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Making waves in business
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January 28, 1997: 12:30 a.m. ET
Americas Cup contender says women can compete on the seas and in the boardroom
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - When the America3 entered the race for yachting's Americas Cup, many people scoffed at the idea that an all-women's team could compete.
America3 proved them wrong, coming within one race of beating the defending champion crew of Dennis Conner.
Team member Anna Seaton Huntington wanted to pass on the lessons of that experience not only to yachters, but also to those in the business world.
In her new book, "Making Waves," she said that it was not all smooth sailing. The crew required financing and training, most of which was supplied by men.
"We ran into pitfalls along the way, I think, because they were men trying to apply a male model of management to a group of women."
These struggles ultimately resulted in making some leadership changes about three-fourths of the way into the process.
Leadership remained the one recurring obstacle for the team, according to Huntington.
"We had a real hard time confronting each other about our differences."
Huntington said that their male coaches thought some natural instinct for cooperation would kick in for the women. It never did, so a structure had to be implemented.
Despite, or perhaps because of that experience, Huntington feels that women are just as capable of leadership roles and working in a hierarchical structure as men are.
"It just takes us a different path to get there."
She did admit that she was surprised by the initial success of her crew. "We realized all these things that we have been saying about how we can do this are true."
It's a surprise that she hopes other women, whether on the deck or in the boardroom, will experience as well. 
-- Randy Schultz
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