American Sailing Certification

The American Sailing Association (ASA) was created by experts from the marine industry to establish skill and knowledge Standards for the safe and efficient operation of today's sophisticated sailboats. Recently rebranded as American Sailing, the organization established seven levels of expertise for operation of large cruising sailboats, from Basic Sailing through Offshore Passagemaking, and defined the basic skills and knowledge required at each level. This forms a logical progression for optimal teaching and learning of the many subjects required for operation of large cruising sailboats. American Sailing publishes the training manuals and examinations needed to support these Standards and manages certification programs for students and instructors.

 

The Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship is an American Sailing Teaching and Certification Facility for all seven levels of expertise from ASA101 Basic Sailing through ASA108 Offshore Passagemaking. We offer training courses for all levels of certification; refer to our Schedule of Courses. 

 

The ASA101 level certification may be challenged by participation in our ASA103 course at the published price plus successful completion of the ASA101 written exam and practical skills demonstration. The  fee for this ASA101 challenge is $300 plus $39 for the first year of ASA Membership. 

 

The ASA105 and ASA107 levels may be challenged for a fee of $250 each. 

 

In addition to these “ladder” classes that take the student from beginner to offshore sailor, American Sailing offers a collection of endorsement certifications, which explore additional skills in more detail.  While Maryland School does not teach all of these courses, we do offer

 

• ASA118 - Docking.  We are one of the few schools who teach this as a full, two day exercise.

• ASA120 - RADAR.  We offer this as an in-person online course, once a year, in conjunction with our Coastal and Celestial Navigation courses.