instructors

"Youre not here to have fun. You're here to learn how to sail." -a quote attributed to one of our competitors' instructors, relayed to us by a student who said she wished she'd chosen us instead.

(Hindsight's harsh, isn't it?)

All the best boats, equipment, and curriculum won't do you much good without a great instructor. It's the instructor who brings it all together, and makes or breaks your sailing school experience. Our instructors teach because they enjoy doing it, and they're patient with students.

"If there was something left of 'excellent' they'd get it."
-Mo Kraushar, New York, NY, in response to our satisfaction survey. We ask students to rate their instructors thusly: excellent good fair poor Mo's a graduate of Start Sailing.

"I thought the instructors were great - both Jim in the classroom and John on the water. Very patient, wonderful about answering questions, very enthusiastic, etc."
-Stephanie Azzarone, Manhattan. Stephanie is a graduate of Start Sailing.

At New York Sailing Center & YC, you'll NEVER sail with an instructor who isn't certified by either ASA or US Sailing. These are the two organizations in the United States that evaluate and certify potential sailing instructors. Simply put, your instructor should be certified by either or both. Don't accept anything less.

BEWARE! Many schools that claim to use only certified instructors regularly fail to. How do you know if the instructor you're getting is certified? Ask for credentials! Instructors are issued the same log books and seals that you earn as a student, only with seals reflecting instructor status. They also get wallet-sized cards. Another way to verify is to get the name of the instructor and check with ASA or US Sailing. Call or e-mail them to verify your instructors credentials if their log book wasn't handy. (The school director, for one, is a card-carrying Card!)

US Sailing log book page:
Jim Pinno.

US Sailing's log books have identical blank certification sections which are filled in as certifications are achieved. Instructor seals are denoted by the actual word printed on the bottom.

US Sailing also issues framable certificates.

If your instructor can't produce a valid card or a log book, a phone call
might be in order to ensure you're not getting scammed!

more about ASA & US Sailing

Other schools claim to put their instructors through rigorous "in-house" training and certification before allowing them to teach.

At New York Sailing Center YC, our instructors are not only independently certified, they're highly sought after. Most already have excellent sailing instruction credentials from teaching at other schools. They are in strong demand by a number of schools, and sometimes do teach for them as well.

But only we enjoy
"most favored school"
status with them!

They regard our program as best, and simply prefer teaching for us. It's constant testimony to our combination of teaching methods, boats and location that can't be found at any other school, at any price.

And of course, in the rare instances we consider bringing bright new instructor candidates on staff, we don't let them in a classroom or on a boat with you until they have demonstrated relevant prior teaching experience and an excellent sailing background, in addition to earning their certification from either ASA or US Sailing. They must also demonstrate their ability to us in mock classroom and on-water sessions, complete with ''students."