Overview

At the heart of the SEAS Monmouth sailing education program is the Basic Sailing course. This course teaches you everything you need to know to begin sailing, through a blend of classroom theory and practical water sessions. No prior sailing or boating experience is necessary; the only requirements are a desire to learn the fine art of sailing and the ability to swim.

The Basic Sailing course consists of four evening classroom sessions and two all-day Saturday water sessions. In the classroom sessions you will learn what makes a boat sail, all the basic sailing maneuvers, safety techniques, and classic nautical knots (sample course syllabus). And the water sessions, under the supervision of our experienced instructors, allow you to put this theory into practice sailing our fleet of daysailers on the Shrewsbury River near Oceanport, NJ.

The May course is taught online and the water sessions are scheduled in consultation with the students. The June, July, August, and Septemeber classes are taught at the main campus of Brookdale College in Lincroft, NJ.

The course fee is $295.

For more information contact Svetlana at ().

2026 Course Schedule

Session	Classroom Dates	Classroom Location	Water Session Dates
1	May 5, 7, 12, 14	Online	Flexible
2	Jun 1, 4, 8, 11	Brookdale	Jun 6, 13
3	Jul 6, 9, 13, 16	Brookdale	Jul 11, 18
4	Aug 3, 6, 10, 13	Brookdale	Aug 8, 15
5	Sep 7, 10, 14, 17	Brookdale	Sep 12, 19

Brookdale Based Course Registration

In the Brookdale catelog, the course is known as Learn To Sail.

Register with Brookdale:
(1) online at Brookdale's course site. Search for 'Learn To Sail'. Then select the desired and proceed with the registartion process -or-
(2) call Brookdale Customer Service at 732-224-2315 between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday.

Online Based (May) Course Registration

..instructions go here...

Other Things You Should Know

• All courses are taught by experienced sailors.
• Water sessions are subject to rescheduling because of weather; rain date is the next day or as arranged by instructors.
• You must be able to swim, as demonstrated by a short swim test during the second classroom session (logistics to be discussed by the instructor). This test consists of treading water for a minute or so, putting a life jacket on while still in the water, and again treading water for another minute or so. It's designed to simulate falling into the water from a boat.
• Each student will be required to have a PFD (Personal Floatation Device, or life jacket) for the water sessions and the swim test
• Classroom sessions run from 7 to 9 pm. Water sessions run from 9 am to 3 pm.

After Graduation, What's next?

The Basic Sailing course is just the beginning. Within SEAS Monmouth's scheduled sailing activities there are numerous opportunities to get more sailing practice throughout the sailing season (May through October) - on the same boats that you practiced on during the class. We offer Thursday evening sailing sessions on our daysailers, and twice a month we hold "Small Boat Days" all day Saturday or Sunday where we make the fleet of Lasers available in addition to the daysailers. Check the Sailing Calendar for more details, including specific dates.

If your aspirations are more toward larger boats, we offer plenty of opportunities to sail on our keelboats, or even develop your own skippering skills. Check the Sailing Calendar for Friday and Saturday evening sails on the "SEAS the Moment" (Capri 22), or Tuesday and Thursday evening sails on the "SEAS the Breeze" (Catalina 30).

Basic Sailing class syllabus

View a representative class syllabus

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Help with Basic Sailing

Volunteer to help us run a class - we need you!

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