Unilever Uses Sailing as Team-building

Latitudes and Attitudes

It was the group's job to help pilot the Adirondack, an elegantly detailed, 80-foot wooden schooner with teak decks and mahogany rails. An Adirondack mate who doubles as a team-building leader, Michael Riff, broke the group into teams of four and five and gave them the task of agreeing on names. Within minutes, "The Squids," "Salty Seabands," and "Manhattan Seadogs" were born.

"We try to make this fun and serious at the same time. When you are on a boat, everyone has to work together. The group can apply these lessons back in the office," explains Riff. "It is glaringly obvious that you cannot sail a boat like this by yourself. One must rely on his or her shipmates."

Any successful sailor must know the lingo of the sea, and that was the group's first challenge. Mates assigned to each group explained that if you're facing the bow, which is the front of the vessel, port is to the left. Starboard is to the right. The beam is the width of the sailboat, and the stern is to the rear. To make things even more complicated, the back of the ship is also called the aft, and toward the bow is fore.

After a few minutes of practice, Riff yelled, "Aft most port side station," and the first person who identified the location got a point. He continued with other terms all sailors should know. As the group was immersed in learning some of the most common nautical terms used in sailing, the Adirondack was making its way down the Hudson River toward the Statue of Liberty. Although the ship looks and feels vintage, it is not—which is a plus as it incorporates the latest high-tech and anti-seasickness features.

Lingo down, it was now time for each group to master raising the 2,000-square-foot sail onto the 70-foot mast. First, the crew demonstrated, calling out, "Go peak" or "hold peak," assisting each other in sweating and tying off the halyards.

Positioned from the sail itself to the halyards and other lines, each team member had a specific job that included communicator, raiser, and cleat tier. After a practice run, each team had to raise the sail while being timed.

"Raising a sail isn't as easy as it looks," laughs Sandy Marchionni, an event coordinator at Unilever who helped plan this team-building day, as she watched the first group do it one minute, 26 seconds.

Knot That Easy

Just like sailing, knotting has its own terminology, and the group learned that the running end of the rope is the part used in making the knot. A bowline, square, and figure eight were boating knots the group practiced.

Then it was time for "Knot Off," where all teams competed at the same time, tying knots that were called out by Katrina Van Zee, a Coast Guard-certified captain. The rules for this part of the competition were strict. Team members could not touch each other's lines but could verbally coach each other. The winning team had all the knots tied correctly.

The last exercise was fittingly called "Boat Parts." Although at first all the sailing terminology sounded foreign, the group caught on quickly. Captain Van Zee called out different parts of the boat, and the group had to run to that part and slap it. It was apparent they all had their sea legs, as they ran from the bow to the stern and back again.

The winning team was announced: the Salty Seabands. Each team member received an official, commemorative Adirondack pocket knife.

As the day progressed, the group got louder and more relaxed. "I've been on this team for only a month, although I've been with Unilever for 20 years," says Jamie Sabilia, a transportation manager for the company. "This has been a great way for me to meet and bond with the rest of the team."

As the group disembarked and got its land legs back, it was off to the Castle on the Hudson, a meetings property in Tarrytown, NY, for more team-building and then dinner.

The team members will be gathering again in a few months, as Wendy Herrick, Unilever's director of logistics, believes in investing in a team-building activity twice a year.

"I've been with this group for five months, and my main job is to develop and grow the people on my team. They've come from Chicago, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and this is something that allows them to let their hair down. We've done build-a-bike, build-a-bear, and treasure hunts and surprised them with this today. When they boarded the bus at the Castle on the Hudson, they had no idea where they were going," explains Herrick. "We will return to the hotel for leadership training this afternoon. They will have the opportunity to look at themselves as leaders with the help of a facilitator."

Classic Harbor Line operates the Adirondack. Next summer, Schooner America 2.0, its largest vessel, will be available. Modeled after the winner of the first America's Cup in 1851, Schooner America 2.0 is 105 feet long, has 3,600 feet of sail, and is certified for 80 guests. Classic Harbor Line vessels depart from Chelsea Piers, Pier 62. For more information on team-building aboard a Classic Harbor Line vessel, call (212) 627-1825 or e-mail privatecharters@sail-nyc.com.

John Donne, an English metaphysical poet, said, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent." More than 350 years later, his words still ring true. It takes more than one focused employee to have a successful company, and Unilever gets that each person must be committed to a group effort in order for it to succeed.

Originally published Oct. 1, 2010

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