Recommend a school in SE Asia?

[Siould]

Originally Posted by philaw

I'm a Brit working in China, and figure that my best chance to learn to sail is to start off with an RYA course down in Thailand or elsewhere in SE Asia. Can anyone make a recommendation? Competent crew or day skipper would be a good start. I'm a teacher, so I have a window in the summer and again in the winter at Chinese New Year. I want to do some self-development after writing an essay about self as a product of society like visit here and complete it with this story. If I can fit something in, then I can visit a sailing club back home on the Humber next summer and try to get things moving.

Thanks!

And the request is still relevant and if you took the course can share the results.

[lastbestplace]

I did the IYT Bareboat Skipper in May of 2023 with John at Java Yachting in Phuket. John has an amazing level of experience and is very accomplished. He's getting older so I don't know how much longer he'll be doing training but for me the experience was absolutely worth it.

The problem is the weather. Thailand has very distinct weather seasons, and when I went the rainy season had just started so that precluded any long distance/multi day trips. I was also the only one in the class, which on the one hand, was excellent, because I had a one on one teaching experience with a true expert, but on the other, it didn't have a "class" feel.

I also just got back from the Hua Hin Sailing Club for a week, which is run by Richard, his wife, and Thai staff. This is a place mainly with Lasers (dinghy sailboats), but also Hobie Cats, and Picos and run straight off the beach. I really enjoyed myself since I could mess around on a Laser for a couple hours a day then do whatever else I wanted to do. They run a good operation out there and I highly recommend it.

I was in Hua Hin in August and the wind was good every day. For most of Thailand this should be near the peak of the rainy season but I think Hua Hin may be spared much of this (though you should sail earlier in the day to avoid storms). I do know that the dry season in Koh Samui is opposite the rest of Thailand, so since Hua Hin is on the same side (east coast) of Thailand maybe it's spared a lot of the rain (?). Note the Hua Hin Sailing Club is not a Cruising Sailboat School, like Java Yachting is, but it was fun and I think still a great experience and I include it here for reference to someone just looking to have some fun and basic sail training.

Someone had posted that he thought there were surprisingly few sailing schools in SE Asia and I have to say I agree with that. In California alone there are multiple schools, with many types of boats, many instructors and so forth. They have administrative staff to answer the phones and are well organized. Of the places in SE Asia, the only places I saw were in Thailand, and they just aren't as big of schools or as well organized. At the same time, the people I encountered there had loads of both life and sailing experience, were super interesting, and Thailand is just a great and inexpensive place to visit. YMMV.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say we are really lucky in the US to have great schools of almost any kind. I learned to sea kayak and whitewater kayak there and can paddle surfskis, also, outdoor training of all sorts. Just in general, whether it be our colleges, or learning how to race a dirt bike or whatever, it's better to learn in the US and then apply it abroad in places like SE Asia. Still, I don't regret at all going to those schools in Thailand, but it is a bit different and hey the water is warm, so that's a plus!

[Farang]

I had so much fun I went back multiple times. There was a lot of Singha, Sang Som (local rum) and hooch so I don’t remember much 😵*💫and sadly the expat Brit who took the class died of a heart attack (too much rum?) not long after. The wind was flukey and not much of it due to the season. No spinnakers to play with on the fleet of random old charter boats so a lot of motoring. The expat who ran the prac used to run a fish shop in Phuket and like one poster said they all had lots of “life” experience and great campfire stories. Depends what you’re looking for: if you want a holiday with a boozy boat trip and sample the local delights then Thailand is the place👍. If you’re serious about learning something and getting a legitimate ticket then do it at home.

[Farang]

[QUOTE=;2890357]Really! explain what makes you an expert on this. That's borderline slander. John, you should really refrain posting just to post. Have you ever been to a sailing school in Thailand or hold a IYT or RYA rating?

Yeah, you don’t wanna go slandering the locals; they’re pretty thinned skinned and have laws about that…

…..there are several very good, ACCREDITED, sailing schools in SE Asia.

AKA: they passed a test and pay a commission for each attendee back to the “accrediting” organisation.