American Sailing School – Classes at AYC

Austin Yacht Club offers courses taught by American Sailing certified instructors. Our programs use American Sailing materials, include a written exam, on-the-water practice, and competency standards, leading to official certification. Following the curriculum — 101: Basic Keelboat, 103: Coastal Cruising, 104: Bareboat Cruising — and gaining time on the water will prepare you to skipper your own charter boat in destinations like the British Virgin Islands. The 102: Keelboat 2 class focuses on sail trim and boat handling for speed and efficiency.

With over 35 years of experience, American Sailing is recognized worldwide, with 350+ schools and 536,000 certified sailors. At AYC, our instructors combine teaching expertise with decades of racing and sailing experience, ensuring high-quality instruction for every student.

ASA101

Basic Keelboat Sailing

Fee: $499 member and $599 non-member

Prerequisites: None
ASA101 gives you up to 18-hours of training most of which is on the water doing drills. Successful completion of the course leads to your Basic Keelboat Sailing Certification. You will learn to skipper a sloop-rigged keelboat of 20′ to 30′ in length by day in moderate winds (under 14 MPH) without supervision.

Class Details Register for ASA 101

ASA103

Coastal Cruising Certification

Fee: $545 member and $699 non-member

Prerequisites: around 30-hours of keelboat sailing after completing your ASA101 certification or 2-years of keelboat ownership.

Step up to a larger boat by learning to cruise safely in local and regional waters as both skipper and crew on an auxiliary diesel powered wheel sailboat of about 30 to 40 feet in length, in moderate winds and sea conditions.

Class Details Register for ASA 103

ASA104 / ASA114

Bareboat and Cruising Catamaran Certification

Prerequisites: ASA101 & ASA103

ASA104 / ASA114 is a blue water learning experience sailing in one of our Caribbean Flotillas.

International Proficiency Certification
Greece, Croatia, and many other European ports of call now require an International Proficiency Certificate. As an ASA104 certified sailor, you qualify for the issuance of an International Proficiency Certificate. All you have to do is provide your ASA104 certification and will ASA to handle the paperwork for a $49 administration fee.

Get on the Waiting List International Proficiency Certificate (IPC)

ASA105

Coastal Navigation Certification

Prerequisites: none

Learn practical navigation on inland and coastal waters, including chart reading, piloting, rules of the road, tides and currents, and more. Includes both echart and paper chart training. This course is a prerequisite for ASA 106, Advanced Coastal Cruising. This home self-study course prepares you to navigate safely and confidently in all conditions of visibility.

Fall Class Schedule Register for ASA105

ASA 107, ASA 120, ASA 119

Celestial, RADAR, Weather

These courses are available through the ASA. By special arrangement, because of the “one fathom social distancing” plan, Starpath has made their ASA-approved online courses available to all. All the courses allow students to study at their own pace and include opportunities to interact with instructors. At the end of the course all graduating students earn official ASA certifications.

Click to checkout these courses and sign up on the ASA website

ASA and Starpath Information, Registration