Starting on the 14th of January 2019, the third Sail Thailand Langkawi to Phuket Rally will take place, exploring the Thai waters of the Andaman Sea and its coastline. The ral-ly gives participants a feel for the culture and people of Thailand while being immersed in various exciting or relaxing activities.

The exact program is currently being final-ized and the rally kick-off will be with a breakfast in Langkawi’s Rebak Marina after which all yachts will start moving north. In addition to the 2018 rally stops the organization is exploring possibilities for the west coast of Thailand which is limited on the northern end with the border of Myanmar. More detailed plans will be communicated in the next month.

FLEXIBLE, FRIENDLY INTRODUCTION TO THAILAND

The last Sail Thailand Rally turned out to be very successful with 22 cruising yachts taking part. After the Rally an online survey asked the participants about their experience. Some 75% of participants completed the survey, with all respon-dents qualifying the Rally as either ‘excellent’ (54%) or ‘very good’ (46%). The crew of sy Taka Oa wrote: “The rally exceeded our expectations. Great organ-isation, excellent communication with the fleet and in a spectacular location. What more could you ask for?” SY Osborne Star wrote “Sail Thailand provides a not to be missed introduction to cruising in Thai-land’s beautifully unique waters. The local people proved to be most friendly and welcoming. The ral-ly-organized events were fabulous, and the program provided great value. We hope to participate again next year”. Another interesting comment came from sy Asterie: “Flexible, friendly introduction to Thailand”.

As it turned out for around 70% of the yachts it is their first visit to Thailand. There were quite a few suggestions to improve the event such as: ‘can the rally last 1 week longer’ or can we have more stops’. Some critical remarks were: ‘can more vegetarian food be added’ and there were also suggestions for participating in an activity beneficial to the environ-ment, for instance a joint beach clean-up at one of the National Park islands”. Obviously, the next issue of Sail Thailand will consider all suggestions made and work them into the program.

A JOINT EFFORT WITH SHARED BENEFITSA

A rally like Sail Thailand is a co-operative effort with many people and parties involved. The initiator of Sail Thailand, Marieke Derks of Seven-star Yacht Transport Asia, started the rally with the help Sazli Kamal Basha of Sail Malaysia, Zara Trem-lett of Phuket Yacht Haven Marina and Matthew Na Ngara of Port Takola. To Marieke the further devel-opment of Sail Thailand is a co-operative effort: “It is an event that we organiZe as a team from the yacht-ing industry. We encourage sponsors and supporting parties to play an active role and confer with them how to interact with rally participants and offer ben-efits not only in a monetary terms but especially by sharing knowledge, skills or any other beneficial ways to establish lasting relationships. It is in this spirit of joint efforts that in Sail Thailand we prefer to talk about “Partners” and “Friends” rather than sponsors. The difference being that Partners contribute mone-tarily and in kind while Friends contribute in kind”.

INCLUSIVE AND FUN

To Marieke these two aspects are the essence of the successful development of an inclusive and fun experience for Sail Thailand in the future. The 2018 edition of Sail Thailand reflected that philosophy. some examples

• Sevenstar Yacht Transport has been organiz ing the annual Phuket Cruisers Party since 2013. From this effort Sail Thailand evolved. Not only is Sevenstar a monetary sponsor of the final party but also takes a big role in the overall organiZation and initiation of new activities such as the Sail Thailand Cruisers Market. The rationale for Sevenstar, apart from reaching out to the cruisers community is to co-operate with the marine industry and other countries in Asia in order to promote the cruising destination.
• Phuket Yacht Haven is an obvious choice for cruisers in Phuket with its excellent in frastructure, welcoming atmosphere and perfect hang out The Deck. They have been a partner from the beginning
• Port Takola in Krabi is a marina in develop ment. This year the cruisers had full access to all facilities and a fantastic cultural experience. For the marina having that many cruisers inside means good publicity.
• Phuket Premier Boatyard is a successful haul-out facility and boat yard that is upgrading to accommodate larger yachts as well. Brand awareness is of utmost importance and the Rally offers a perfect opportunity for this.
• East Marine Asia is a chandlery and distributor with large stocks for popular marine brands. Through its sister company Precision Ship wright there is also a large skill set on everything to do with rigging and refit activities and they are offering rally participants a free rigging inspection.

Says Marieke: “For 2019 we will look at all suggestions from the participants of 2018 and of course Sail Thailand is open to suggestions and further co-operation. We are actively looking for more Partners and Friends as we believe that the 2019 edition will again help attract more yachts to discover the beauty of Thailand. Our Facebook Page and website (www.sailthailand.net) will be updated with all new information after the summer holidays”.

INTERESTED IN JOINING SAIL THAILAND 2019?

Are you interested in joining the Sail Thailand 2019 rally, or do you wish to become Rally Partner or Rally FrienD? Pls visit the Sail Thailand website www.sailthailand.net or send an email to: mail@sailthailand.net.