SailTime® Channel Islands, SailTime® Boston, and SailTime® Orange County Recognized for Sailing Schools and Instructors
Annapolis, MD – SailTime® Group LLC, the world leader in fractional boating, was honored with three ASA Outstanding Sailing Schools of the Year awards for 2008, recognizing the sailing instructional programs offered at its SailTime® Channel Islands, Boston and Orange County bases. Also, SailTime® instructors from Channel Islands (Captain Dan Ryder) and Orange County (Captain Roger Philips) were recognized as ASA Outstanding Sailing Instructors of the Year for 2008. The award is given annually by the American Sailing Association (ASA), the governing body for sailing schools. Awards are based on surveys completed by graduating students.
“Since ASA has over 300 sailing schools worldwide, being recognized as one of only a handful of our outstanding schools of the year is a truly meaningful distinction,” noted Charlie Nobles, Executive Director of ASA. “The award is calculated based on responses from actual customers, so only those Affiliates who consistently excel in the quality both of their educational product and customer service can achieve this designation. SailTime® should be proud to have three of its facilities rank among ASA’s very best.”
SailTime® Channel Islands have operated a sailing school for four years and have received the ASA School of the Year honor for the past two years. The school has trained nearly 30-40 new sailors each year, providing hands-on, one-on-one instruction that takes individuals from novice to captain. Its award-winning instructor, Captain Dan Ryder, is a licensed U.S. Coast Guard Captain with 40 years of sailing experience. He’s sailed the East Coast, the West Coast, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean as well as numerous lakes in the Midwest and has spent the last 15 years sailing the Pacific coast. For the past few years, he has based his sailing operations in Channel Islands Harbor, which offers direct access to Southern California’s Santa Barbara Channel and the nearby Channel Islands. Captain Dan has skippered a wide range of vessels through the years, from a 14′ Hobie Cat on the Atlantic to serving as Underway Command Duty Officer on U.S.S. Nimitz, operating in waters from the Persian Gulf to the North Sea and North Atlantic.
SailTime® Boston, which recently changed the name of its sailing school to the Black Rock Sailing School, has been an ASA-certified instruction center since 2006. Sixty-five students took classes this year in everything from Basic Keelboat (ASA 101 and 103) to Bareboat Charter and Coastal Navigation (ASA 104 and 105). SailTime® Boston’s head instructor is Captain Brenton Lochridge, is a USCG Licensed Captain and lifelong boater. He offers a proven curriculum that effectively teaches students both how to sail and how to enjoy the sailing lifestyle.
SailTime® Orange County’s sailing school, known as the Newport Beach Sailing School is starting its fourth year or operations, training an average of 100 students per year. Its lead instructor is Captain Roger Philips, a US Coast Guard Captain and ASA-award winning Sailing Instructor. He is also a former Vessel Assist rescue boat captain. For over thirty years, Captain Roger has been dedicated to the pursuit of sailing, while owning several sailboats. Roger has done extensive sailing in the Pacific Northwest, West Coast, and the East Coast, as well as in the Caribbean and Bermuda. He also teaches part-time at Concordia University in Irvine, CA. He and his wife, Antoinette, enjoy sailing locally and hosting flotillas in the San Juan Islands.
SailTime®, the world leader in fractional sailing, provides a unique and affordable way to not only introduce new people to the sport of sailing but provide them the training and ASA-certification needed to operate their boats proficiently and safely.
Here is how the program works. Novice sailors introduced to the program are offered an ASA-certification program that features smaller class sizes, more hands-on training, and access to training on state-of-the-art Hunter boats that range in size from 21’ to 44’. Upon completing the certification program, they can join SailTime®’s fractional program as an owner or as a member. In the program, each boat is managed by the SailTime® base and is “shared” amongst one individual owner and seven other non-equity members. Each member pays a membership fee to the SailTime® base for access to the boats and is guaranteed at least seven sail times every month as well as unlimited “as-available” use on a 24-hour notice at no extra cost. The membership fees include all dockage, insurance, and maintenance of the boat. Members can then have on-going access to the same boats that were used in their training program.
“The quality of training provided by your base was outstanding,” notes George and Sue B., who trained at the Newport Beach Sailing School. “We are far more capable sailors now than when we first joined. The boat was always clean, full of fuel, mechanically maintained, and fun to sail.”
“We went through ASA 101 and 103 back to back in about 2 months,” comments Dave and Tammy who trained at SailTime Channel Islands. “Even in that short time, we came out feeling comfortable sailing on our own. We can’t imagine accomplishing the same level of competency in group lessons that typically offer far less hands-on and individualized training.”
About SailTime®
SailTime® is the worldwide leader in fractional sailing and power boating membership, a program that provides an economical alternative to boat ownership.
