Your sailing career starts here! If you are a beginner (or have some sailing experience but little formal training), you should enroll in Basic Sailing. This course will be the foundation of all your future sailing knowledge.
Basic Sailing will teach you to sail a boat in light to moderate wind conditions under the supervision of an instructor. With these new skills, you can be an active crew on any boat.
Basic Sailing teaches:
- Anatomy of a sailboat
- Points of sail
- Physics of sailing
- Rules of the road
- Knots
- Proper sailing commands
- Tacking & jibing
- Sailing on all points of sail
- Sailing by the lee
- Crew overboard maneuver
During Basic Sailing, you will challenge the American Sailing Association standard for Basic Sailing. This involves demonstrating sailing skills to your instructor and completing a multiple choice test of knowledge. Then the American Sailing Association will issue you the “101” certification seal for your log book.
Basic Sailing is your important first step into the world of sailing. After you finish the course, you will be ready for more adventures like joining Manhattan Yacht Club, signing up for one of our incredible sailing vacations, or going to the next level with Basic Coastal Cruising, Intro to Racing, and Bareboat Chartering.
Boats & # of Students – We teach on J/24 sailboats which are the most popular one-design keelboats in the world. The J/24 is the sailing equivalent of a Porsche Roadster. It’s fast and sporty and has a great “feel.” It’s a great boat for learning. When you come up against similar sized boats in the harbor, you will also be faster!
We keep our student to instructor ratio at 4 to 1. Sailing is a social sport and you want to sail as a group. More hands make rigging the boat and hoisting the sails boat easier. And this ratio ensures everyone gets enough practice time for each maneuver, plus gets to watch others as they practice commands like “Ready About” & “Hard to Lee!”
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Course Schedule – Basic Sailing is offered in 3 different schedules. These are:
One Weekend Course – Saturday & Sunday over one weekend from 10 am to 6 pm.
Two Weekend Course – Select either Saturday or Sunday and then come over two consecutive weekends from 10 am to 6 pm.
Weekday Course – Select either Monday & Tuesday or Thursday & Friday, both from 10 am to 6 pm.
All of these courses are the same except for the days and time.
See the full course schedule at the bottom of this page. You can click on any course number to see how many people have already signed up and how many spots are still available.
We spend almost the entire course outdoors and on the boats. We promise not to lock you up in a classroom. Manhattan Sailing School stands for outdoors and hands-on action. If you wish, you can also do some pre-course preparation. Once you register, we will send you links to some course materials. We will also send you some links to our educational videos so you are more prepared when you arrive at the docks.
Locations – We teach in New York Harbor and the Caribbean. In summer, you will be sailing with us in front of the Statue of Liberty and skyline of Manhattan. Bring your camera for some super-cool pictures.
Our main headquarters is in Jersey City. And to make it easy for students to reach us, we have 2 meet-up locations where students connect with their instructors.
Jersey City MEET UP – This is our headquarters and home of the Manhattan Yacht Club, the largest sailing organization in New York Harbor. Our fleet is based at Liberty Harbor Marina. We have beautiful decks overlooking the water, plus picnic tables, grass, flagpoles, games, tents, BBQs & a sailing atmosphere where you can relax with new friends before and after sailing.
Manhattan MEET UP – Our second meet-up location is in Lower Manhattan at the Oculus. This is where you meet one of our instructors who will escort you across the river on the PATH where you will discover huge marinas filled with sailboats. This is NY Harbor’s sailing capital! It’s an easy and short 8 minute walk from the PATH station to the Manhattan Yacht Club.
In winter, we teach in the Caribbean. This is where you can enroll in higher level courses such as Basic Coastal Cruising, Bareboat Chartering and Catamaran Chartering.
Tuition & Discounts – Tuition for Basic Sailing is $690. This includes all your course materials, text and log book, plus certification to the American Sailing Association Basic Sailing Standard.
There are also group discounts of 5% for 2 people, 10% for 3, and 15% for 4.
Other costs which students incur are their own food and drinks during the course. Some students also buy merchandise like T-shirts, sweatshirts and caps while at the club.
If you need to reschedule a course, you can do so up until 2 weeks before the course for a rescheduling fee of $75 per person. You can also cancel a course up until 2 weeks before for a cancelation fee of $150. There is no rescheduling or cancelation allowed within the final two weeks.
Graduation Ceremony & Next Steps – On the last day of your course, you will participate in the “Medal Ceremony” where you will be presented the Basic Sailing medal. And then you will be invited to hang out extra at the yacht club to savor some of the sailing lifestyle. This is the time after sailing and instruction has ended and you sit back on a nice chair, hoist a cold drink and cheers to your experiences. Sailing is a very social sport and you will find that hanging out after sailing is one of the favorite and also best aspects
Also to celebrate your graduation, the Manhattan Yacht Club will be sending you 2 FREE tickets & drink coupons ($60 value) to visit the Honorable William Wall on a Tuesday evening. This is Manhattan Yacht Club’s floating clubhouse in the harbor which you would have seen while sailing around. Tuesdays are “Members Nights in the Harbor” where MYC members gather with their friends. Attending one of these events will help you celebrate your graduation and also allow you to meet some members of the club.
Money Back Guarantee – The head of the Manhattan Sailing School offers this guarantee:
“Hi, I’m Michael Fortenbaugh, Commodore of Manhattan Yacht Club. I love the sport of sailing. It has done so much for me and introduced me to so many great people. My goal is to make it possible for more people to discover sailing and get more involved in the sport.
“This is why I offer my personal guarantee – If for any reason you do not feel our Basic Sailing Course provides you with full value, just let me know and I will provide you with a refund.
“Thank you for selecting Manhattan Sailing School. I appreciate you putting your faith in me and our great instructors. We will try our best to do a great job and to share our love of sailing with you. We hope Basic Sailing becomes your first step on an a life-long sailing adventure.”
2025 Basic Sailing Course Schedule
Click on any course number to see how many people have already signed up and how many spots are still available.
One Weekend Courses
Saturday & Sunday- 10 am to 6 pm
#21 – August 31 & September 1, 2024
Two Weekend Courses (Saturdays)
Saturdays – 10 am to 6 pm
Two Weekend Courses (Sundays)
Sundays – 10 am to 6 pm
Weekday Courses
Monday & Tuesdays
9 am to 5 pm
Thursday & Fridays
9 am to 5 pm