Virgin Island Sailing School’s Level 1 curriculum consists of the following three American Sailing Association (ASA) certified courses, taught over a 7-day, 6-night period. Typically, check-in is at 2pm local time on Saturday, check-out is at 2pm the following Friday… though times and days are highly flexible.

ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising

Prerequisites: Basic Keelboat Sailing (ASA101) certification
Description: Demonstrated 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. Knowledge of cruising sailboat terminology, basic boat systems, auxiliary engine operation, docking procedures, intermediate sail trim, navigation rules, basic coastal navigation, anchoring, weather forecast interpretation, safety and seamanship.

ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising

Prerequisites: Basic Keelboat Sailing (ASA101) and Basic Coastal Cruising (ASA103) certifications.
Description: Demonstrated ability to skipper a sloop-rigged, auxiliary powered keelboat (or catamaran, if course is conducted on such) of approximately 30 to 45 feet in length during a multi-day cruise upon inland or coastal waters in moderate to heavy winds (up to 30 knots) and sea conditions. Course is conducted as a live-aboard cruise of at least 48 hours. Knowledge of provisioning, galley operations, boat systems, auxiliary engine operation, routine maintenance procedures, advanced sail trim, coastal navigation including basic chart plotting and GPS operation, multiple-anchor mooring, docking, health & safety, emergency operations, weather interpretation, and dinghy/tender operation.

ASA 114 Cruising Catamaran

Prerequisites: Basic Keelboat (101) and Basic Coastal Cruising (103). The Bareboat Charter Standard (104) is also a prerequisite and can be attained either by itself prior to BBC Multihull (114) or in conjunction with BBC Multihull (114). In either case, all material in both standards (104 & 114) must be taught and tested before 114 can be awarded.
Description: An advanced cruising standard for individuals with cruising experience. The individual can act as skipper and crew of a 30-50 foot multihull sailboat by day in coastal waters. The standard includes those skills unique to a 30-50 foot multihull.

ADDITIONAL COURSE

For those who wish to add to the Level 2 curriculum, we offer the following one- to two-day extension course (subject to availability.)

ASA 105 Coastal Navigation

Prerequisites: None
Description: Able to demonstrate the navigational theory required to safely navigate a sailing vessel in coastal or inland waters. There is no Sailing Skills part to this Standard and practical application of this sailing knowledge is found in the Advanced Coastal Cruising Standard.

Accelerated courses can be arranged depending on class size and experience.