ASA 110 Turks & Caicos Sailing Certification Course

With its beautiful, white sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and year-round breeze, Grace Bay is ranked as one of the most popular sailing destinations in the world. Upon completion of this program, each successful participant will receive an accredited ASA 110 certificate, as well as a Ritz Sailing Academy rash guard.

In conjunction with the American Sailing Association (ASA), The Ritz Sailing Academy will be offering the ASA 110 Small Boat Sailing Course exclusively to guests of The Ritz-Carlton. The course takes 10 hours to complete and can be administered over 3 or 4 classes during a guest’s stay.

The ASA 110 Course is suitable for anyone over the age of ten years old, who wants to learn to sail in conditions of up to 15 knots, aboard our brand new Hobie Cats. All interested and eligible guests are welcome, and no prior sailing experience is needed!

The course is appropriate for beginners and allows them to confidently sail on the water, maneuvering in moderate weather conditions, while teaching them to launch and recover the boat, tack, and gybe on all points of sail. Students will be taught skipper and crew responsibilities, as well as essential ‘rules of the sea’, to prevent collisions and ensure the well-being of those onboard. They will also learn how to avoid capsizing the boat by spilling the wind out of the sail in a gust and be taught about essential safety procedures and emergency responses.

Our Sailing Director, Coach Ross, has curated this one-of-a-kind signature experience that encourages individuals, couples, and families to learn how to sail during their stay. Coach Ross has been instructing sailing for fifteen years across the world and believes there is no better destination to start learning a new skill and to achieve your goal of becoming a captain than in Turks and Caicos.

Knowledge and skill-based learning objectives include:

• Sailing Terminology – Learning the parts of the boat (starboard vs port), sails and rigging overview, windward vs leeward, motor vs sail, channel markers discussions
• Weather and Oceanography – Reading weather forecasts, identifying sailing conditions, wind awareness, marine life, and local area knowledge
• Operations – how to effectively sail, crew responsibilities when sailing with more than one person, maneuvering the boat, steering, sail controls, stopping/speeding up, getting out of irons, launching and recovery of the boat from a beach
• Safety Procedures – how to safely sail in open waters, righting the boat, man overboard, avoiding hazardous areas (reefs, coral heads, and shallow waters), towing, racing

The ASA 110 course is broken down into four sections. Sections one and two can be combined and run together over a four-hour session, or run individually as two, two-hour classes. Students should allocate a couple of hours of solo sailing to practice what they have learned before scheduling section three and again before scheduling section four.

• Section 1: Introduction to Sailing (2 hours)
  On land training exercises (wind awareness, theory and terminology, line handling and knots)
  Price per person $150
• Section 2: Sailing Fun in the Sun (2 hours)
  Launch and recovery (introduction to steering, sail trim, boat balance)
  Price per person $250
• Section 3: Safety While at Sea (3 hours)
  Procedure overview (righting the boat, man overboard, towing, emergency response)
  Price per person $300
• Section 4: Review and Assessment (3 hours)
  One hour is allocated for a pre-test Q&A, followed by an on-the-water assessment, oral exam, and review. Once all objectives have been accomplished, the sailor(s) will receive their ASA 110 certificate and Ritz Sailing Academy shirt at an award ceremony held on the beach.
  Price per person $300