Cliff Fitzgerald

Instructor

Cliff grew up in a family that sailed on Long Island Sound. At the age of eight he got his start at skippering and racing in a summer youth sailing program. Dinghies led to small centerboard sloops, which led to keelboats of all types ranging from twenty-two to fifty feet. By the time he was in college, Cliff was crewing on coastal passages from New York to Nova Scotia and also teaching in the same summer program he had come up in. His family continued sailing throughout, including bareboat chartering in the British Virgin Islands.

Cliff joined the OCSC instructor team in 2015, and except for the time of COVID restrictions, has been teaching ever since. He is delighted to be back in Berkeley working with the rest of the Modern Sailing team to continue growing the school's legacy of excellence in sailing instruction.

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Trudy Flores

Captain Jeff Cathers is really cool. I had such a great time on the Farallones Day Trip. It was actually my very best day of 2020. Thank you so much for coordinating the trip.
John Kratochvil, Oregon

I would like to compliment Stan Lander for his coaching, counseling and teaching Heavy Weather Offshore Sailing. Stan was very accommodating to all of the student's interests and shared his many years of insight on handling the boat in heavy seas. I would certainly recommend Stan and this course to sheltered waters sailors. My confidence in handling a boat of this size was certainly enhanced by the experience.
Esther C

I took ASA 101 with them recently. They have the best customer service I've ever seen! I mistyped my address when I signed up online so didn't receive the textbook. I called and the lady immediately sent me another copy! Everyone at the club is super friendly.
Emma & George Stubbs, Sausalito

We just took our ASA 106 at a school in Rhode Island as we prepare for 6 months of cruising in the Caribbean. The class was great, but more than anything it made us really appreciate the quality of teaching and rigor at Modern Sailing. Even though we were the newest to sailing, the group seemed to think that we had the best fundamentals. We felt very well prepared and we see why Modern Sailing has the reputation it does.
Mike, Santa Rosa, California

All of the courses and my instructors (JT and Stan) were extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. I found I was able to learn from their experiences beyond the scope of the courses, and look forward to future opportunities to do so. I would highly recommend Modern Sailing to anyone.