Our courses are generally offered Friday through Sunday, from April through October depending on the weather. These are three-day courses.

We do offer Individual and Couples classes in a two-day format on Tuesday-Wednesdays.

Our ASA 110 Small Boat Sailing classes are offered in a group setting during the month of July on a Tuesday-Wednesday and Saturday-Sunday basis. Other times they are by appointment. ASA 110 is also a two-day course

We offer the following courses from the American Sailing Association:

• ASA 101 Basic Keelboat Sailing (every weekend April through October)
• ASA 103 Basic Coastal Cruising  (the second or third weekend of each month April through October)
• ASA  104 Bareboat Cruising  (the last weekend of April, May, June, September, October)
• ASA 105 Coastal Navigation (November, December, February, March)
• ASA 110 Basic Small Boat Sailing (July and by appointment) 
• ASA 111 Sailing Review (by appointment)

The core ASA courses of ASA 101, ASA 103, and ASA 104 will enable you to progress from:

1. a beginning sailor,
2. to one who can safely and competently cruise along the U.S. coastal areas,
3. to one who can skipper their own bareboat charter anywhere around the world.   

 ASA 110 Small Boat Sailing is ideal for younger sailors and those who simply love small, fast saiboats.  It teaches you many of the same skills as ASA 101.

Your registration fee for our courses ensures you to the following:

• High Quality instruction from experienced sailors
• Your textbook and logbook (ASA 101 and ASA 110)
• Certification testing
• Payment of all certification fees to ASA

Your registration fee does not entitle you to an ASA certification.   You earn your certification by scoring 80 or above on your course examination and by demonstrating to your instructor the sailing skills set forth for that ASA course set forth in your logbook.

SailNashville ensures you have the proper classwork instruction and on-the-water training to enable you to earn your ASA certification.

Not with SailNashville. 

Sailing is a skill, and like any other skill it requires practice. 

There is a significant amount of material to cover in each class. It is difficult to effectively absorb too much material in too short a period of time. ASA recommends at least 24 hours of sailing time between ASA 101 and ASA 103. 

Our experience shows us you will learn best if you take your courses one step at a time and build your sailing skills in between. 

Not a problem. Our Basic Keelboat Sailing course is designed for those with no or little experience on a sailboat. 

You will learn the fundamentals of sailing correctly from the beginning.

Our class schedule is from 9:00am to 5:00pm over three consecutive days. Most of our courses are scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But we will schedule weekday classes if we have sufficient students.

Approximately 40% of our time will be spent in the classroom learning the concepts of sailing, the rest of our time will be out on the water practicing the skills you are learning.

On the third day you will take a 100-question exam in the afternoon. Depending on the time required for the exam, we may finish early.

We do. These can be taught in two-days, usually Tuesday-Wednesdays.

We also offer classes for couples, which are also offered in two-days, also Tuesday-Wednesdays. 

Yes. 

We are glad to teach your entire family if you desire. We can take up to four students in our courses, at least one must be a parent. 

Our teaching platform for the introductory ASA 101 Sailing Made Easy course is the Catalina 22 Sport.  The Catalina 22 Sport is one of the most popular sailboats ever produced.     The 22 Sport is a very stable, comfortable, easy-to-sail keelboat.  We currently have two new Catalina 22s, hull #15,792 and #15,802.

For our ASA 103 course we use a new Catalina 275 with an inboard auxiliary engine.

We offer our ASA 104 course in a Beneteau 32s5.

For our ASA 110 course we use new Catalina 16.5 and 12.5 dinghies.

Your safety is our first concern. We do not sail in heavy rain or when there is lightning in the area.

Before each class day we will check the weather and notify you if we need to adjust our schedule for the day. 

While we try to balance classroom time with on-the-water exercises each day, a rainy day may require us to stay inside one day, then make-up the sailing time the next.

SailNashville reserves the right to cancel or delay courses due to weather conditions and staff or equipment issues. If a class is canceled by SailNashville , arrangements will be made to make up the class or give full-course credits to be used by the student at a later date.

Our courses are not strenuous, only requiring moderate physical activity. But you will need to be able to move about the sailboat as part of our training exercises.

If you have special needs, please feel free to contact us about them. We will make every effort to accommodate you.

No.

But we will be glad to recommend someone who does.

Most importantly bring a desire to have fun!

A Desire to Learn:   READ your textbook BEFORE the class!

Your Sailing Clothes:  You should dress for the temperature. Wear comfortable fitting clothing to protect you from the sun and the wind.  Long sleeve shirts with SPF ratings work great.  No swim suits or tight fitting clothing unless you are taking ASA 110.  You may also want to bring a light windbreaker or rain jacket if rain is in the forecast.

Your Head:  You will want a hat, ball cap, or sun visor.  You will also want sunglasses with safety straps.  Bring plenty of sunscreen and lip balm.  And you may also want a pair of sailing gloves.

Your Feet:  Wear non-skid deck shoes or tennis shoes with a light-colored sole—closed-toe, no saddles or flip-flops.

Your Personal Safety Device:  If you have a PFD, you may use it.  It must be a USCG-approved.   But we will have PFDs available for everyone.  It must be worn at all times you are on the sailboat or on the docks.

Your Lunch:  While there are a restaurants nearby, you may want to bring a lunch.   Be sure you have a cooler or cold insert to keep it fresh, especially in the summer.  We will take breaks during the day as needed and of course at lunch.  We will have water available.

No.

But we have established SailAcademy where graduates of our courses can continue their learning experience with access to our instructors and our sailboats. Ask for more information.

That is of course up to you.  But the one thing you should do is practice your newly learned skills to become an even better sailor by going sailing.

As we mentioned above, we have established our SailAcademy program where our graduates can have access to our instructors and our sailboats.

SailNashville is also the Tennessee dealer for Catalina Yachts and Com-Pac Yachts.  We can help you find the right boat when you are ready to buy.  There are choices from 12.5-feet daysailers to 54-feet bluewater cruisers with a lot of options in between.

If you are not ready to buy a sailboat, the SailAcademy is a great option.

Give yourself as much time as possible

It takes about 2-3 days to process your registration, mail your textbook, and for the USPS mailman to deliver it.

You then need to read the 100+ page textbook Sailing Made Easy for the class BEFORE your class.

How far out should you register for your ASA class? I would recommend 10-14 days as a comfortable margin, to give the USPS sufficient time to deliver your textbook and you time to read it.

But if you are on a tight timeline, we’ll make special arrangements to get you the textbook on time for class.  Or you can access it in eBook form at Apple Books.

Anytime is a good time to register for one of our ASA courses, the sooner the better. 

Each Class is Unique
You have purchased a specific class on a specific date. It is not interchangeable with another class.

Notification of Cancellation
Notification should be made by phone or by e-mail as soos as possible. 

The following cancellation/rescheduling policy will apply:

Cancellation or Delay of Course by School
SailNashville reserves the right to cancel or delay courses for any reason, including but not limited to weather conditions, equipment issues, instructor availability, minimum class size. If a class is canceled by SailNashville, arrangements will be made to make up the class or give full-course credits to be used by the student at a later date.

Cancellation or Rescheduling by the Student
The following will apply to cancellations or rescheduling by the student without exceptions:

More than 30 days from scheduled class date:
• 75% refund or 75% credit towards future course. *

More than 14 days less than 30 days from scheduled class date:
• 50% refund or 50% credit towards future course. *

Fourteen (14) days or less from scheduled class date:
• 0% refund or 0% credit towards future course. *

Only one rescheduling per student will be permitted.
Rescheduled dates are at the discretion of SailNashville.

Termination of class
SailNashville adheres to the Metro Parks and Recreation Participants Code of Conduct, which is found at:  https://www.nashville.gov/departments/parks/participants-code-conduct. Violations or abusive conduct will result in immediate termination from the class without refund.

Any refund or administrative change will incur a minimum $100.00 processing fee.

*Prices of courses are subject to change over time.