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Client Feedback & References

Extracts from Report of Alan Johnson ASA Instructor Evaluator # 950206

YachtPro Facility Overview - June 2009
I have made two visits to the sailing facility YachtPro, the ASA Affiliate located on Phuket Island in Thailand. On the first visit, I provided a written review of the site. Some changes have occurred and improvements have been added in the last few years. YachtPro has a location in the Yacht Haven Marina of Phuket. Yacht Haven Marina is located in a modern, large, well protected harbor. This marina serves mainly recreational vessels with a variety of both sail and power boats ranging from very large luxury yacht to smaller recreational vessels. Overall the YachtPro facility gives a positive impression of an upscale sailing facility with strong ASA identification both on the premises and in marketing materials.

We conducted an Instructor Qualification Clinic at YachtPro, Phuket , Thailand on September 19 - 22, 2003 . This is a report from that clinic.

The site for the clinic was the YachtPro's headquarters located in nicely furnished and large buildings with a well-equipped classroom on Phuket Island near a modern marina on a protected bay close to the airport.

YachtPro boats are serviced and maintained in an excellent manner by YachtPro's own professional staff.

YachtPro is more then a sailing school it also charters boats, both crewed and bareboat, has motor launch services and provides other water sport activities for tourist to Phuket Island . The YachtPro staff is a small group of international, bilingual captains and instructors who are young and enthusiastic.

In summary, the YachtPro site is a quality professional facility.

Daniel Clark - Singapore
I just wanted to say thanks for a cracking day of sailing, it was fantastic all round.

I will definitely be following up and doing further courses, and will let you know when I do.

Danny is also interested in following up so I have CC'd him on this Email.

Chris Devonshire - Ellis, Beijing
My experience with Yachtpro taking the Fast Track To Coastal Skippers course was excellent. The course was, as expected, tough, however the quality of the trainers and the Thai yacht crew were excellent. Instruction was painstaking and thorough, and always on the aspect of safety first. I found the experience a pleasure, and I would recommend the Yachtpro training programs to anyone who wants to get serious about being on the water.  

Lorcan O'Shea - Dubai
We had a very enjoyable and educational time with Yachtpro in Thailand. We went through a Bareboat Charter and Competent Crew course - and we were treated very well by management and our instructor. The sailing area is spectacular with many small sandy islands to explore. The boat and equipment were excellent - and conditions on board very pleasant. The teaching standard was also top-notch with the right mix of instruction, practice, and evaluation. Overall we were very satisfied - and having sailed with a number of sailing course operators - Yachtpro stood out.

Sally Hubbard - Canada
My sailing experience with Yacht Pro in Phuket was excellent!  Yacht Pro was professional in every sense of the word.  The instructor was extremely knowledgeable, patient, conscientious and intuitive when it came to my learning needs and desires.  The instructor was always willing to answer questions, and demonstrate techniques as many times as necessary for me to become fully comfortable.  The boats were in extremely good sailing condition and met all safety and comfort requirements -- making learning enjoyable and worry free.  Sailing in Phuket is not only warm and beautiful but offers conditions to suit every level of sailing.  I have no hesitation in recommending Yacht Pro to anyone wanting a professional, interesting and fun, sailing experience.  Yacht Pro offers world renowned certified courses however, they are also willing to tailor make courses that meet your own personal requirements whether you are a novice or fully fledged yachts-person.

Peter Griffith - Taiwan
Yachtpro - It's all good!  Having sailed on a charter with a friend on one of Yachtpro's yachts and taken their sailing courses, the experience surpassed all my expectations.All the staff are friendly and helpful and the instructor was patient, kept it interesting and took into consideration speed of delivering content relative to our level of sun-stroke or other brain-fogging considerations.

The sailing area is beautiful, Many great anchorages and island. The yachts we sailed on were great; properly maintained and pristinely clean.I was extremely happy with the whole experience and feel it is very price competitive.

Carlos Sala - Australia
I wholeheartedly recommend Yachtpro. When I initially booked with Rob and his team from Yachtpro, I had a very small, inflexible window of time for sailing. Rob accommodated all my needs and requests with ease. From arranging very well priced four star accommodation, to arranging sailing partners after my course, Yachtpro is miles ahead of the competition. The friendly, personal service is second to none. I wholeheartedly recommend Yachtpro Thailand to anybody wishing to learn to sail, improve their sailing skills or to charter one of Robs immaculately maintained Beneteaus.

Andreas Wagner China http://strandedmariner.com
When I started out planning to get my own boat built, I also realized that it had been quite a long time ago since I sailed on anything bigger than 8 meters long. I needed to refresh my knowledge, and hopefully learn a lot of new things about sailing and cruising.

With sailing and cruising still in the infancy stage in China, I started to look around for information about sailing instruction in Asia.

A friend recommended YachtPro in Phuket (Thailand) to me, and gave me the contact details of the owner, Rob Williams.

YachtPro is located near Yachthaven Marina, in the North of Phuket. A perfect location, giving good shelter during the SW monsoon season.

Rob, who is originally from Melbourne, had a long and active racing career before he decided to settle in Phuket 10 years ago. His company Yachtpro provides sailing instruction and charter services. When I contacted him, and explained about my plans, he recommended to do the fast track to Coastal Skipper program. The whole program, as set out by the American Sailing Association, consists of 5 modules with a theoretical and practical part. The duration of the whole course is about 5 - 6 weeks. As it is difficult for me to get 5 weeks away from work in one go, Rob was very flexible and helpful by dividing the program in two blocks. I took the first block in February this year, during the Chinese New Year holidays, and completed the course in October.

Rob and his staff are a great team. Rob believes in quality, rather than quantity, and I could not have come to a better place for what I wanted to learn. What Rob does not know about sailing is not worth knowing, and I learned a lot of things you would never find in any book.

The area around Phuket, Krabi, and the beautiful Phang Nga Bay is truly paradise. During the live-aboard parts of the course, we would anchor every evening in another bay, giving us an opportunity to see a lot of different places in a short time. One of the highlights was the trip to Langkawi (Malaysia) in October.

When Waratah is ready, I will sail her to Phuket where she will stay in Yachthaven Marina for the time being. So I know now already quite a few beautiful places to sail to.

Mike Phippard - USA
Just a quick note to once again thank you for the wonderful experience you and you entire staff provided me during my eight day Fast Track to Bareboat Charter course.  You and your office staff patiently answered my one-thousand-and-one questions, helped me with my travel arrangements, and were very accommodating to my very hectic military schedule.  I cannot stress enough how very helpful it was to have all my questions answered quickly and completely.  The office staff being there on a Sunday afternoon (and throughout the entire training period for that matter) to assist with my accommodations is also well worth mentioning. 

Now, as a certified U.S. Army trainer, I was prepared for a rigid course that would not be as flexible as I would have liked while on my training holiday.  Boy was I gladly mistaken!  Both of my trainers, Mit and Antony, were extremely knowledgeable, very professional, and never once made me feel dim-witted for not understanding something.   As a student with literally no sailing experience, I dont think that I could have asked for better trainers.  While on my four day live-aboard, Mit was an invaluable wealth of information on both sailing and the local areas to which we sailed.

I look forward to seeing you all again this summer when I am anticipating my next course.  Again, thanks to you and all your staff for making this a truly remarkable experience. 
Looking forward to my return,

Fredrik Andersson - Singapore
I was as communicating with Rob for a while regarding a racing course, this was organised in an excellent way and they really went out of the way in order to arrange it for me. More flexible people than the staff at Yachtpro is hard to find. Hope to be back again for some more race training with Rob. Excellent.

Teddy Tsai - USA
Thanks again for a great week. I just wanted to say thanks to the team there for all the help and a great learning experience.  Apple is still having dreams about sailing!!! We had great fun and can't wait to go back there to charter a boat and take some friends out.  Thanks again to the whole team, from the booking girls, to Mit, to you, and even the boat boys, everyone was very friendly and made the whole experience worthwhile.

Stan Miller - USA
Everything went great and the 3-day live aboard was a good experience. I also appreciate the way your staff treated me.  The whole package was excellent.

Jurg Singer - Australia
My compliments! You guys are top. You really all have taken very good care of

us. The organisation was smooth and the sailing a real positive experience.

I'll be back in July for some more! The whole family enjoyed it thoroughly. Thank you and your team very much for the great exposure to this wonderful sport.

John Pennington - UK
We had a wonderfull time, due in no small part, to our boat boy. We cannot praise him enough, his calm professional manner in dealing with the day to day boaty matters and our demands, made for a very relaxed atmosphere onboard. Please convey to him our sincere thanks.

I do not wish to detract from the rest of your staff, who were all first class in there commitment to ensuring a completely hassle free holiday.

I would like to say thank you to you for making our visit a truly memorable time and we hope to return as soon as we can.

Joseph Poon - Hong Kong
I, Adrian and Terence enjoyed the course very much which is still our major topic during our gatherings.

Thank you!

Jemima Bayly and Dave Melton - UK
We had a brilliant time sailing and really enjoyed ourselves.  Thank you especially for sorting out all the logistics.

And of course many many thanks for letting us change the dates - we realised from looking at your boards and bookings just how complicated this must have been.

We will certainly recomend Yachtpro to anyone we come across.  I don't think we will be able to stay away from beautiful thailand for too long and so we will certainly look you up if we return and perhaps charter (thats if we didn't scare you too much!).

Thanks again to you all This is definitely one of our best holidays yet.

Duncan Sinclair - UK
Thanks for arranging the great course, and please thank Graeme, Mae and Mark, too.I'm sure my fianc?e and I will come and see you all, perhaps with a couple of friends, some time over the next couple of years - ideally also to take out a boat of course!

Patrick E Slesinger - UK
Just a quick email from 35,000 feet to say thank you so much for the time you showed me over the last three weeks.  I really did have great fun.

Pleases do ensure that my thanks is relayed to all the staff and please do feel free to use me as a reference if anyone should want one.

Thanks again and I am looking forward to my Coastal Skipper consolidation and also getting my family involved in an adventure sail or bare boat.

Alan Searle - Australia
I have thoroughly enjoyed my two trips sailing with Yachtpro - in fact I'm hoping to return again in December for the King's Cup Regatta. The recommendation and organization of hotels, rental cars, etc. made things really easy.

A special thanks to all the staff who I found to be extremely friendly and helpful.

Caroline Pennington - UK
Just to say that we got home in BAD spirits because we didn't want to leave Phuket. We were very, very impressed indeed with Yacht Pro. I don't think we were very pro-active while we were there, just totally relaxed, but Lee was brilliant and pretty much sorted us out with places to go and made sure we were fine. We both are agreed it is the best holiday we have ever had...and we always have good holidays several times a year. This was certainly the best.

Please would you thank lee for us and thank you also for the help you gave us in planning this holiday and sorting us out for hotels (the twin plams was wonderful).

Rick Leland
Our trip was wonderful. We arrived on July 2 to a downpour, and were afraid that it would rain like that all week. But the weather improved and we did all of the things we wanted to do, including days of good sailing.

We did the route, up to James Bond Island , Ko Yao Yai, Ko Hong, and Phi Phi. The boat had no breakdowns and worked fine. The staff were very helpful throughout the trip. Overall, a great trip.

Sheila Stamp - HK
We had a wonderful and relaxing time dotting around the coast. Both skipper and crew worked hard to make sure that we enjoyed ourselves despite a temperamental generator. We wish you all the best and hope that the Iraq war and SARS hasn't affected business too much.

Jane Means - UK
Just a real quicky to say a belated thank you for such a fab sailing course back in Feb...I had an absolute ball and have been busy capsizing dinghies in the cold UK seas which hasn't been too much fun!

Bruce Hawken - Australia
I would like to thank the whole Yachtpro team for a great holiday. The sailing, the location and the airport to airport service couldn't have been better. See you again soon.

Scott Allbut - Australia
I couldn't have asked for more. The weather was great, the water was warm and the scenery's fantastic. The courses were thorough and great fun. Thanks Yachtpro.

Armand and crew from Rougemont  
I would like to thank you from all of my crew for the wonderful time we spent in the Andaman sea. We will organise another trip for next year. Your team did a great job and provided all the care we need for starting and receiving us. It will be a pleasure for us to come back again.

Elizabeth Barret - UK
It was a fantastic week. From the sunny smooth sailing in and out of islands to the struggles through Thai squalls, I had a brilliant time. There's no better way to learn (and have a great holiday!) than getting out there on the open sea with Yachtpro.

E.Childers - USA
Thanks guys. I learnt a lot and had a great holiday. See you next year.

Chas Ducat- Scotland
Thanks for a great time and looking after me so well. I will return.

John James - USA
I've been spreading the word about what a great time I had sailing in Thailand . I'll see you all next year. 

Hans Leesag - Holland
I enjoyed my sailing a great deal. I could not have learnt more and thank all your staff for making my time in Phuket so easy and so much fun.

ED Mulderrig - USA
Just to let you know what great time I had taking the 2 sailing courses at Yachtpro.

Besides The instruction being excellent and very professional, the atmosphere on the boat was very relaxed and enjoyable. I learned a lot of things that were not in any books.

I would highly recommend Yachtpro to anyone considering sailing in Asia . I definitely will be back to take my next sailing course at Yachtpro Thanks for the great experience.

Le Baron Price - USA
I wanted to write and thank every one again for everything you did for me while I was in Thailand last week. I learned a lot, and will always remember my adventure.

Su-Lin & Thomas Zimmermann - Thailand
Great place, great sailing, excellent instructor. We fully enjoyed our sail training with Yachtpro and wish we could go back yesterday. A truly professional team in an amazing environment. Thanks for the experience which we are happy to recommend to anybody.

Malcolm Gibb and Sinnika - UK
We were looking for formal qualifications taught by an experienced but pragmatic instructor, at a reasonable cost, in safe waters and with sufficient tide to need consideration. We also wished to spend our limited holiday time where the people were friendly and the weather warm. Yachtpro Thailand came out ahead on all counts during our investigation of Europe and Australasian sailing schools. We learnt the Day and Coastal Skipper qualifications and had a great holiday around Phuket and its waters. We now confidently sail in all weathers and have not regretted choosing Yachtpro, Thailand.

Mercedes and Farooq

Farooq and I greatly enjoyed the whole week with Yachtpro, both the days live aboard and the training before. We didn't just learn to sail from a skills point of view, making us feel confident with instruments and helm, most important- we also learnt to enjoy the sailing itself, to "read" the sky and watch for the weather...and be patient with the moods of the wind! it was indeed much more than I expected it to get in just five days! We only regret not having done it earlier. 

Keith Schulz
We had a great time over the last several days.
I hope to get up there again for a course sometime. We'll see if I can convince some of the others to from the team to join me.

Dan Reich
Hey all! Just wanted to say thanks again for a wonderful experience. I really enjoyed meeting and sailing with you, and hope we'll meet again soon.

Jo Bristow
Thanks for a great week - as I said I learned lots but, more than anything, got my confidence back. 

In Oz I felt that I was just on a production line. The instructors weren't approachable and I felt intimidated most of the weekend. By the end of the course I felt I knew less than when I had started and I wasn't sure I ever wanted to get on a boat again. 

With you guys I felt completely relaxed and able to make mistakes as well as ask questions. There was no feeling of 'getting it wrong' - just the opportunity to find out for ourselves. But always with the knowledge that someone was there to make sure we didn't do anything dangerous (for the boat or ourselves). Being out on the water for 5 days gives you the chance to really get to understand how the boat works and to do some of the routine things over and over and over again till it's 2nd nature.

But more than anything you have restored my love for sailing and my confidence.

Yachtpro (Thailand)


Phuket
Adjacent to Yacht Haven Marina
Phone: + 66 (0) 76 331 615
Fax: + 66 (0) 76 331 616

Email: inq@sailing-thailand.com
Yachtpro News: www.yachtprothailand.wordpress.com

 

Yachtpro (Thailand) Phuket
Adjacent to Yacht Haven Marina
Phone: + 66 (0) 76 331 615
Fax: + 66 (0) 76 331 616

Email: inq@sailing-thailand.com
Yachtpro News: www.yachtprothailand.wordpress.com

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