Skipper Certification
At ONE°15 Brooklyn Sail Club, we take the safety of our Club members very seriously. We have designed a comprehensive assessment process unique to New York Harbor’s traffic, tide and current patterns, Club protocols and our Club boats.
All members join the Club as Crew members. Skipper privileges are granted to those members who pass the skipper certification test by (i) directly challenging the Skipper Certification test or (i) taking the Club’s Learn-to-Skipper Modules and then taking the Skipper Certification test.
Our experience shows that everyone’s learning curve and sailing aptitude is different. It can take anywhere from 200 to 500 hours of practice to have the confidence and skill to be a skipper and also have the confidence of your crew.
If you’re an experienced sailor, you may be ready to test out very quickly. Go out on a few Fleet Captain sails and check with your Fleet Captain skipper to see if you’re ready to take the test. We’ll help you practice skills and add local knowledge to gain you skipper privileges.
Check out our Fast Track Skipper Certification – One day sessions for experienced sailors – get it all done.
Skipper privileges are granted for specific boat types. Once Skipper privileges are gained, Club Members are then eligible to sign out Club boats on their own.
View Skipper Certification Test
Learn to Skipper Course
This course is designed to coach Club Members who are experienced crew and want to become Club Skippers.
The Learn-to-Skipper course is divided into 4 modules and is designed to be taken in sequence. However, students may take any module(s) to refine their skills and then challenge the skipper test.
Practice is essential. Our Fleet Captain sails are designed to take out crew and give them the opportunity to practice many of the requisite skills. During each session, the Fleet Captain skipper will be reviewing a random sampling of the questions from the Skipper Certification test.
1. Local knowledge
2. Anchoring
3. Rules of the road
4. Tides and currents
5. VHF radio and PFDs
6. Weather updates
7. Knot tying
8. Safety
9. Club protocol and operations
Sign up if you have interest in Module 1
1. Boat equipment review
2. Preparing to leave the dock (a. Rigging the boat b. Starting the engine)
3. Motoring (a. 360 turn, b. Moving astern, c. Docking)
4. De-rigging and stowing the boat
Sign up if you have interest in Module 2
1. Raising sails and setting sail controls
2. Tacking, cruising gybe, sailing by-the-lee, the No-Go Zone and getting out of irons
3. Sailing backwards and heaving-to
Sign up if you have interest in Module 3
1. COB – Quick-Stop and Figure-8
2. Basic spinnaker work
3. Review of Skipper Agreement
Sign up if you have interest in Module 4