Basic Keelboat Complete (24 hours)
When your goal is to become a competent sailor, able to confidently handle one of our boats on your own, this is the course to take. Our instructors will guide you to a thorough understanding of sailing fundamentals and give you extensive on the water coaching to reinforce your new skills.
What kind of skills? So many, but in short, everything you need to get a boat set up, underway, safely sailing to a destination, and back home again. You’ll learn how to make the sails and rudder work together to control your progress on the water. You’ll learn the “Rules of the Road” that keep you safe on a busy waterway like Boston Harbor. If the wind blows your favorite baseball hat into the water, you’ll learn how to get back to it in no time, and pluck it out safely. And of course, you’ll learn some very important knots that will impress all your non-sailing friends.
It’s a lot of work, but by the completion of the course, most students are ready for a Red or Yellow Courageous skipper rating, which means they can safely skipper a small keelboat in light to moderate conditions without an instructor. Students who pass the course can also obtain the US SAILING Basic Keelboat certification, a standard recognized throughout the U.S. and in many other parts of the world.
Here are some of the things you will learn...
Practical Skills
- How to use weather forecasts to evaluate sailing conditions
- How to board a sailboat, do a safety check, and prepare to sail
- How to rig, derig, and secure the boat to the dock
- How to safely leave and return to the dock
- How to safely maneuver the boat: starting, stopping, controlling speed, steering, tacking, jibing, getting out of irons, etc.
- How to handle control lines and trim sails
- How to depower sails if the wind picks up
- How to safely recover a crew overboard
- How to read a nautical chart of Boston Harbor
- How to apply the Rules of the Road
- How to recognize and navigate around Aids to Navigation
Knowledge
- Sailing nomenclature
- Basic sailing theory
- Points of sail
- Basic Navigation Rules
Prerequisite: None!
View the US SAILING Basic Keelboat curriculum
Price: $550
View Course Schedule
US SAILING Basic Keelboat Certification Fee: $75
For more information about courses, or to purchase and schedule a course, please contact:
Dave DiLorenzo, Director of Adult Programs,
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Cha O'Connell, Assistant Director of Adult Programs,
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Or call the boathouse directly at (617) 268-7243.
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