KMI Brands

KMI Sail the Solent

26 July 2010 / 16:02

"Team Building is a process that develops co-operation and teamwork within a work unit. To constitute an effective team, its members must share a common goal, have respect for each other, and be motivated to use the strengths of each member to achieve their objectives."

July 23rd saw KMI Brands' first Team Building event!

The setting was the beautiful and picturesque Port Hamble near Southampton which would welcome us into the wonderful and intriguing world of sailing! The sun was shining on arrival and everyone was beaming with excitement to meet their boat for the first time! On our first night we visited the Ocean Village Club where we were treated to a wonderful dinner at the Royal Southampton Yacht Club overlooking the Solent, before our day's sailing with the company Fairview.    

13 of us slept on our boat on the Thursday evening which was great fun and eased us gently into the world of sailing! We had four boats which  were very modern, comfortable and beautiful. Our Oceanis 37's were called Faux Pas, Femme Fatale, Mange Tout and Apres Le Vent.

Bacon Sandwiches and Croissants set us up well for our day of sailing before 19 of us took to our boats for a day of action packed adventure. The race was on for the four teams called: Top Rankin’, Hard Act To Follow, Racing Green and Team Teager … After a safety briefing on board by a professional skipper there was also a KMI co-skipper – Spencer, James, Claire or Donna were to lead their boats to victory!

After leaving Port Hamble our Skipper set us up for race training in the Solent teaching each team the set up of their boat, how to steer it and control it under different wind conditions. Techniques such as the following were learnt:

• Making Sail
• Navigation
• Reading The Wind
• Rigging
• dropping anchor
• Steering
• Winching
• Tacking

These techniques to name but a few were all put to the test in an unfamiliar environment to KMI Brands… far removed from body butters, fragrances and shampoos!!

The weather was on our side for the first race with the wind quickly picking up as we had points on our map with which to follow and the first team at the final Buoy would win the race! Competition was high and team spirit grew to make their boat go faster! Team Teager came out on top with the other three boats closely following behind – the winning team could be heard for miles congratulating themselves proudly!

After a spot of lunch onboard and even a refreshing dip in the solent to cool off for the ones brave enough to jump… it was  time for Race two…

Rachel Groom, General Manager: "Sailing with no wind was more tactical than I thought. Boats Mange Tout and Femme Fatal inching their way forward, neck and neck around the second buoy in race two – brilliant fun! Halfway through the race though the wind started to die down but team spirits did not fade and a lot of fun was had by all!"

Friday evening was prize giving – an award for each winning team member of Team Teager – James, Shelley, Anthea, Charlotte and their Skipper Liz. There were also caps for the co-skippers and managers to thank them for a fantastic team building trip! This was followed by a well deserved Italian meal in the local port where the teams could recite their sailing tales and the techniques they had learnt plus new sailing terms!

All in all our Team Building was exciting, great fun, challenging, exhilarating, adventurous and a brand new learning curve for the KMI Brands team… Everyone bonded well, had a great laugh, worked and played hard!   We also had lovely meals out as a team and socialized outside the office! Watch this space for our next Team Building day...

Shelley Smyth, Managing Director, Fragrance Division: "It was absolutely great, a wonderful experience, learnt the basics of sailing and had a really fab time socialising with the team and of course it was a major uplift that our Team won!"

Anthea Abela, Office Manager: "Fantastic fun, great sense of achievement and have found a fab new hobby I now want to do every weekend! Thanks to our great skipper Liz and to KMI for giving us this fantastic experience! A great few days of team bonding and getting to know colleagues! Also the best team won the Sailing race... Team Teager will live on in my heart forever!"

David Dawson, Sales Director: "Great fun day and an opportunity to spend time with colleagues away from constant phone calls and e-mails. Working as a team on the boat improved as the day went on.  There was a greater understanding on how all elements of the boat had to work in tandem to get the maximum speed... even when there was no wind!"

Tracy Chalkley, Brand Manager: "I loved all of it but my favourite moments would be; Being taught how to sail and then putting it into practice and being part of a team with people I don’t normally work with."

Kirsty Hayward, Trade Marketing Manager: "I hugely underestimated how much fun I was going to have on the KMI Teambuilding sailing trip! I was a little apprehensive about spending the weekend on a boat having never experienced the ‘sailing life’ before.  However come the end of the trip I was devastated (that’s is no understatement) to have to say goodbye to ‘Apres le Vent’. It is safe to say that I am now a complete convert to life at sea!"

For more KMI sailing photos please click here.