SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

ASA vs. US Sailing

93K views 56 replies 36 participants last post by  eherlihy 
#1 ·
I will be pursuing certification next summer and have begun to look for near by schools. It appears that one can be certified by US Sailing or American Sailing Assoc. Does it matter? Does one offer a better program than the other? When it comes to chartering, which cert. is more widely recognized ( hope to charter on the Great Lakes, East Coast and Caribbean in the years to come).
Thanks in advance, Chip-
 
#27 · (Edited)
Mix and Match Certs.

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
 
#28 ·
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.
 
#30 ·
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.
 
#31 ·
Sailing Schools

I own a sailing school, an ASA school. Having been in the business (9 years)of a sailing school and bare boat charters the most important part is practicing the skills you have learned after the class is over. Look for a school that charters/rents the boats you have learned on. We rent the boats our students learn on; boats from 23 ft to 42 ft. That said; it is our risk to make sure you really know what you are doing. Look for schools that include free practice sails or rentals. Steer clear of the guy who quickly certifies you on his boat but won't allow you to sail her there after.
 
#32 ·
Wow, great information from all. I enjoyed the walk through the last ten years of opinions. I'm looking to get my instructor certifications and knowing that ASA has more schools and are oriented on cruising helps.

Does anyone know if dogs tend to get seasick when doing any significant sailing or are they better left at the dock (to yip at sailors as they make their approaches and latent postings)? I understand now that they punch like girls.
 
#33 ·
ASA will do much more than simply show you the basics, a affiliated schools can teach you everything you need to be a skilled and experienced sailor, including helping you earn your sailing certification. Through the combination of nonprofit organizations that have expanded affordable access to sailing resources and ASA's varied catalog of sailing classes, sailing is accessible to virtually everyone.
 
#34 ·
Even the school managers seem to admit that it takes more than a few days of training to truly create a sailor. Practice, practice can get you to more than just Carnegie Hall. Time on the water is a wonderful thing, though even that gets better with the occasional review and critique.
 
#36 ·
Reviving this thread again

This is actually quite useful. I've wanted to do this almost my entire life, and I start my first sailing course in a week and a half. I'm stoked!

I guess I could just say "bump" - Lol!
 
#37 ·
I teach at both an ASA sailing and US Sailing affiliate.

Emphasis with US Sailing is performance and safety.
Emphasis with ASA is practicality (what to do when...) and safety.
 
#38 ·
I teach at both an ASA sailing and US Sailing affiliate.

Emphasis with US Sailing is performance and safety.
Emphasis with ASA is practicality (what to do when...) and safety.
I have a question for you.

I started reading the ASA 103 textbook as I start my BCC class in a couple of weeks. The book course is based on a typical 33' cruiser, but my school will be using the same 25' Merit's with an outboard, that I sailed in my basic keel class. Even though they have 5 Catalina 27's in their club that seem more suited to the study material.

So how common is this? I know 25' is the minimum ASA standard for a BCC class, but after searching a few schools online, it seems many (or most?) use larger boats with inboard diesels or do I have the wrong impression?
 
#39 · (Edited)
I teach at an ASA school. We would find that unacceptable. The only keelboat course you teach with on a tiller and outboard engine is ASA 101.

We teach ASA 101 on the new ASA 22;

We teach 103/104/106 on a Beneteau 40

Seems like the school is ripping of their students.

QUOTE=pdxskipper;3496122]I have a question for you.

I started reading the ASA 103 textbook as I start my BCC class in a couple of weeks. The book course is based on a typical 33' cruiser, but my school will be using the same 25' Merit's with an outboard, that I sailed in my basic keel class. Even though they have 5 Catalina 27's in their club that seem more suited to the study material.

So how common is this? I know 25' is the minimum ASA standard for a BCC class, but after searching a few schools online, it seems many (or most?) use larger boats with inboard diesels or do I have the wrong impression?[/QUOTE]
 
#42 ·
Interesting posts all around, but I am going to say what was hinted at but not brought out concretely:
Sailing schools vary in quality. Schools tend to have good and bad instructors. One offshore school I went to had the best old captain I could ask for. Another had a young man who could not tell the shore from the ocean. Both were labeled as offshore instructors. One did outstanding, the other put his Bendy 39 on the beach not long after I was there.
Take home lesson is to research the school carefully before going, and listen to your heart. Be very careful of what they are selling. Look for transparency, and look for long term experience. One giveaway that I should of picked up is that the old captain taught military groups sailing.
I also believe that schools only get you started. They are an important place you can network quickly with other young sailors. Leave knowing you don't know a lot about sailing, but you have the experience to get out with other sailors and not be a burden.
30 years later, I still take a new guys and gals out. But I expect them to pull their weight. Often, the challenges in passage making overwhelms them. With a sailing school, at least they have an idea of what they are getting into.
 
#45 · (Edited)
There can be a significant advantage in taking US Sailing courses at a sailing club like Coconut Grove Sailing Club | A membership club on Miami's waterfront that encourages new members to use club boats and participate in club racing and regattas. It is possible to get significant low-cost experience on other club members boats. One enthusiastic lady has sailed on my boats in Florida, Bahamas, Trinidad, Grenada, Virgins and even did an English Channel crossing England to France and back. Several other club members have done off-shore passages of 5 to 25 days.

Phil
 
#48 · (Edited)
Im glad it worked out. I honestly dont see how they can sell an ASA 103 course that dosent qualify you to sail a catalina 27 without additional checkout and payment, but thats not my circus, not my monkeys, and since they will do your class on the C-27, then all is good.

The membership packages seem pretty decent too.

WRT south bay sailing, there are tales of people who have spent a lot of good times sailing and anchoring in that area: (prepare yourself for some seriously Jurassic era web content) CyberCruise Anchorages
 
#50 ·
Neither curriculum is "better" than the other; they're different. If my focus was on performance, I would take the US Sailing classes. They also seem to cater to younger sailors (tweens and teens). If my focus was on bareboat charters, or cruising, I would take ASA classes. This is not to say that ASA does not have courses that teach performance (they do), or that US Sailing has courses that focus on cruising (they do).

I would, however, be more focused on the focus and quality of the specific school rather than which sailing affiliation they use.

My personal opinion is that the "Fast Track" classes, which proport to take an inexperienced person, and make them capable of chartering a 43 to 50 foot monohull or catamaran IN A WEEK (2 days of Basic Keelboat, and 5 days of learning/living on a cruising boat) skips a lot of detail that would, and should, be covered in either the US Sailing or the ASA curriculum. These courses, however, seem to be growing in popularity, because everyone wants their certification in as short a time as possible. The equivalent US Sailing courses to the "Fast Track" courses are; Basic Keelboat - 3 days, Basic Cruising - 3 days, Bareboat Cruising - 3 days, for a total of 9 days. The ASA courses equivalent to the "Fast Track" courses would be: 101 - 3 days plus a ½ day practice session, 103 - 3 days plus a ½ day practice session, and 104 3-days, or a total of 10 days.
 
#52 · (Edited)
Thanks for an unbiased comment from someone who could be biased. Agreed about practice. Got my certification from ASA. Didn' sail for 2-1/2 years. Was smart enough in Nassau to hire a captain for 1/2 day to take us out and refamillarize us with the boat and equipment before we took off for the Exumas. Only complaint was they let us leave Palm Cay to late in the day. Did our first night sailing due to that which is a whole other story. Came with 30 yards 10 seconds of foundering the boat Allens Cay . Learned a lot that week. going back this year to learn some more:)
 
#56 ·
As the former owner of a professional sailing school I have FOUR important suggestions which will save you much time, money and angst:
1. Go to a quality school with a great reputation.
2. Learn in as small/responsive vessel that you can safely sail. DO NOT LEARN ON A 27 (or larger) boat. no wheel steering. Otherwise you will learn TASKS rather than FEEL.
3. Class size should be no more than 4 students of similar abilities.
4. DO NOT go for a fist full of certifications in a short period of time. Concentrate on BASIC SAILING since it represents more than 2/3 of the important skills you will build upon. Every subsequent course you take will be incremental advancements if you do this step properly.

While at their best, both ASA and USSA schools are very comparable. I found that US SAILING's standards are far more consistent, comprehensive and enforced than ASA (school certs, instructor training, verifiable standards and expectations). USSA is administered by an independent governing authority. ASA is commercially administered.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top