Club Skipper Clinic

Treat your friends and family to a premier bay adventure with a sail to Angel Island and an overnight stay moored at Ayala Cove -- but first, prepare yourself for the fore and aft mooring, shallow waters, and tidal currents that can make mooring at Ayala Cove a unique challenge.

Our Angel Island Mooring Clinic prepares you to successfully conduct a bow-and-stern mooring as required by the California State Park Angel Island Harbor Master. Additionally, you will become proficient at utilizing one or two buoys for overnight mooring situations in many worldwide cruising locations.

Learning how to control the shape of your sails will greatly enhance your sailing experience. Whether you are a competitive racer or an efficiency-minded cruiser, this course will teach you the skills to maximize speed and balance on every point of sail within a variety of conditions. After a short discussion about the art and science of sail trim, you will receive hands-on practice and learn when and how to adjust sheets, traveler position, jib lead, halyard tension, cunningham, outhaul, vang, and backstay to optimize your boat's performance under sail.

The more you sail in winter or make long passages, the more likely it becomes that you’ll eventually encounter foul weather. This one-day clinic will introduce you to heavy weather sailing equipment, preparation, and techniques. Taught aboard our Spencer 44 Coho II, your instructor will cover topics such as personal safety equipment, high wind line handling techniques, setting up storm sails and running rigging, types of drogues and sea anchors, and steering in large following seas.

Did you learn to sail on a wheel-steered boat, but have always wanted to sail the smaller, sportier tiller-steered boats? Then this clinic is for you!

Our Upgrade to Sportboat Fleet Clinic is geared for sailors who have had the majority of their sailing experience on larger cruising boats (30'+) with inboard engines, and want to gain the skills needed to charter our exciting sportboats.

The focus of the course will be on-the-water practice including steering with the tiller (while also working the mainsheet) and docking and departing using an outboard motor.

Do you want to join professionally coached yacht club races with a Modern Sailing team? Our Racing Clinic and Asymmetrical Spinnaker Clinic will prepare you to be a solid crew member on any Modern race boat. 

With locations in Berkeley and Sausalito, Modern Sailing is able to offer the widest range of opportunities to learn and experience the excitement of yacht club racing on San Francisco Bay.

All new, returning, or current members who wish to charter Modern Sailing vessels or upgrade an existing Fleet Rating are required to successfully complete a skills checkout with a Modern Sailing instructor aboard one of our vessels. Prior to scheduling a checkout, an office team member will review your sailing resume to match you with the vessel size for your checkout that most closely resembles your recent experience.

Night sailing can be an enchanting experience. The many lights and reflections sparkling on the water are beautiful but can disorient sailors inexperienced with piloting a boat in the dark. Learn to safely enjoy the beauty of sailing at night by joining our Night Sailing Clinic!

The winds and tidal currents of San Francisco Bay can be challenging to sailors not only when sailing out on the bay, but especially when maneuvering larger boats in and out of dock slips and narrow fairways. Join us for this one-day clinic in which you will learn strategies and techniques to safely and efficiently dock a 36’ – 41’ auxiliary-powered sailboat in a variety of conditions. You’ll increase your overall boat handling confidence by acquiring knowledge of basic auxiliary power theory, engine and steering controls, proper use of dock lines, crew communication, and safety.