Look out at the water around us. Sparkling, breezy; it’s inviting you, enticing you, begging you to come out. So, go on…and set sail!
Recreational sailing is flourishing in the metropolitan region. If you don’t know how to sail, there are a variety of programs and lessons for all ages to take advantage of, including summer sailing camps for kids. Here’s the scoop on where you can learn to sail in New York and New Jersey. In the next WaterWire, we’ll publish a roundup of where you can learn to row and paddle.
Atlantic Yachting
Where: 79th Street Boat Basin (Upper West Side)
Founded in 2009, Atlantic Yachting offers a three-hour private lesson to get your toes wet, a weekend course, and more.
Cost sample: $475 for a weekend course
Hudson River Community Sailing
Where: Pier 66 (Chelsea neighborhood) and, new this year, Dyckman Street Marina (Inwood neighborhood)
Founded in 2007, Hudson River Community Sailing (HRCS) is a nonprofit that focuses on developing leadership and academic success in underserved New York City youth through sailing education, and maritime education and recreation to the community at large. Buy tickets for the HRCS Dark ‘n’ Stormy benefit on May 25.
Cost sample: $75-$95 for a two- to three-hour introduction to sailing, and up
Manhattan Sailing School
Where: Pier 25 (Tribeca neighborhood) and Liberty Harbor (Jersey City)
Manhattan Sailing School is an affiliate of the Manhattan Yacht Club, which was founded in 1987 in Lower Manhattan and reintroduced recreational sailing to New York Harbor.
Cost sample: $490 (Jersey City) or $590 (Pier 25) per weekend course
New York Community Sailing Association
Where: Lincoln Harbor Marina (Weehawken)
Learn basic keelboat instruction on two consecutive eight-hour Sundays. Participants become members of this nonprofit organization and contribute work to maintain the fleet.
Cost sample: $350 for keelboat instruction
New York Sailing Center
Where: City Island
Navigation is taught in Manhattan; sailing is out of City Island, where the waters offer gentle currents, steady breezes and less commercial traffic than New York Harbor.
Cost sample: Prices start at $395
Offshore Sailing School
Where: North Cove (Battery Park City) and Liberty Landing Marina (Jersey City)
This sailing school uses the Colgate 26, a sailboat designed by the school’s co-founder, Steve Colgate, and naval architect Jim Taylor.
Cost sample: $150 for a two-hour course, $590 for a weekend course
ONE° 15 Sailing School
Where: One° 15 Brooklyn Marina
Inaugural year of this sailing school and its home, One° 15 Brooklyn Marina at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Cost sample: $140 for a three-hour course, $600 for a two-day course
SAILING FOR KIDS
Atlantic Yachting’s NYC Summer Sailing Camp
For ages 9 to15. Two-week programs, 9am to 3:30pm. $1,990 for two weeks.
Hudson River Community Sailing’s City Sail Summer Camp
For ages 10 to 17. Weeklong sessions, 9am to 4pm. $495 per week.
New York Harbor Sailing Foundation
Operation Optimist for ages 8 to 13. Children learn to sail dinghies in the protected waters southwest of the Statue of Liberty. $490 per week
Teen Sailing Camp for ages 13 to 18. Teens sail on J-24s in New York Harbor. $490 per week.
Offshore Sailing School’s KidsSail
For ages 7 to 17. One week of three-hour morning or afternoon sessions is $325. Double sessions are $600 per week.