Adult Classes

Our Basic Keelboat series is a US Sailing certified class. Upon successful completion of the class you get the official US Sailing BK sticker in your log book. During the first weekend students will work on building a solid foundation of sailing techniques. They will learn water safety, sailing terminology, sail trim, boat handling, and will get an introduction to the physics of sailing. Classroom time is devoted to understanding how a sailboat is propelled upwind. Other classroom topics include terminology, points of sail, and efficient sailing. Our goal is to get you out on the water as soon as possible.

Our keelboat courses are 4 days over 2 weekends. Each weekend is a Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The weekend courses (ex. BK-Wkend  1 or BK- Wkend 2) are sold independently to provide as much flexibility as possible. Go to the schedule and choose and pay for each weekend part of the course to fit your schedule. We recommend you schedule as closely together as possible.

Saturday and Sunday
10AM–4PM
Weekend 1 – $299
Weekend 2 – $300

Building on the US Sailing Basic Keelboat course, participants will review all aspects of their Basic Keelboat skills while furthering their sailing knowledge in the areas of docking under sail, anchoring, knot tying and advance sail trim, boat handling, heavy air sailing, and seamanship. Weekend One is a prerequisite for Advanced Keelboat Weekend Two.

Saturday and Sunday
10AM-4PM
Weekend 1 – $299
Weekend 2 – $300

Students become proficient in early identification of strong wind conditions and proactive in applying the techniques of de-powering a boat for those conditions. Students will sail, assign crew positions, give safety briefing, sail the boat safely off the dock at the start of the day and back at the end of the day.

Cost: $150

Whether you are looking for practice time between classes or need to brush up on specific skills, these self-guided skills days are a great opportunity to practice with someone of equal experience and get out on the water. Students will choose their focus and receive the appropriate skill checkoff sheets before heading out on the water.

Cost: J24 $60 per session  Dinghy $40 per session

Three different skill day focus options:

Advanced Sailing
Practice maintaining points of sail, tacking, jibing, managing speed, heaving-to and reefing.
Docking
Practice sailing off and on the dock under a variety of conditions.
Crew Overboard
Practice performing the Figure 8 and Quick Stop maneuvers. Participants will take turns skippering the boat.
Skipper’s Duties
Get the boat ready to sail, assign crew positions, give safety briefing, sail the boat safely off the dock at the start of the day and back at the end of the day.

Required: Basic Keelboat certification for J24 or Intermedation Dinghy Rating or the equivalent. Sailing experince within the last year may also be required.

Limitations:

• PM time slot: sailors must be able to control the boat under higher afternoon winds.
• The boat must have 2-5 persons aboard unless using two person dinghy.
• Navigation is limited to Clipper Cove.

Sailing in a dinghy is fast, fun, and physical! 

Beginner Adult Dinghy 

The Beginner Dinghy course is designed to teach small boat handling to new, beginner sailors on the RS Venture. Our three-to-one student-to-instructor ratio provides you with ample time on the helm with our certified instructor in the boat. This progression course teaches; water safety, terminology, knots, rigging, sail adjustment, docking, steering a course, person in the water drills, rules of the road, and capsize/recovery drills.  

This is a 4-day course held over two weekends of your choice and is taught on the RS Venture. This is a physically demanding course for beginner sailors. 

Sign up for both Weekend 1 & 2 at the same time. We highly recommend that students sign up for consecutive weekends or as close as possible to get the most out of your experience. Skills taught are progressive in nature and take time to master. Practice makes perfect when learning to sail!

Skills will be self-assessed then signed off by our Certified Sailing Instructor. You will receive the US Sailing Small Boat Sailor Certification Record Book, “The Little Red Book”, to keep track of student progress.  

Saturday and Sunday
10AM-4PM
$599 4-day Course

Intermediate Adult Dinghy 

The Intermediate Dinghy course is tailored to student skill level and objectives. At this stage our Instructor moves into a coach boat as students continue to develop their skills such as;  rigging, sail trim, docking, steering a course, capsize/recovery drills, seamanship.

The Intermediate course will also focus on:

• Navigation and Emergency Procedures
• Current / Wind Effects and introduction to the physics of sailing
• Proper sail/boat trim and hiking technique
• Course rounding and roll tacking
• Teamwork and crew dynamics

This course may continue on RS Ventures or move to Vanguard 15’s depending on student objectives and skill levels. Students will self-assess upon registering and we will tailor the class to meet the needs/objectives of the students.  This is a very physical 2-day course. 

Saturday and Sunday
10AM-4PM
$250 2-day Course 

Dinghy Skills Day – Self Guided Practice – See Skills Days

Advanced Clinics and Rentals

Advanced dinghy clinics are held once a month for those interested in Laser sailing, racing skills development, and spinnaker sailing. More info and schedule of these clinics to come. If you are interested in a one day clinic please call our office for more details 415-421-2225. Successful passing of our Intermediate Course or a Checkout is all you need to rent from us. Please visit our rental page for more information.

Sign up link for the V15 races. Must have your own boat or ask about a charter (this is not a class).
Previous sailing skills required, come down and meet the fleet.

For those that have extensive prior sailing experience and/or already have the equivalent sailing qualifications TISC offers a one day 3 – 4 hour checkout. Please carefully review the checkout sheet above and verify that you are confident in all the required maneuvers and concepts. **If you have the equivalent of one or our classes, you have the option to use the checkout as a placement tool to test out of the pre-req for a class.