ASA vs. US Sailing

[joethecobbler]

I'm not sure who decided or what authority the dog speaks from when he does . At my anchorage when there is an annoying dog barking we keelhaul hima bit until he quits.
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Now that said, I must say that I too wondered the difference and "quality" of Us vs. ASA and the only difference I found that was apparent was the requirement of one to require their instructors be USCG captains. Please feel free to correct me as I am certainly no authority on the matter but AM interested in getting certified in each ! as I have been sailing for the past 30+ years and have only of late paid any attention to "instruction". I guess living and being raised on the water sailing and seamanship came as a natural and quite frankly is rather easy (see simple) There was always a love and interest but no real mistery !
I am however interested in getting my "Papers" as I would like to turn my lifestile into a vocation. What could be better than having someone pay me for doing what comes naturaly ? !!!
Currently studying for 100 ton Master USCG. My only regret is that I didn't think of it 20 years ago.

[nolatom]

Joe,

Good luck with that license. I got one a couple of decades ago. If you have the time, and the tonnage, you'll be okay.

Best of luck to you.

[seb5thman]

I appreciated the information from the ASA Executive Director. Good stuff. Thanks for taking the time to educate us on the two sailing associations. I'm sure you are busy and have more to do than put this site under a microscope to check out the date posts are entered. It's easy to criticize from a distance, behind the annominity of the pc, but the purpose of this site is to educate and share experiences with others. Too bad this turned from the positive experiences of a new sailor to apologizing for bad manners. Anybody that promotes proper "thread etiquette" and calls a professional sailor an idiot needs some "dog" obedience training.

[smackdaddy]

From observation, the only other slant I can offer here is that most of the USSA sailors I've run across tend to punch like girls. Hence, I'm thinking ASA in the spring.

PS - Dog, after researching some posts from 1987, I just saw that you came up through USSA. Hey - no offense, bud.

[svsugui]

Today is the 4th of December, and I was researching differences between asa and us sailing. and I was glad the post was revived. Some points will always be "live", should always be "live". I wonder who's the idiot.

Whoops, I have waited almost four years to write this. I may get yelled at and called names...

[jackdale]

No yelling or name calling. I am neither ASA or USSailing.

What matters is the quality of instruction.

BTW people ask the same question about NAUI and PADI for dive instruction. I am SSI (formerly NASDS) certified. No problem.

Jack

[dergon]

Just a bit more thread necromancy here.

mrs_dergon and I already have ASA 101/103/104/114 (that's Basic keelboat and bareboat charter + catamaran)....just enough to charter on vacation.

I would like to considering some of the more advanced courses.

Does it matter one bit if I now go over to a sailing school that uses USSA for its Coastal Nav., Coastal passage, celestial, etc?


Many of these courses are pre-reqs for the next. One USSA school will likely accept equivalent ASA courses as fulfilling prerequisites, yes?

Thanks

[HeartsContent]

Very interesting thread. It sounds like US Sailing or ASA course are pretty equivalent but I would be interested in the previous question of whether one program accepts the other program's equivalent courses as pre-requisites.

I am giving some thought to do one of the live aboard classes out of St. Petersburg, Florida.

[nicktoday]

Originally Posted by ASACN

Hey all,

I'm the Executive Director of the ASA, and wanted to throw in my 2 cents regarding ASA and US Sailing.

Certification, and the education and practice that goes with it, can be extremely valuable. It also evidences that you have achieved a given level of proficiency, which is helpful when chartering.

However, learning to sail and PRACTICING should be one's goal. Some people get certified and then don't go sailing. That's not the point. Certification means little if you learn in a week and don't get out on the water for a year or two. That's why diving facilities, for example, don't just ask "Are you PADI or NAUI certified," but "When is the last time you dove?"

ASA and US Sailing standards are nearly identical. Both systems have many excellent schools and instructors, and each system can claim "bragging rights" over the other in certain respects. US Sailing is the official amateur racing body for sailing in the US. ASA has more sailing schools in its network and was the first to introduce keelboat standards to the U.S. But the most important consideration is the quality of the particular school and instructor, not "which system is better."

I have to tell you that I found this thread from a search as I'm in the Tampa area and I'm trying to figure out what certification is better for me as it's a large investment and I wanted to ensure I was educated. To have someone that is a Executive Director respond to this thread with the classy answer you just gave speaks volumes to what I have found in this community so far.

I don't know which is better but at this point I'm going to continue to evaluate schools and instructors I connect with first - I just wanted to say thank you for your classy response.

[groggy]

I've sailed with people from another US Sailing school, people from ASA, and even from Cal sailing club. The skills and terminology seem _very_ standard - same commands, same theories.

The real difference was the general clearheadedness of the person.

I think that the cert agency matters much less than the specific school and its instructors and gear, and the attentiveness of the student.

If you have lots of choices, look up yelp, talk to anyone you know who's been through the schools, and check out the programs in person.

I am pretty lucky to have a number of great schools in my area, so choosing was a matter of too many great choices. I based my choice on reputation, location, and the boats used in the classes.

There were other choices with better reputations but less variety in boats (BK and BC taught on the same boats), lower cost but farther away, cheaper but less great sailing area. There were a lot of trade-offs and options. If I didnt like the first course I took I would have switched schools.

Really the only thing that didn't really matter to me was the cert agency. US sailing and ASA seem to be very similarly respected worldwide.