ASA 101, Basic Keelboat Sailing (Cruising Boat) | Modern Sailing

ASA 101, Basic Keelboat Sailing (Cruising Boat)

2 consecutive weekends, Sat & Sun (9am - 3:30pm); or 4 consecutive weekdays (9am - 3:30pm)

Learn to Sail on San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay's famous wind, strong currents, and heavy shipping traffic offer sailors one of the most challenging and exciting sailing venues in the world. With the Bay Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, and Alcatraz in the background, learning to sail in ASA 101 will give you the experience and skills you need to enjoy sailing in a variety of conditions - with confidence. This American Sailing Association course provides the skills you'll need to enjoy active participation as crew in the operation of a sailboat. Learn sailing terminology and its applications, essential knots, points of sail, navigation rules, docking basics, and more. 

Your four days of hands-on training will be under the guidance of a US Coast Guard licensed and ASA certified sailing instructor. Courses consist of lecture and mostly hands-on training while sailing our Silver Fleet vessels (30 to 32 feet). 

Your official ASA logbook and Sailing Made Easy textbook are included with your purchase of this course and will be mailed to you. If you wish to pick up your books in person or if you sign up less than a week from the first day of your course, please contact our office. Optionally, you may purchase the Sailing Made Easy e-book directly from the ASA. Advance study of your textbook will enhance your success in this course.

Upon successful completion of ASA 101, you will be prepared for ASA 103, Basic Coastal Cruising and well on your way to becoming a skipper on San Francisco Bay and beyond.

There are three ways to sign up for this course - by phone (415) 331-8250, email, or by clicking the link below.

View Schedule & Sign Up | Bundle & Save - Special Packages 

Cost for Members: 
$1025
Cost for Non Members: 
$1260
Prerequisites: 
None
Students enjoying the Basic Keelboat Course (ASA 101) on San Francisco Bay

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  • Mike, Santa Rosa, California

    All of the courses and my instructors (JT and Stan) were extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. I found I was able to learn from their experiences beyond the scope of the courses, and look forward to future opportunities to do so. I would highly recommend Modern Sailing to anyone.

  • Steve Hood, Basic Coastal Cruising

    I would definitely recommend Modern Sailing to anyone who is interested in learning to sail the right way.

  • Salesforce (Ashley H.)

    Our team at Salesforce did the Corporate Regatta Team Building activity (August 2026). What a blast!! HIghly recommend for your next team activity. It's fun to be out on the water, but the skippers also did a great job of teaching us all the sailing basics. The race is set up well so that we all had a chance to try out different roles. We did it with 11 people across two boats but having more boats is also doable and would lead to even more competition.

  • Lucas Hendren

    Got my ASA 101 here, very professional and well run class.

  • Warren Leiden, Member

    I try to get out on the water every week: out the Gate, around Angel, up Raccoon - I love it all. After 18 years as a member of OCSC in Berkeley, I learned to sail the bigger boats at Modern by taking ASA 103 and 104. My ASA 104 instructor Dave Russell was terrific. Also, Captain Bill Moreland has been very generous in giving informal advice whenever I’ve asked him. Thanks to Bill, I no longer have any anxiety about docking!

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