Tricky Day on the Bay
Today, we had the pleasure of hosting 20 corporate guests from Aviation ISAC, a global nonprofit dedicated to cybersecurity in the aviation industry.
Cold fronts have begun to affect South Florida. When that happens, our typical South Easterly airflow clocks to the right. Oftentimes, the front stalls out before reaching Miami, but if it doesn't, massive dark, towering Cumulonimbus clouds with rain and thunder move in. After a front has passed, the wind shifts to the north, the sky becomes blue, and the air temperature drops.
The weather forecast called for southwesterly winds around 5 kn, which is the lower limit for keelboat sailing. With only four hours to complete the program in marginal sailing conditions, I was pleased that we had chosen the Racing Excursion format, instead of the 3-race Regatta format. The Racing Excursion is designed to be more flexible in its course configuration, allowing us to generate apparent wind that produces greater boat speed.
No Horizon
After a beam reach from the Seaplane Channel, our race committee noted our positions at the first mark rounding. We then sailed towards a marker near Key Biscayne's Hurricane Harbor. By now, the sky was black. I was trying to obtain weather radar information, but, as we later learned, Verizon had a nationwide outage due to a software glitch. Not knowing if we would have thunder and lightning, we hedged our bets and sailed into Hurricane Harbor. We were now in a big rainstorm. One of our boats hit a crab pot in the mouth of the harbor, damaging the rudder badly, rendering her unable to maneuver. She had to be towed back to port. Eventually, the rain stopped, and the rest of us were able to sail home.
Gratitude
A great BIG thank you to ISAC for sailing with us and to our staff for helping make it all happen!
For more info on our corporate events, please visit https://www.teamparadise.org/corporate-events
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Consider the distinction between mastery and the value of immersive experiences. The "10,000-hour rule" applies to deep expertise, but our corporate sailing experience isn't about making expert sailors; it's about putting people in an unfamiliar environment where they must adapt, communicate, and work together under real, immediate pressure.
That's what makes it a powerful team-building exercise. Participants aren't expected to sail like pros in just four hours, but they are expected to engage, problem-solve, and collaborate in ways they wouldn't in an office or conference room. The unpredictability of sailing, where conditions constantly change, mirrors the unpredictability of business, making it a great way to reveal leadership, teamwork, and resilience.
If you're framing this for clients, you could emphasize that while mastery takes thousands of hours, personal growth and team dynamics can shift in just a few. The goal isn't perfection; it's discovery.