Annapolis Sailing school and others

[existentialsailor]

Anyone have any experience with this school?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks.

[Jeff_H]

Picking a sailing school somewhat depends on where you live (or want to take the course) and what you want to get out of the school. Annapolis Sailing School is one of the oldest schools that have continuously remained in business. Their program teaches the most very basic of skills. If you are reasonably bright you come out of their course with just enough skill to take a small boat out of the slip, sail around in moderate winds and then come back in. The knowledge gained is neither comprehensive or even detailed. You get a fair amount of on-the-water time but again a lot more time on the water would be better.

Of the basic sailing schools, (from talking to people who have attended both) Steve Colgate''s schools seem to provide a more complete basic course than does Annapolis Sailing School, uses better boats and teaching texts, and seems to use more experienced instructors.

Both courses can be augmented by the various Power Squadron courses. Power Squadron offers in-depth navigational and basic boating courses. They won''t teach you to sail but they provide gobs of important information of the kind that is necessary to operate a boat safely.

If you interested in a more in depth course on sail trim and boat handling, then I would suggest J-World''s course. They are more performance oriented than the other two courses but I believe that they are a little more expensive and require a longer time commitment.I have heard great things about J-World but I also have heard the comment that for the non-technically oriented J-World can be a little overwelming.

Womanship comes extremely highly recommended if you are a woman. (They do not take men)

Jeff

[owlmtn]

Pat (wife) and I took the J-world "Learn to Sail" Program 8 years ago in Key West. After research I found it was a a bit cheaper than most other courses including the Colgate course. In addition to price we spent more time on the water (about 28 hours) than the other courses. This is an intensive course, 5 days with classroom early and a full day on the water. J-world tries to comprise the crews by experience (or lack of it) Our crew had virtually zero experience and our first experience was sailing out of Key West harbor under sail alone. While J-world has a number of more technical courses geared to racers, this course is geared to the basics and will get you on the water with confidence. We were both quite pleased with the entire experience. Jim Lintereur

[SailorMitch]

Very early in my sailing days I took three of the advanced courses from Annapolis Sailing School. All were excellent, and I learned a lot. Check out their website at www.annapolissailing.com because they offer several types of introductory classes if that is what you''re after. I think you can find one to suit your needs, and you probably will have a blast doing it.

But yes, do check out the other schools mentioned. I also have heard good things about them.