CALL US 415-543-7333 or Contact Us

It's official, we now offer the lowest student to instructor ratio in the USA 2:1. Yes, we only have 2 students per boat now in the Basic Keelboat Sailing program and 3 on the Basic Coastal Cruising (we use the larger 27' sailboat).  Our prices have remained the same! Semi Private instruction is a best way to learn quickly and safely.

We have the youngest instructional fleet too. We us Andrews 21's for the Basic Keelboat classes. They are modern fast and very capable. We've replaced the Santa Cruz 27's with the venerable J/80. The 80 is fast, super well built and sports a gigantic cockpit! We work hard to keep sailing affordable and fun and with these new boats and small classes you will be amazed at just how fast you can become an excellent sailor!

Be sure to checkout our new YouTube Sailing Tutorial Page. We have worked are to produce a vast library of videos covering most aspects of our lesson programs and posted them to YouTube for you, your family & friends to access for FREE.  Lots of great reference material there!

Learn to sail! What else can we say? We know that almost every one has, at one time or another, wanted to try sailing; as a result, sailing has become one of the most popular sports - whether you're talking about sailing in San Francisco or around the world! Using guidelines established by the American Sailing Association, Spinnaker Sailing offers courses to students from all walks of life.

Our philosophy itself is a practical one...we realize our students sail with colleagues, friends and family - usually not proficient sailors - so we give our students the skills to teach their fellow sailors how to have fun, safely on the Bay. 90% of our instruction is on-the-water. The sooner you put theory into application, the sooner you grow comfortable with being at sea. You’ll be guided in a step by step, hands-on approach to sailing, striving towards a certificate of completion from the nationally recognized American Sailing Association.

Quick Reference on Becoming a Certified Sailor. 

You don’t need to know how to swim as we teach on keelboats that won’t tip over. You’ll wear a lifejacket when you’re on the boat too. While you might get a splash or two, you certainly won’t get wet.

Basic Keelboat is broken into two sections. Basic 1 and Basic 2. We do this because many folks come to us having sailed before on college teams, sailing on the family boat, etc. We always tell folks to look at the outlines for each course (click on the links below for outlines) and if you are 100% sure you know everything described for that class, perhaps you should call us and discuss possibly moving up to the next class.

Cost for both BK1 and BK2 is a total of $1245 ($1200 midweek) or you can take either class separately for $700 ($650 midweek). 

We have Basic 1 and 2 virtually every weekend and they do not need to be taken on concurrent weekends.

Basic Coastal Cruising costs $1295 ($1245 midweek) and is scheduled two consecutive weekends. That's the only way we can teach this 20 hour long class. We do offer a midweek, 3 day intensive class of 18 hours. 

If you want to be certified through the ASA (not everyone does, but we suggest it's a great idea) ASA requires that you join as a member for the first year. Cost is $65. To retain your certification, you do not need to renew that membership. Each written test costs $45. We suggest you read the book Sailing Fundamentals by Gary Jobson. This is available at many used book stores (25 years in publication now), on Amazon for $20 and at our bookshelf for $25 (plus tax). It's a great idea to buy an ASA logbook to record your sailing experiences plus this gives you a place to stick the certification sticker the ASA will send you. Personally, all the pros use small lined notebooks for logs but it's up to you. It's very important for you to log each and every sailing experience, whether you're crew or skipper. This builds credibility and proof of experience. 

As always, call us with questions! 415-543-7333
 

-* Certification costs are additional. ASA registration is $65 and each test is $45.

Ready to Sail?

At Spinnaker Sailing School in San Francisco, you'll be learning on sailboats carefully selected for sailing in the challenging conditions of the San Francisco Bay and Coastal Areas. All of our boats are well equipped with all the gear necessary to sail safely and comfortably on the Bay, along with all of the necessary safety and emergency equipment as required by the U.S. Coast Guard. Our full-time maintenance staff assures that the equipment is always in working condition.

There's a big difference between excellent sailors and excellent teachers...at Spinnaker Sailing we realize this, and know that patience and confidence are key to your success on the water. We take great care in the selection of our instructors to ensure not only the highest level of expertise, but also a relaxed, personable manner that's conducive to your learning.

As one of the oldest ASA sailing schools in existence, our programs and instructors have met the high standards of ASA certification, with many having exceeded the requirements by far! Our teaching staff includes ASA licensed Masters, Coast Guard Captains, and numerous international racers with years of experience.

Our Address is:

Spinnaker Sailing
40 Pier, Suite 4, South Beach Harbor
San Francisco, CA 94107
(Next to Oracle Ballpark)

Driving and Transit Directions

Phone: 415-543-7333
Email: staff@spinnaker-sailing.com

And just like at the end of a Marvel Movie, here's what's coming to you. This is the J/80, the boat we use for our Basic Coastal Cruising Class....fun eh?