Earlier this year, our customer experience team was helping respond to some messages across our social media platforms and came across some hilarious and attention-catching requests for sponsorship and collaboration from an account associated with the Academic Magnet High School in North Charleston, SC. We reached out to their team to learn more about how they discovered Rumpl, what made them such big fans, and why they were so excited to reach out to us. Elizabeth Hample and Caroline Uram are two of the AMHS Sailing Team members and were kind enough to share their experience with the rest of the Rumpl community. We hope you enjoy it!

How big is your team and how did you hear about Rumpl?

Caroline heard about Rumpl through her extended family. Her mother’s cousin’s wife, Lisa Congdon, designed the Original Puffy Blanket - Night Garden blanket for y’all. Sailing is always cold in the winter and we usually use fleece blankets or towels to keep us warm. For our regatta in February, Caroline brought her blanket to the regatta and we all loved it. It kept us warm, unlike a towel, and did not get sopping wet, like a fleece blanket, due to the insulation. I actually fell into the water during one of the races and dried off and stayed warm using the Rumpl. We were all passing the blanket around amongst each other and everyone was giving positive comments about it. Even the bag is great as it is waterproof and makes it easy to stowaway in sailing bags.

What made you want to reach out to Rumpl?

We reached out to the company just to let y’all know how much we loved the product and how perfect that it is for our team. We believed that our circumstances would make us perfect collaborators. Although we never thought that you would see our messages, we are very appreciative that you did!

What are some of your favorite Rumpl products?

The concept of all the items being extremely waterproof is honestly amazing. We just had to share the concept of the blankets with some of the other teams at that regatta, and another last weekend. We also loved the stuffable pillowcases as they could work as dry bags for bringing on the boats. It is easy for us to share, not only because the product is of such great quality, but also because of the great commitments and causes that y’all stand for.

The use of sustainable materials is a core aspect I look for in a product and it is really great that your brand was built upon that. Just like how y’all use water bottles to help make your blankets, we love doing the same. To make sailing-bailers, which are used to scoop water out of the boat, we use old jugs and containers that we cut open, as we would not have to buy them. As sailing can be an expensive sport, we love to save money where we can and reuse older items.

What does your season/training typically look like?

Our sailing team at AMHS trains in both the fall and spring seasons from Aug-Dec and Jan-May(ish). It's basically year round. Most team members also train and practice over the summer with other sailing programs in the Charleston area. We practice out of Charleston Community Sailing on Mondays and Thursdays after school with our coaches Johnny and Jordan. Our sailing races, regattas, are usually out of state events in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. We are part of the South Atlantic Interscholastic Sailing Association, commonly known as SAISA, and all of our events are coordinated through them. We are currently ranked 7th in the “North” part of the Southeast sailing teams and have most recently qualified for districts at Eckerd college in St. Petersburg, Florida on the weekend of April 2nd, 2022.

After our initial communication, we were able to hook this awesome team up with some Rumpl branded water bottles and some of our classic Everywhere Towels. Here’s to hoping the new gear helps keep the team warm and dry as they prepare for another successful season!