What You Learn In Our Courses: Basic Sailing Skills & Extensive Sailing Knowledge
The most comprehensive sailing courses you'll find
Founded in 1964 by the world's leading sailing educator, Steve Colgate, Offshore Sailing School is far and above the best place to gain sailing knowledge and start or continue your sailing lifestyle.
Please read your course textbook before you arrive
Each course covers sailing skills and sailing knowledge. Below you will find a synopsis of the topics we covere in the textbooks) sent in advance,by your instructor in the classroom and aboard during your course. To get the most out of your course, please read the textbook before you arrive. Of course, this means you should sign up far enough in advance to allow you the luxury of studying at a comfortable pace. Our Learn to Sail book, Fast Track to Sailing, is now available on Kindle through on-line stores if you sign up too late for us to mail this book before the course starts.
Weather, your learning pace and skills of all aboard
Whether or not we can actually cover everything listed in depth for each sailing course is occasionally affected by weather and other factors, including prior basic sailing skills experience and abilities of everyone aboard. Regardless, you will learn more than you thought possible in all our courses, and return home with ultimate confidence in your depth of sailing knowledge and sailing skills gainedn.
"Our instructor was extremely patient with all levels of knowledge. The boat, location and material were perfect for me. However, like anything else in life, the more you put into the learning experience, the more you get out. Read and study the book before starting the class!"
Larry Holen - Lapeer, MI
Pick the course level that suits your goals and prior sailing experience
There are no prerequisites for Learn to Sail or Fast Track To Cruising®. We will teach you the basic sailing skills you need to successfully pass these courses and go on to more sailing. You can go as far as you want in our stair-step program. If you choose our comprehensive program COAST® - you will get the equivalent of an MBA in one year!
So pick the course that best suits your current level of experience, and your goals - then sign up NOW so you have plenty of time to prepare. Call 888-454-7015 or email sail@OffshoreSailing.com to get a quote.
Step 1 of Fast Track to Cruising® and COAST
- Nautical terminology
- Rigging and sails
- Getting underway
- Proper winch techniques
- Finding wind direction
- Points of sailing
- Tacking and jibing
- Interaction of wind and sail
- Maneuvering in close quarters
- Wind pressure and lift
- Heeling and stability
- Apparent wind
- Wind shifts
- Sailing wing and wing
- Stopping and starting under sail
- Spinnaker techniques
- Crew overboard pick-up
- Sailing backwards
- Rudderless sailing
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- Sail trim and sail shape
- Boat balance
- Hull speed
- Mooring and anchoring
- Docking under sail
- Most used knots
- Right-of-way rules
- Grounding remedies
- Heavy weather techniques
- Steering with a compass
- Sailing in current
- Weather and lee helm
- Introduction to navigation
- Reefing (shortening) sails
Prerequisite: No experience or basic sailing skills necessary
Certification: COLGATE Day Sailing or
US SAILING Basic Keelboat
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Step 2 of Fast Track to Cruising®
Step 2 & 3 of COAST
Monohulls and Catamarans
- Planning a cruise
- Boat layout and sail plan
- Operation of engine, stove and head
- Engine maintenance
- Fueling techniques
- Battery and charging systems
- Water/battery conservation
- Thru-hull fittings
- Maneuvers under power and sail
- Proper handling of halyards and lines
- Proper use of winches
- Sail trim and shape
- Apparent wind and sail selection
- Mainsail furling use, if applicable
- Genoa roller furling use
- Overboard recovery procedures
- Heavy weather/reefing
- Heaving-to
- Sailing wing and wing
- Boom preventer use
- Docking and anchoring
- Communication when docking, anchoring & sail trim
- Knots and their applications
- Log procedures
- Piloting techniques including set, drift and leeway calculations
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- GPS navigation
- Rules of the road
- Danger bearings
- Coast Guard requirements
- VHF use
- Courtesy – lights and sound signals
- Use of safety harness
- Emergency tiller use
- Distress signals
Additional for Catamarans
- Use of multiple scenarios in wind direction & current while docking and anchoring
- Close quarters maneuvering
- Windage considerations
- Spring and other dock line configurations
- Reefing by wind strength
Prerequisite: COLGATE Day Sailing or US SAILING
Basic Keelboat certification, Learn to Sail course
or equivalent training / sailing knowledge
Certifications: COLGATE Coastal Cruising and
Bareboat Cruising (plus COLGATE Catamaran Live
Aboard Course If learning on catamaran); or US SAILING
Basic Cruising and Bareboat Cruising
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Step 4 of COAST
Step 1 of Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making
- Charts, chart types & corrections
- Aids to navigation
- Navigational inputs
- Piloting
- Deviation & variation
- Plotting set and drift
- Bearings
- Running fixes
- Lines of position
- Ranges
- Tides and currents
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- Speed, time & distance
- Log procedures
- Electronic navigation
- Inshore piloting
- Navigating in fog
- Navigating in heavy weather
Prerequisite: Basic navigation sailing skills as
learned in Live Aboard or Bareboat Cruising
Preparation courses
Certification: US SAILING Coastal Navigation |
Step 4 of COAST
Step 1 of Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making
Coastal Navigation
- Charts, chart types & corrections
- Aids to navigation
- Navigational inputs
- Piloting
- Deviation & variation
- Plotting set and drift
- Bearings
- Running fixes
- Lines of position
- Ranges
- Tides and currents
- Speed, time & distance
- Log procedures
- Electronic navigation
- Inshore piloting
- Navigating in fog
- Navigating in heavy weather
Cruise Planning
- Itinerary
- Customs issues
- Navigation considerations
- Reprovisioning options
- Fresh water sources and use
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Anchoring and Docking Practice
- Use of multiple arrangements in wind and current
- Close quarters anchoring
- Hand signals for docking & anchoring
- Windage considerations
- Spring and other dock line configurations
Boat Systems
- Impellers
- Battery use
- Daily systems checks
- Fresh water sources and use
Other
- Proper dinghy towing, storage and use
- Marlin spike seamanship and
- Handling lines
Prerequisite: Colgate Bareboat Cruising or
US SAILING Bareboat Cruising Certification,
gained in the Live Aboard or Bareboat
Cruising course; or equivalent sailing skills
Certifications: COLGATE Advanced Catamaran Live
Aboard Navigation Course, US SAILING Coastal Navigation
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Step 5 of COAST
Step 2 of Fast Track to Coastal Passage Making
- Vessel inspection for passages
- Passage inventory needed
- Passage planning
- Safety and emergency equipment
- Emergency procedures
- Sail inventories for passages
- Leadership underway
- Open water seamanship
- Use of GPS for passage making
- VHF radio operation
- Rules of the road
- Proper use of ship's log
- Explanation of 406 EPIRB
- Simulated deployment of life raft tide and current tables
- Light list and coast pilot
- Navigation underway including running fixes, way points, danger bearings
- Watch systems
- Heavy weather procedures
- Safety harness and jacklines
- Proper use of boom preventer
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- Crew overboard recovery at sea
- Cooking underway
- How to stow food and secure galley
- Conservation underway
- Towing or stowing dinghy underway
- Anchoring techniques
- Anchor watches
- Weather forecasting and strategy
- Impact of high and low pressure systems
- Making landfalls
- Navigating inlets, shoals and bars
- Lee shores
- Stopping leaks and holes underway
Prerequisite: If certification is desired,
all lower levels of US SAILING certification
(Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, Bareboat Cruising,
Coastal Navigation) required; or equivalent sailing skills if certification is not sought.
Certification: US SAILING Passage Making
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Step 1 of Fast Track to Performance Racing
- Advanced sail trim
- Spinnaker set, jibe, douse and control
- Jibe angles
- Sail and mast shape and control
- Squall management
- Review of reefing techniques
- Emergency procedures if aground
- Handling shroud, stay or mast loss
- Anchoring and docking
- Mooring pick-up
- Practical navigation
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- Velocity made good
- Sailing in current, use of ranges
- Collision avoidance
- Bearings
- Distress signals
- Crew overboard drills
Prerequisite: COLGATE Day Sailing Certification
Or US SAILING Basic Keelboat certification;
or equivalent sailing experience
Certification: COLGATE Performance Sailing |
Step 2 of Fast Track to Performance Racing
- Starting tactics
- Sail shape
- Stalling and accelerating
- Upwind, downwind tactics
- Racing strategy
- Covering and breaking cover
- Racing rules
- Proper sail trim on all points of sail
- Boat speed and tuning
- Spinnaker techniques
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- Finishing tactics
- Weather and wind shifts
- Rounding marks
- Teamwork and preparation
Prerequisite: Performance Sailing
COLGATE/OFFSHORE certification or
equivalent sailing skills
Certification: COLGATE Performance Racing |
Step 1 of Fast Track to Offshore Passage Making
- Celestial navigation terminology and theory
- Use of the Nautical Almanac and HO 249 Sight Reduction Tables
- Sextant operation and maintenance
- Universal Plotting Sheet
- Obtain altitudes of sun, moon and stars
- Sight Reduction Tables to determine latitude and longitude
- Transfer Universal Plotting Sheet fix to a nautical chart
- Plot running fixes between two celestial sightings
- Calculate time for meridian passage
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- Calculate latitude from observed meridian altitude of sun
- Obtain latitude by Polaris sight
- Calculate time of sunrise, sunset, civil twilight
- Calculate altitude and azimuth of bodies for twilight sights
- Apply necessary corrections to sextant altitude
Prerequisite: Coastal Navigation Certification or equivalent sailing experience
Certification: US SAILING Celestial Navigation
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Step 2 of Fast Track to Offshore Passage Making
- General plan for 600 mile ocean passage
- Provisioning and galley duty plan
- Comprehensive check of vessel, rig, equipment
- Watch schedule and duty roster
- Determine long range weather forecast
- Celestial navigation techniques
- Ship’s log entries in timely fashion
- SSB radio use
- Helmsman skill review and practice
- Safety on deck, jacklines, sail changing, avoiding bight of lines, leeward of boom
- Safety below, storage for knockdowns, galley spills
- Heavy weather sailing, actual or simulated
- Reefing, drogues, sea anchors, storm sails
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- Crew overboard recovery systems: Quick Stop, LifeSling, Quick Turn
- Practice crew overboard recovery in daylight, night and adverse conditions
- Simulate life raft deployment
- Plan for simulated fire, water intake, dismasting or other disaster
- Simulate plan for a medical emergency
Prerequisite: If certification is desired,
all lower levels of US SAILING certification required
(Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, Bareboat Cruising,
Coastal Navigation, Coastal Passage Making, Celestial Navagation); If certification not sought, must have equivalent sailing skills
Certification: US SAILING Offshore Passage Making |
to get a quote or make a reservation to improve your sailing skills today!
Or call 888-454-7015 to talk to one of our friendly sailing advisors.