LEARN TO SAIL

Basic Sailing  

Our Basic Sailing course consists of classroom instruction in conjunction with hands-on training using the club’s 19' Flying Scots. There are four nights of classroom training and six on-the-water sessions. The goals of the SCOW course are not only to teach the fundamentals of sailing but also to prepare students to take and pass SCOW’s Flying Scot skipper examinations and thus become qualified to take out the club’s boats on their own. The Flying Scots used in the course are the same boats that SCOW members use to race on Wednesday nights during the season and that are used for Thursday night social sails. Once SCOW members earn their Flying Scot skippership they may reserve these boats online for SCOW events or for personal use.

Please see below for 2023 Basic Sailing training dates. Water classes normally run 4 hours with start times at 8am, 10am and noon. We make an effort to schedule students in accordance with their preferences. If you are interested in signing up please monitor your email inbox for announcements about how to sign up.  You may need a registration code to enroll in a class.  After several folks who have been waitlisted in prior years are offered training slots, students will be selected on a first come first served basis. 

Makeup dates are tentative and depend upon weather, as well as student and instructor availability.  Generally they are only used for rescheduling classes that are canceled due to inclement weather, not for classes missed due to other reasons.

Cruising Sailing

The Cruising Sailing course is taught on the club’s three 25' Catalina Cruisers.  The main purpose of the course is to familiarize students with the three different club boats, as well as SCOW’s policies and procedures regarding the cruisers, so that they are prepared to take and pass the club’s comprehensive cruiser skipper written and water examinations.  Once SCOW members become Cruiser Skippers they may reserve the boats online for personal use.  SCOW cruiser training is focused on the particulars of SCOW’s three cruisers and relevant local sailing knowledge and requires that a student already has significant prior sailing knowledge and experience, such as at least a year as a SCOW Flying Scot skipper or relevant keel boat sailing experience elsewhere. The course includes two land classes, three days of on-the-water hands-on-training, and one evening of night sailing.  The course is typically followed by some tutoring to practice for the water checkout exam.     

Please see below for dates and the specific steps to take if you are interested in enrolling.  If you are interested in signing up please notify the Training Director as soon as possible by email via training@scow.org. You will need a registration code to enroll in a class.  If interest exceeds training capacity students will be selected by a random process. 

Makeup dates are tentative and depend upon weather, as well as student and instructor availability.  Generally they are only used for rescheduling classes that are canceled due to inclement weather, not for classes missed due to other reasons.

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Capsize Training

Our Capsize training is taught on our 19' Flying Scots, sometimes with the help of our 25' cruisers. Members learn how to capsize and how to right a capsized Flying Scot. The training is conducted on the water during a morning and afternoon.