Action-packed Biscayne Bay
For several weeks, our weather had been stormy, rainy, and unpredictable. The 5 AM forecast looked grim, forcing us to ask the most critical question: Should we cancel?
As it turned out, conditions improved by the hour. We started putting the boats in the water at 6:30 AM. By 10 AM, we felt completely in control; the weather was going to cooperate, and all the pieces were perfectly in place. The sailing conditions turned out to be close to ideal—we always prefer a little more wind than less!
To manage the fleet, the Race Committee set a slightly longer course than normal. This prevented all the boats from arriving at the first mark simultaneously, which can often be chaotic. For a challenging start, we combined the Sonar, J/24, and Flying Scot classes in the same fleet.
Race Results and Gratitude
A great big thank you to our incredible volunteers and staff members for their dedication in making this event a success. Last but not least, a heartfelt thank you to the event planners and NexPhase for choosing Miami and Team Paradise to bring their vision of an exciting team-building event to life.
Scroll down the page to see race results, pictures, videos, and more.
Proper planning…..
There are many moving parts in organizing a corporate regatta: various sailboats, safety boats, mark set boats, and a signal boat; markers and flags; horns; a race committee with specialized personnel; the elements, including weather and wind; and, perhaps most important of all, a precise timeline that must be strictly followed. There is no fluff; everything must happen as scheduled.
This particular event may have been our most successful yet. The reason for this can be summed up in one word: preparation! Proper planning prevents poor performance!!
The Timeline: Six Months of Planning
Grace, the event coordinator from the Event Strategy Group (ESG), reached out to Team Paradise on April 23, 2025. That was almost six months prior to the event date—no wonder we were prepared! Grace was excellent to work with, and together we ironed out every detail by the day of the regatta.
With 37 corporate participants and 11 boats, this event was the largest we've hosted since 2016. To accommodate the size, we extended the duration by one hour, making it a five-hour event.
Race Day: From Lunch to Launch
Grace had arranged for a pre-regatta lunch at the Coral Reef Yacht Club (CRYC), which is located right next door to the US Sailing Center (USSC). This is where I first met the group and provided an Introduction to Sailing and a short motivational speech.
I suggested that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, and I revealed a bit about myself—for example, that I'm not the smartest guy, but I am the hardest-working one they will ever find. Meanwhile, my gold medal from the Sydney Olympics was passed from table to table.
We then transferred from the chart room at CRYC to the USSC through the side gate for a safety briefing, life jacket fitting, and a team photo against the famous mural in the second-floor breezeway.
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.