This course requires Basic Keelboat

Our Basic Cruising certification package is intended for those with a US Sailing Basic Keelboat certification or equivalent skills. This course is designed specifically to prepare you to skipper a sailboat in the challenging conditions peculiar to San Francisco Bay. It is as challenging and rewarding a course as we offer.

As in Basic Keelboat, we limit the classes to three students and one instructor per boat, the smallest student to instructor ratio you'll find in any commercial sailing school. The curriculum consists of 34 hours of instruction (41 hours in the week-long option), including two, three-hour Navigation II and Seamanship II study halls.

Using a "tiller-steered" boat is important to your education

We choose to use tiller steered boats for both Basic Keelboat and Basic Cruising courses because it is the best way to become a well-rounded sailor. Our commitment is to teach sailing in the best way to assure our students develop the confidence to handle any yacht. Traditionally sailors have always started learning to steer with a tiller before moving on to learning wheel steering on larger boats. A tiller gives a sailor instant feedback with every movement of the rudder. Learning to feel and read the force at play on a boat as it moves through the water is much easier with a tiller due to instant feedback. Steering properly and keeping the boat in balance and trim becomes a natural instinct that once learned is never forgotten. Moving on to wheel steering boats is very easy, but the accomplished sailor will still feel comfortable aboard anything from a sailing dingy or a tender with an outboard engine to a large racing yacht with a tiller or a wheel.

Successful completion prepares you to:

• Skipper boats under 30-feet in challenging locations such as San Francisco Bay.
• Move into the Bareboat Cruising (BBC) level of US Sailing's certification system.

We recommend that before taking BBC, you gain as much experience as possible by chartering or sailing your own boat.

TOPICS COVERED

• Advanced sailing theory

  Learn how to fully harness and control your yacht’s sails, keel, rudder and crew weight in the best that San Francisco Bay has to offfer.

• Managing heel and weather helm

  The hydrodynamics behind heeling and weather helm – distinguishing good from bad.

• Sail shape and rig control

  Properly controlling the mast and sail shapes enhances your boat control for fun and safety.

• Sailing in close quarters

  One of the greater pleasures in sailing and a critical skill for independence and confidence afloat.

• Heavy weather techniques

  Learn to handle San Francisco Bay’s famous sea breeze with confidence.
See All

• Heaving to

  How to get your sailboat to tend herself out in the Bay while you attend to something or just relax.

• Reefing underway

  Safely reducing sail when the wind comes up quickly while you are out sailing.

• Person overboard recovery drills

  How to manage a recovery in stronger breezes and in different situations. This is the key safety skill for San Francisco Bay skippers.

• Anchorages and anchoring

  Become confident to explore and use all the anchorages in the Bay Area when sailing on your own.

• Handling emergencies

  The most common emergencies and how to manage them according to best practices learned over generations. These are invaluable problem-solving skills. You can applying basic principles to handle unusual emergencies.

• Course plotting and fixes

  When you see the fog starting to roll in, it is reassuring to know you can determine your position and course to your destination even without visibility.

• Steering by the compass

  Few sailors know how to steer a straight course by compass.