BACK ΤΟ SCHOOL

The variety and scope of today's training courses have opened up the sailing world to a broader range of newcomers and expanded the knowledge of veteran sailors.

-  Theresa Nicholson

The American Sailing Association and US Sailing offer building-block tracks of basic, intermediate and advanced sailing classes, through weekend courses close to home and weeklong, destination liveaboard training courses, such as those offered by the Nautilus Sailing program in the Grenadines.

Aaron Maynard owns an electric-bike shop in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where a customer came in one day seeking a folding bike.

"I asked him specifically why he wanted a folding bike because we sell many models," Maynard says. "He said that he and his wife were going to sell their house and their belongings, and move onto a sailboat for a few years. After he left, I looked up '45-foot sailboat' online. What I saw totally enthralled me. I began researching boats nonstop. I ordered a catalog from The Moorings and read it from cover to cover. In the back of the catalog, there was information about learning to sail." The next day, Maynard called Offshore Sailing School and signed up himself and his wife, Michele, for a certification class.

They had never set foot on a sailboat when they attended the Offshore Sailing School at the South Seas Island Resort on Captiva Island, Florida, in 2018, joining the increasingly large ranks of people who are taking certification courses either to learn the basics or to gain advanced skills.

And make no mistake: It's far from just newbies like the Maynards signing up for classes these days. For boat owners, some insurance companies require sailing certifications, and some charter companies have tightened up certification requirements for bareboat sailing as well.