Chicago Match Race Center enters deal with SF company

by Stephanie Roble on 23 Feb 2013 The Chicago Match Race Center is excited to announce an official partnership with San Francisco based-company Group Experiential Learning (GEL). CMRC will act as the premier partner for GEL programs in the Midwest to deliver high impact team building and leadership training experiences in a sailing environment. Corporate clients will have access to CMRC's impressive sailing facility in Belmont Harbor, which includes eight TOM 28 sailboats, support boats and a floating clubhouse.

'Sailing in itself is a fantastic team building activity,' says CMRC Program Director Tod Reynolds. 'By partnering with GEL we are able to leverage a natural classroom and combine GEL's leadership training expertise with our world-class facility to provide a truly unique opportunity to the Chicago business community.'

This partnership offers two sailing-based programs to develop skills in a sailing environment that are essential to a thriving business environment. GEL's BoatWorks program uses a non-racing, multi-boat format that requires extensive collaboration between all individuals and each boat team in the group in order to achieve success. Custom Executive Programs are tailored by GEL's facilitation team to the specific leadership, team building or communications objectives of our client's team. In either type of program, each sailboat will be staffed with a CMRC certified coach and will be under the supervision of a professional GEL facilitator.

'Sailing is perhaps the most team-oriented sport there is,' says Jay Palace, President of GEL. 'Because sailboats won't move without coordination between a helmsperson and the sail trimmers, it's the perfect platform for improving communication, collaboration and developing leadership. Because most people who participate in a GEL program have little to no experience with sailing, it introduces them to a new, highly enjoyable water sport while encouraging them to tap into their creative thinking and problem-solving skills in a completely unexpected way.'

For more information on the Corporate Sailing Program at Chicago Match Race Center, checkout Chicago Match Race Center Corporate Sail To book a reservation, please contact: