Becoming ASA Certified is just the beginning…
We give you the knowledge and experience to be confident and safe on all your sailing adventures – whether you charter a boat from a local harbor, go on an exotic sailing vacation, or even buy your own boat.
Once you have achieved certification, practice, practice, practice! How your sailing ability will be evaluated depends on many things; when, where, and to what level you become ASA certified, and how much you have sailed since your certification. Check out our Crew Membership program to gain the practice you need. However, being ASA certified will be yours for life as a testament to your ability and commitment from the day your ASA instructor signs your Logbook.
ASA Certifications
The American Sailing Association provides standards for progressive sailing certification programs, including: Basic Keelboat Sailing, Coastal Cruising, Bareboat Cruising, and Catamaran Cruising. In addition, ASA provides standards for a number of endorsements, which are intended to supplement the main certification series. These include Docking, Weather, Celestial, and Radar.
Listed below are the summaries of the ASA’s Certifications we conduct at our St Augustine base location. The detailed standards, including pre-requisites, for each certification may be found by clicking the title, they are also published in the Official Certification Logbook.
Each certification requires participants to fully satisfy both knowledge and skills standards, which will be verified through a written exam and an on-the-water practical exam. The standards are intended to be a minimum set of requirements.
Basic Keelboat
(ASA 101)
Learn to sail a boat of about 20 feet in length in light to moderate winds and sea conditions in familiar waters without supervision. No previous power, sail or navigation skill required for this basic keelboat course.
Coastal Cruising
(ASA 103)
Demonstrate the ability to skipper a sloop-rigged auxiliary powered (outboard or inboard engine) keelboat of approximately 25 to 35 feet length by day in moderate winds and sea conditions in coastal waters.
Bareboat Cruising
(ASA 104)
Skipper a sloop-rigged, auxiliary powered (inboard diesel engine) keelboat of approximately 30 to 50 feet in length while cruising in coastal waters in moderate to heavy winds and sea conditions.
Coastal Navigation
(ASA 105)
Demonstrate the theory required to safely navigate a sailing vessel in coastal or inland waters. There is no sailing skills part. A practical application of this sailing knowledge is found in the Adv Coastal Cruising.
Adv Coastal Cruising
(ASA 106)
Learn to safely act as skipper of a sailing vessel about 30 to 50 feet in length in coastal and inland waters, in any conditions. Stand a watch during a passage by night and demonstrate all of the skill elements in ASA 105.
Celestial Navigation
(ASA 107)
Learn the celestial navigation theory and practices for safe navigation of a sailing vessel in offshore waters. On-water celestial navigation skills are demonstrated in ASA 108
Catamaran Cruising
(ASA 114)
Learn to skipper an auxiliary-powered sailing cruising catamaran of approximately 30-45′ feet in length while cruising upon inland or coastal waterways.
Celestial Endorsement
(ASA 117)
Learn to apply basic celestial navigation theory and practice to determine latitude and longitude at sea using a sextant and Nautical Almanac.
Docking Endorsement
(ASA 118)
Learn basic docking skills for boats with single inboard engine. Discover the basic theory and hands-on techniques needed to dock and undock boats in an efficient manner.
ASA Combo Course
St Augustine Sailing invites all veterans and active military personnel to share our passion for sailing by offering a 10% discount on our ASA Sailing Courses.
American Sailing Association (ASA) established certification courses for qualified sailors are based on internationally recognized standards of boating safety and competence. By establishing national standards for sailing education, the ASA has provided a way for more people to take part in the sport safely, with the proper training and respect for their responsibilities as boaters, enduring that sailing will be safer, smarter, and more fun for everybody. St Augustine Sailing is pleased to be able to award ASA certificates to qualifying students for several levels from Basic Keelboat all the way to Offshore Passage-making.