[MarkSF]

I'm a newbie trying to find a beginner sailing class.

So far I found:

Shoreline Aquatic Center, in Shoreline Park, Mountain View:
Cost of a 2-weekend class (Level I + II): $400
US Sailing or ASA certification upon completion
Adult & Teen Classes: Sailing

Spinnaker Sailing of Redwood City:
Cost of a 2-weekend class (Basic Keelboat): $695
ASA certification upon completion
Spinnaker Sailing Basic Level Sailing Lessons

Does anyone know the pros and cons of each place?

Any information is appreciated

I've done classes at both schools.

The shoreline aquatic centre is in a small lake, and tuition will be in dinghies, probably Catalina 14.2s. This would be good preparation for future dinghy sailing in lakes, or as a pre-cursor to doing keelboat classes (at Spinnaker!?). The ASA certification is probably Basic Small Boat Sailing, ASA110.

Spinnaker is in Redwood Creek, which has access to the bay, and you will sail keelboats. This would be excellent preparation for more keelboat sailing in SF Bay. The first certification would be Basic Keelboat, ASA101.

So I do not see it as an either/or choice. Many people believe that starting in small dinghies is a great way to learn the basics of sailing. Then you can move up to keelboats. But this is by no means essential, many people start with keelboats and sail just fine.

At Shoreline you could do some dinghy racing and if you join Spinnaker sailing as a member, you can do various racing and events on keelboats. If you do 103 you can charter, and they have a membership level where day charters are free. This is a good deal, if you want to get experience of skippering a keelboat. In one year I got about 200 hours in as skipper and I can't think of a more economical way to do that.

I guess the question is what do you see yourself doing in a few years. Crewing? Sailing a dinghy? Trailerable or bigger keelboat of your own?

I was totally happy with both outfits, btw.

 

[MarkSF]

If you join Spinnaker at the higher levels you get a pretty good deal on free day charters. I joined for a year and tried the Cal 25s, Merits and C27s, maybe twice a month on average, prior to buying my own boat. If I had just remained a member, I would be much less poor

I had Bob for 101 and Steve for 103 and they are both very good teachers.