Types of sailing certification

There are seven different levels of certification under the US Sailing Keelboat Certification System. You must meet a certain level of criteria to be certified at each different level. Other organizations may offer additional classes, but these levels are the basics. The levels of certification are as follows:

 

·        Basic Keelboat- This is the first level of certification and requires no prerequisites. In this course, you will learn to skipper and crew a simple day sailing keelboat. The course and examination for this level of certification will be executed on a 18’-27’ day sailing sloop-rigged keelboat with tiller steering.

·        Basic Cruising- This level of certification requires the student to skipper and crew an auxiliary powered cruising sailboat during the day, within the sight of land and in moderate wind and sea conditions. The course and examination for this level of certification will be executed on a 23’-32’ sloop-rigged keelboat with auxiliary power.

·        Bareboat Cruising- This level of certification requires the student to skipper and crew an inboard auxiliary powered cruising sailboat during the day and within sight of land. It also requires the student to safely anchor the boat during daytime hours. The course and examination for this level of certification will be executed on a 20’-45’ sloop-rigged cruising keelboat with wheel steering and auxiliary diesel power.

·        Coastal Navigation- This level of certification requires the student to demonstrate the art of traditional navigation techniques and the ability to integrate electronic navigational tools into the navigational plan. This course is conducted in the classroom.

·        Coastal Passage Making- This level of certification requires the student to skipper and crew an inboard auxiliary powered cruising sailboat on coastal waters, in all types of weather and visibility, and during both daytime and nighttime hours. The course and examination for this level of certification will be executed on a 30’-50’ sloop-rigged cruising keelboat with wheel steering and auxiliary power.

·        Celestial Navigation- This level of certification requires the student to master the techniques related to ocean position fixing using sextant and timepiece. At this level, the student will be able to apply what they’ve learned about sight reduction methodology so that they can reduce a sextant sight to a plotted line of position using any celestial body found in the Nautical Almanac.

·        Offshore Passage Making- At this level of certification, the student will be able to skipper and crew an inboard auxiliary powered cruising sailboat to any destination in the world. The course and examination for this level of certification is executed on a 35’ or larger cruising keelboat with wheel steering and auxiliary diesel power.