ASA 101, Basic Keelboat Sailing (Sportboat) | Modern Sailing

ASA 101, Basic Keelboat Sailing (Sportboat)

2 weekends, Sat & Sun (9am - 4:30pm)

San Francisco Bay's famous wind, strong currents, and heavy shipping traffic offers 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. Our Berkeley location offers this course on a 24-foot tiller-steered keelboat called a “J/24.”  

Your four days of hands-on training will be under the guidance of an experienced instructor who is US Coast Guard licensed and ASA certified. This course consists of some lecture and mostly hands-on training while sailing a J/24. This boat model is strong and sporty, and is in fact the most popular and prevalent one-design keelboat with a rich racing pedigree. The boat provides instant feedback to the helmsperson through its tiller steering (vs. wheel) and its low profile in the water. (In choppier waters, you may get wet!) The boat is fairly “manual” which means it's a process to rig it for the day's sailing, but also means you have many sail shaping and sizing options before departure or while underway. Class size is limited to three students.

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, Sportboat 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 (510) 831-1800, email, or by clicking the link below.

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

Cost for Members: 
$1335
Cost for Non Members: 
$1745
Prerequisites: 
None.

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  • Trudy Flores

    Captain Jeff Cathers is really cool. I had such a great time on the Farallones Day Trip. It was actually my very best day of 2020. Thank you so much for coordinating the trip.

  • John Kratochvil, Oregon

    I would like to compliment Stan Lander for his coaching, counseling and teaching Heavy Weather Offshore Sailing. Stan was very accommodating to all of the student's interests and shared his many years of insight on handling the boat in heavy seas. I would certainly recommend Stan and this course to sheltered waters sailors. My confidence in handling a boat of this size was certainly enhanced by the experience.

  • Lisa Butzer Wilde

    Thumbs up to (Club Skipper) Geoff (Love) and his wife Laura. I went on my first Club Sail on Sunday, January 18, 2026. They were terrific!

  • John Kipping

    The meeting room was quite adequate and the location most convenient, but the course outline and instruction were outstanding. Modern Sailing is fortunate to have such a well organized instructor in Mr. Stan Lander who teaches very well from a rich professional background. Mr. Lander was generous with his time and patiently in helping students who needed more attention or time in understanding various aspects of the curriculum.

  • 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.

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Modern Sailing School & Club

Sausalito Location
2310 Marinship Way, Sausalito
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

Berkeley Location
1 Spinnaker Way, Berkeley
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

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