BBC4 Great British Holidays - Sunsail

[sailbadthesinner]

I remember simon when he was manager at Yedi Buku near bodrum ( later Yedi Tepe)
He was a hoot, great work hard play hard attitude
that was back in 1990 my first holidasy although they had been going some time then
It was first week of the season
the club held about 66 guests
the week we went there 21 guests and 22 staff

the bar was open after hours on an honesty basis. you wrote down on the book how many beers you had and the bill cmae at the end of the holiday
interesting to see my handwriting change as the night wore on.
I was 21 then so we went partying with the staff all night

One drunken night the staff instigated a surfing competition in the pool and we cracked a few of the tiles as the board surfed from end to end. Simon got a bollocking from his partner, who was also his boss, when she turned up.


saw him a few years ago, in Leida and had beer then i think, he was still the same

sad to see he has gone. he loved his sailing


Have sunsailed all over the world since then and do love the clubs but always preferred the smaller ones. it seems they are going big now which having had the smaller intimate feel you feel more of a number at the big one.
I did one mark warner and hjave to say sunsail excel, but mark warner was always tennis with boats and so as playing tennis in greek heat is not my idea of fun i suppose it is not a real comaprison.

the staff these days are not encouraged to go out with guests
miss that bit. have many happy memories of all my sunsail trips tho
made some great friends
my daughter martha is named after a sunsail office manager. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[DickB]

I was never drawn to SunSail. We went on a flotilla holiday with SunWorld Sailing (now Nielson) and had a great time, but if I was honest the folk who ran it probably were not all that different. However they had Moody 31s' and the one we had was excellent.

More recently we chartered with Top Yacht in Turkey. First class - very friendly and the yacht (an Elan 40) was very well maintained, and individual. ie not a fleet of identical 'Fords'... I would certainly recommend them. (No connection other than a happy punter...) In a few weeks we are chartering in St Lucia with the Moorings (first tim ein that neck of the woods).

I am open minded but on what others have reported I have high expectations... Looking forward to some sunshine and warm weather..

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Lucky you, off to St Lucia. I chartered with Moorings (BVI), can't say the boat was 100% but then charter boats do take a hammering, that said they attended to everything without delay or fuss. Would I charter with them again, yes, although I may seek out smaller more individual company/boats first, but that's just personal choice, rather than a reflection on what appeared to be a very slick, very helpful team.

 

[Athene V30]

The negative 'older' (maybe 40!) Operations guy. The MD took a sideways move, the red haired poser seemed to still be there

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Thanks Peter. Not an unsurprising outcome.

 

[AlJones]

Am I being cynical?

But are these two, who haven't filled out their profiles at all, and who join on the same day, just trying to upsell and enhance the coverage of the Company or the Production Company???

eddieo, martyn coates

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[[2068]]

Oooerr, we're famous !
Just waiting for the film offers to come rolling in, then maybe the book ?

Ok, maybe not, but we were among the first batch of holidaymakers to try out the resort in that first week: it was mostly Sunsail "friends and family", but the week went very well, all things considered.

SWMBO and mini-swmbo can been seen in the plane, plus another shot of them both being directed off the coach, with her long-legged friend. For some reason, I don't seem to feature anywhere /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

The manager, Andy, is shown swearing and shouting a lot, but from a guests perspective, he was very enthusiastic and driven: despite his "they can f-off" comment, he was actually always on the side of guest whenever anything went wrong.

dv.

 

[Nigeldownes]

I recently returned from a sunsail resort in Antigua, I hate resort holidays but it was a re-union and was paid for by someone else. The food in my opinion was dire; but I live in London and eat in upmarket places most of the time, and I gained loads of inches round the belly department, the service was friendly albeit up market butlins types gig. What made it special though was it was full of sailing fiends as was the staff. The sail staff gave excellent tuition, one to one if need be, encouraged me to sail every type of sail craft bar one. The sailing side is well sorted maybe in order to get you addicted in the hope you will use the flotilla holidays next.

I cannot tell you the loathing I have for resorts and to give you an idea of my travel tastes I normally back pack through mountains in Nepal or Africa, yet if asked back tomorrow I wouldn’t hesitate.

I don’t have kids but it must be a godsend t the parents because the kids joined club whilst the parents raced around the place in a large variety of yachts, only gripe was they didn’t seem to be on top of the maintenance or carry enough spare parts. I cannot tell you if it was good value as I didn’t see the bill.

I still hate resorts but I had the time of my life with sunsail.

 

[Bajansailor]

Re: An alternative to Sunsail and The Moorings

For anyone considering a yacht charter holiday in the Windward islands, there are a couple of alternative (to Sunsail and The Moorings) companies that come to mind - these are Barefoot Yacht Charters http://www.barefootyachts.com , and TMM Yacht Charters http://www.sailtmm.com

No connection with either of them.

 

[eddieo]

I believe it was not the red-headed guy but his friend who was operations manager. Can't remember the name!

 

[eddieo]

Yes you are being cynical! I have had quite a few Sunsail holidays, - not in the clubs but either flotilla or bare boat. Generally I find their staff very enthusiatic and do their best to please the customer. Shame on you suspicious Bach!

 

[eddieo]

....... and I haven't a clue who the martyn coates guy is either!

 

[AlJones]

Suitably chastised! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif


Glad you had a nice time though!!

/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[CalmSkipper]

Martyn - We would all like to know if you have a vested interest

 

[cliff]

Another scumsail venture?.
--------------------

"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity"
sailroom <span style="color:red">The place to auction your previously loved boatie bits</span>

 

[beachbum]

[ QUOTE ]
I remember the days 15 / 16 years ago when Falcon (later Sovereign) Sailing (who alas are no more) and Sunsail were cheerful adversaries in the leisure market in Greece and Turkey.

[/ QUOTE ]

As I recall, Sovereign Sailing then became Sunworld Sailing and were eventually bought by Thomas Cook to become Neilson. So they're still adversaries; whether cheerful or not I couldn't possibly comment...

 

[jimbaerselman]

[ QUOTE ]
As I recall, Sovereign Sailing then became Sunworld Sailing and were eventually bought by Thomas Cook to become Neilson. So they're still adversaries . . .

[/ QUOTE ] Absolutely right. And Pip and Pete Tyler, twins who joined as junior instructors in 1982, run the company with a high degree of autonomy.

Interestingly, Neilson don't need to promote their holidays by advertising. They just do boat shows. Now that's evidence of repeat business.

My bias? I worked briefly with Greek-Sail (subsequently Island Sailing, now SnSl!) helped deliver 24 Cobra 850 for Greek Sail and Crawford Perry Travel (subsequently Falcon) and set up a little dinghy sailing outfit in Greece - now Neilson.

Well, there's the history. Guilty, m'lud. But retired to the sea 17 years ago with a big smile and a nice boat.

 

[Birdseye]

Did Vounaki some years ago and had an excellent time - loits of different boats to sail, and nice surroundings to sail in. Best of all, the staff were young kids, enthusiatic irresponsible and fun loving. Rather have them than some professional any day.

Great outfit. Who cares if they were 6 week yachtmasters - way better than being 6 week non yachtmasters

 

[jimbaerselman]

You can find a lot about a company's personnel selection and training by going 'behind the scenes' on their websites. Poke around in the 'Staff wanted' areas; see how they sell themselves to their potential staff.

 

[JoeLynch]

Dear all,
Thank you to everyone who has joined the debate, both on this forum and to those who have contacted us directly.

Jim B, Nice to hear from you again - enjoyed the pint and catch up at the show. Please send my regards to the Fini Locals.

You can imagine the trepidation with which we allowed the TV crews to follow us for a year - and what a year!

We were sold the show as being a documentary on the changes in British Society, reflected through the eyes of the holidays they take, and thought it would be a great chance to show the world our resorts and style of holidays. Possibly a bit naive, as you could sense the disappointment of the TV crew, when we opened the club, on time, finished, and to the delight of our guests.

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity. But we will need to wait and see... to date we have largely positive comments by a ratio of 2:1. You can't argue with the figures though, 97% of our guests rated their time in Phokaia as excellent or good - with 98.5% recemonding it to their friends and family, and bookings are currently up over 50% compared to last year.

We have posted a fuller statement "including a reference to Andy's adept use of ancient Anglo Saxon" at http://www.sunsail.co.uk/clubs/documentary

Thanks once again for all your comments - let the debate continue

Joe Lynch
Sales and Marketing Director
Sunsail Clubs