International team building weekend for ClipperTelemed+ crew in Canada

Hot on the heels of the Clipper Race team building weekends in the UK, the Canadian crew of ClipperTelemed+ got together for the weekend in Toronto, Ontario.

Leg 8 crew member Laura Benkis details the international weekend that took place on 27 and 28 June.

We were a small but mighty group hailing from Toronto, Calgary, St. Catherine's, Montreal and Toronto by way of Reading, UK.

Originally we had planned a weekend of water activities at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club on the shores of Lake Ontario, but torrential rains forced us to take up Plan B (at the time of deciding on Plan B, Plan B didn't actually exist). Although a little rain never hurt anyone, especially Clipper Race crew, rain so heavy that you could wash your hair in it, made our planned outdoor activities difficult. We went indoors and built on the discussion that the UK & European- based crew started during their team building weekend.

We dug into our team values which build the foundations for who we are and how we work together as a team on board. We also explored our motivations for being part of this race, and we found an interesting link between that motivation and key values.

Saturday evening we attended the Royal Canadian Yacht Club’s ‘British Invasion event’ for British-themed food, drink, music, and games. The weatherman came through for us with British style weather -grey skies, rain and fog so thick you couldn't see the CN Tower. Our knowledge of British pop culture was non-existent and we tanked in the trivia game, but luck was on our side with winning the grand prize draw of a basket filled with various British treats - although we were left wondering how beef & ham paste is a delicacy.

Sunday morning the rain continued, so in typical Canadian style we went to Tim Horton's for double doubles, Timbits, and breakfast. Tim Horton's is an iconic Canadian coffee chain.Timbits are the holes of doughnuts. A double double is a coffee with two creams and two sugars. Surprisingly, much team building can occur over doughnuts.

The weekend wrapped up with a BBQ with Toronto-based Praxes Marketing VP John Hockin and his family. Meeting him and learning about the relationship Praxes has with the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race and how new remote telemedicine business ClipperTelemed+ came to be was very interesting. Knowing the story behind the business and the brand was a highlight for me.