Jeff Fairchild | Modern Sailing

Jeff Fairchild

Instructor

It is never too late to learn something new…it is never too late to learn to sail. Growing up, Jeff had very little exposure to sailing. On rare occasions he had the opportunity to sail on dinghies, but never learned how to sail on his own. In 2003, after retiring from a lifelong career in the restaurant industry, he and his wife, Barbie, moved to Inverness, just north of San Francisco where they currently run a vacation rental business.

In late 2006 on a beautiful Indian summer evening, he and Barbie were invited to go sailing on Tomales Bay. The owners of the boat made a quick pit-stop to use the bathroom at a seaside restaurant, suggesting that Jeff an Barbie "sail around until we get back." That experience provided the spark that has led to a love of sailing. After sailing into the sunset alone on this beautiful 36' Olsen, they turned to each other and agreed, "We have to learn to do this!"

Jeff and Barbie found Modern Sailing School & Club and signed up for lessons in early 2007. After taking the ASA 101/ASA 103 Combination Course with Stan Lander, they started looking for a boat. With the help of the MSC staff, they purchased their first boat and put her in MSC's charter fleet, allowing them to keep her in Sausalito and enjoy the pleasures of sailing in the bay. Later, they upgraded their first boat with Attitude Adjustment, now a popular boat in our Platinum Fleet.

In the following months and years, Jeff continued his sailing education and training with Modern Sailing. As a club member and boat owner, he joined the club racing team to sharpen his skills and continued to earn advanced ASA certifications. He received his US Coast Guard OUPV license in 2012 and completed his ASA instructors training in 2013. Jeff then became an instructor at Modern Sailing to pass along his love of this sport to those who were once in his shoes.

 

Curious about placing your yacht for charter in the Modern Sailing fleet? Learn more about the benefits boat owners like Jeff receive with Professional Yacht Management Services by MSC.

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Testimonials

  • Guy Robinson, Member

    I started sailing at Modern at the end of 2021 and threw myself into it, spending as much time out on the water as I could. I came to Modern with some flat water dinghy sailing experience and it was quite a transition learning to sail bigger boats in much tougher conditions. There was a lot to learn, but the Modern instructors, Club Skippers and fellow Modern sailors made learning fun and rewarding. My Modern instructors were clearly very experienced sailors and sailing with them was inspiring! I want to thank the maintenance crew and office staff for their dedication and hard work - you are the folks who make things work! There is a lot more to learn and I look forward to sailing with Modern for years to come.

    Guy Robinson
  • Emma & George Stubbs, Sausalito

    We just took our ASA 106 at a school in Rhode Island as we prepare for 6 months of cruising in the Caribbean. The class was great, but more than anything it made us really appreciate the quality of teaching and rigor at Modern Sailing. Even though we were the newest to sailing, the group seemed to think that we had the best fundamentals. We felt very well prepared and we see why Modern Sailing has the reputation it does.

  • John Clark

    Every aspect of Modern Sailing - training, syllabus, course materials, quality of the boats, quality of the instructors, and the very friendly and helpful staff - exceeded my expectations. Modern Sailing has a first class sailing program in an environment with challenging winds and currents. I look forward to coming back to charter a boat and certainly plan to continue my sailing training.

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Modern Sailing School & Club

Sausalito Location
2310 Marinship Way, Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

Berkeley Location
1 Spinnaker Way, Berkeley, CA 94710
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

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