Small Boat Instructor Certifications
Small Boat Certification Courses
Sailing Counselor
The Sailing Counselor course is two day course designed to prepare camp counselors and staff from community sailing and scouting programs to supervise small boat recreational sailing activities typically conducted on sheltered and protected waters. The emphasis is on safety and hands-on practice to familiarize candidates with proper terminology and boating techniques. Sailing Counselor training will also provide a model for how a counselor might structure actual sailing activities. The minimum age for attending this course is 14 years old.
Level 1 Instructor
For those interested in learning on-the-water group management and instruction techniques. The minimum age is 16; good sailing and powerboat handling skills are required. This four-day forty-hour course covers:
- Teaching from and using a safety boat.
- Use of land and on-the-water drills.
- Sports psychology and physiology
- Lesson planning
- Classroom teaching techniques for eye-hand coordination skills
- Risk management and other legal issues
- Safety considerations
- Rainy day activities
Level 2 Coach
The Small Boat Sailing Level 2 Coach Workshop is designed for coaches who will be teaching beginning racing and performance boat handling. The workshop will provide the coach with useful tools for teaching such elements as sail trim, rounding marks, starting, tactics on the downwind and upwind legs and how to approach marks properly. A workshop will give the coach a basis for demonstrating the effects of hydrodynamics of the hull, rudder and keel, the aerodynamics of the sails, and how to utilize these effects in developing boat speed. The coach will learn how to break down racing into individual elements that can be worked on without getting into a win/lose environment with the students.
Level 3 Coach
Level 3 applicants must complete Levels 1 and 2 before applying for Level 3. Building on the strengths of the first two levels, Level 3 is a minimum two-year commitment. A Level 3 candidate must complete an application and keep a log of his/her progress through the various certification requirements available from the training office at US SAILING.