in the whole process of it being the Olympics while still enjoying the fact that it’s the Olympics. Because it’s also something that we are so proud to just get to that moment. But then we also really wanted to do a good job while we were there.

Part II: The Importance of Data&Analytics

W: So we’ve worked with you guys a lot in setting up data and analytics to kind of help you and the Dutch national sailing teams understand through data how you can better enhance your training and your performance. And going into the Olympic Games and before that the World Championships that we worked on. How would you say that the data and the analytics that were provided to you that you were able to actually use towards your performances?

O:  So I think it helps us in two big ways. I think the biggest one is that it helps you get a little bit more of a helicopter view because it’s it’s quite clear when you look at all those data points what are actually the priorities, which also makes it easier to let go of other things and really focus on the things that the data has proven. Like these are the big game changers. And then also in some aspects of like for example, our starts, it has helped to really specifically get better at that task. So I think it helped us in those two big ways.

A: Yeah, I thought it was, it was so cool. I think we’ve talked about this before, but we knew we were not so good at starts, to find out what was not so good about a star and it gives you a way better sense of what you need to do to solve it. And we could use it as a goal where we wanted to go to. I think it was a good eye-opener for us for the start, but also for the fact of how we can use data. And I think now we did it quite specifically for the start. But I think it would be great to do it also in other aspects of sailing, like boat speed or maneuvers.

Part III: The Partnership with Portera

W: So tell me about the type of role that Porttera has played for you guys, both as a partner for, let’s say the data analytics part, but also as a supportive, let’s say, team around you guys. What’s the importance of people/companies/organizations like that?

A: Portera has helped us so much over the last year and a half. It was great that they helped us out with the data sites. It’s just, it was a whole new way for us, to learn to work with data. So I think it was great and we learned a lot from it. But it’s also just nice to have Patera around really as a partner. It allows us to be real athletes, you know, that we we can focus on our recovery and we we don’t need to work next to it. I think that’s and it’s really special and it’s really special to have it in a way like Portera that it feels like a family.

O: We’re always focusing on growing and getting better. And to see that back in the company that supports you, it’s super nice because you can really talk on a nice level. And it’s super cool, I think to to see Portera also growing and always looking at new opportunities, which is super similar to what we do. And then also to see that know the people at Portera have emotions and they care and they show that. I think that’s super healthy to have in a company and it makes it even nicer to share this journey together.