The ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising certification is the certification recommended for sailors who anticipate purchasing a sailboat. The ASA describes this certification as follows:

Able to skipper and navigate a sailing vessel of approximately 30 to 50 feet in length in coastal and inland waters, in any conditions day or night.

The key skill that they train you on hands-on is to take the sailboat in to port at night. I obtained this certification with the Bay Area Sailing School as a result of the 3-day, 2-night course which involved practical in a cutter-rigged keelboat and also a written exam.

The ASA 105 Coastal Navigation certification trains sailors on coastal navigation techniques using traditional nautical chart plotting methods.

I obtained this certification with the Bay Area Sailing School, following a 2-day classroom course and passing a written exam.

The ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising certification gets sailors proficient in sailing a 30-45 foot sloop-rigged, auxiliary-powered keelboat. This is the class of boat which has many on-board systems such as a galley (kitchen) with stove, oven and refrigerator, head (toilet & shower), as well as a freshwater tank. The certification also certifies a sailor to charter a boat from a chartering company, where the charter company does not provide any captain, skipper, or crew (This is referred to as “bareboat” chartering). Many chartering companies across the globe recognize the ASA 104 certification — or at least that is what the American Sailing Association would have you believe 🙂

I obtained this certification with the Bay Area Sailing School as part of a 3-day, 2-night “Combo” course which combined the ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising certification with the ASA 104 certification.

The ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising certification gets sailors proficient in sailing a 25-35 foot sloop-rigged, auxiliary-powered keelboat. I obtained the certification with the Bay Area Sailing School as part of a 3-day, 2-night “Combo” course which combined the ASA 103 certification with the ASA 104 Bareboat Cruising certification.

The ASA 101 Basic Keelboat Sailing certification provides experience skippering a 22-foot sloop-rigged keelboat.

The RYA Level 3 Better Sailing dinghy certification is a mostly optional course. At the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club where I took the course, a large part of the course is spent practicing a racing course. I am glad I took the course, as I picked up a few great sailing tricks during the races.

At the time I obtained this certification, the RYA Level 2 Basic Sailing dinghy certification was sufficient for sailors to start taking single-handed dinghy sail boats out on the water without an instructor at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. This certification was obtained at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club.

The RYA Level 1 Start Sailing certification is really just an introduction to Dinghy sailing. Most sailing clubs require the RYA Level 2 course before you are permitted to take out boats without an instructor. This certification was obtained in a 2-day course offered at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club.

The Community Boating organization based out of Boston, Massachusetts is an amazing group. When I was there in 2000, they were running a program offering free instructions and sailing to all youths 16 and under. For adults, you paid $50 for a coastal piloting course and after you passed, that $50 gave you the right to sail with no further charges for thee rest of the summer. You sail on the Boston River, which is just next to MIT where I spent my undergraduate years. Looks like now there is a small fee for the youth, but I’m sure it’s still a great deal.

It’s not an internationally recognized certification, but it was my first experience on a sailboat and I’m still sailing because of it. The Coastal Piloting certificate I obtained is below.