Inspire your team
Offshore Sailing School offers your business or group our one-of-a-kind Corporate Sail-Race Challenge® program. Choose from different sailing schedules to involve your team in a group sailing adventure or leadership analysis. The Corporate Sail-Race Challenge® promotes better relations and leadership in the work place via a half-day, full day or multi-day schedules - many times in conjunction with an on-site meeting.
We are flexible and focused on making your next meeting or outing the most exciting and productive in your corporate history.
Sailing requires leadership and communication. Respect for one another and a real sense of camaraderie will long be remembered as the inspiration for developing new business and increased success in your organization. No sailing experience or physical strength and prowess are required for these programs. Though moderately challenging in the learning process, sailing is inspiring, fun and very forgiving.
Expert coaches guide team interaction
Our instructor/coaches are schooled in facilitating on-water issues and relating these to your pre-stated goals in debriefs after sailing. When your group arrives, our coaching team takes you through a short orientation and sailing basics session ashore before boarding the sailboats. Our fleet of Colgate 26 sailboats will be rigged and ready to go, with bottled water aboard. All your team needs is to be dressed ready to sail.
At the end of your program, a debriefing occurs with a real sense of achievement felt by all. The entire team will have a new sense of exhilaration and can-do attitude unlike any they would get from a cooking class or ropes course. Sailing is a team effort. The effects of what they learned during their time on the water in a Corporate Sail-Race Challenge will come through in their enthusiasm for pursuing company goals at work.
About the Colgate 26 fleet
Steve Colgate, Offshore Sailing School's founder, designed the Colgate 26 for comfort, safety, performance and ease of handling. He demanded that this training boat have all the qualities of larger boats, with a huge cockpit, a separate station for the coach within easy reach of all controls, and be fun to sail. In your program we will assign a maximum of five (minimum four) to each boat.
In 1997 the Colgate 26 was awarded Cruising World Boat of the Year in the "Pocket Cruiser Division," pitted against a multitude of new boats of similar size that debuted the same year. The U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Coast Guard Academy and Maine Maritime among others, all have Colgate 26 fleets for training first year cadets.
You and your team will find these boats the perfect platform for getting everyone up to speed quickly, then honing lasting communication and leadership skills. 
Superb locations
Our locations are convenient to get to and known for great sailing conditions. In Florida we are located at resorts known for accommodating group and corporate business: South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island, Pink Shell Beach Resort on Ft. Myers Beach. On the Chesapeake's Eastern Shore we are at the sophisticated Inn at Perry Cabin.
In the British Virgin Islands, where we conduct our university leadership programs, your teams will sail on 43’ to 51’ yachts in a week-long program, learning to live together, work together, solve “problems” and build group and internal strength together. This proven program is one-of-a-kind and well worth looking into.
In New Jersey and New York City we are just a short drive, ferry or subway ride from major business centers at Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City and Chelsea Piers in New York City. Our Colgate 26 fleets at most of these locations will accommodate groups up to 50.
Day long and multi-day programs
While terrific results are achieved in half-day sessions, day-long or multi-day programs solidify further the working relationship between all involved. You may want to create a specialized program that allows time each day for sailing, with half-days and evenings free for other activities and company programs.
Past participants in longer programs include Dr. Pepper/7-Up, Selective Insurance, Mannington Mills, Boston Red Sox, Andersen Consulting, UBS Warburg and others. In working closely with their planners we customized their programs for a highly productive meeting. Some brought facilitators to conduct confidential on-shore sessions relating sailing exercises to corporate issues and goals, and all were inspired by achievements heralded in a regatta held at end of program.
Additional services available
If arranged fair enough in advance we can also provide hats, team t-shirts or polo shirts, sailing gloves, trophies or awards and corporate banners to display on each boat. In addition we can arrange for photographers, accommodations and meals or snacks (or give you the contact to make these arrangements on your own) and business facilitators specializing in team building, leadership or experiential corporate interaction who are familiar with sailing dynamics.
Typical Half-Day Schedule (9:00-1:00 or 1:00-5:00) - $275 per person
- Starts ashore with short welcome orientation, program overview and team building concepts highlighted by sailing
- Asks that teams define goals with sailing staff facilitating program
- Sailing coaches then conduct classroom session on sailing basics and the language of sailing (20 minutes)
- A dockside session familiarizes teams with their boats, basic sailing maneuvers and sail handling (20 minutes)
- Sailing begins with on-water hands-on instruction (1-1/2 hours)
- Races and exercises to test team interaction complete on-water portion (1-1/2 hours)
- Debrief after all boats return to dock (20 minutes)
- Presentation of awards if pre-arranged provides a festive ending and productive results when you return to work
Typical Full-Day Schedule (9:00-5:00 with break for lunch) - $395 per person
- Starts with welcome orientation, program overview and team building concepts highlighted by sailing
- Teams define goals with sailing staff facilitating the program
- Sailing coaches conduct classroom session on sailing basics (20 minutes)
- Dockside session familiarizes teams with their boats, basic sailing maneuvers and sail handling (20 minutes)
- On-water hands-on instruction (2 hours)
- Lunch break ashore (1 hour)
- Races or other challenges test team interaction (3 hours)
- Return to dock for final debrief (20 to 50 minutes)
- Presentation of awards if pre-arranged provides a festive ending and productive results when you return to work
Click here to get a quote on a Corporate Sail-Race Challenge for your team.
Call 888-454-7015 to talk to one of our advisors about the best program for your group.
Locations for Corporate Sail-Race Challenges