Master’s Course Program
Sonars sailing with their spinnakers on a calm day
One of the joys of sailing is the quiet time spent moving through the water. Here Master’s Course (NYSS’s Learn to Sail Course) graduates are sailing with their spinnakers on a windless day. The Sonars are great boats to sail in both heavy weather and on windless days shown above. The Master’s Course is a 33 hour program of which 30 hours are spend on-the-water.
One of the interesting ports to sail by is City Island, Here Coastal Cruising students will learn how to navigate from New Rochelle to other ports of call - like City Island .
Harbor moorings.
As a Master Course ( NYSS’s Learn to Sail Course) student you will learn how to steer your Sonar through this sailboat parking lot with your expert NYSS Instructor to guide you along the way. Our goal is to teach you the confidence to take you and your friends out sailing after you graduate - so we will expose you to all the sailing conditions that you will encounter when you are sailing on you own.
Getting Underway
Master Course (Learn to Sail Course) students are getting ready to cast-off for their mooring. As part of the Master’s Course, you will learn how to leave and make a mooring in crowded mooring field; just like you will experience when you take your boat out by yourself.
Master’s Course students learn in the Long Island Sound, the center of recreational boating in NY. What better way to get the confidence you need than to learn how to sail where all the other people go sailing. Your hands-on experience will prepare you for all the sailing situations that you will see .
The Sonar the boat used in the Master’s Course
In 1979, NYSS became the first sailing school to use the J-24 - a popular boat for racing, but crowded, tipsy, and not student friendly. We switched to the 23 foot Sonar, which even today is still light years ahead of other schools' boats for comfort, safety, maneuverability, performance and speed for racing.
Superior Classroom The Sonar can turn on a dime and tacks in 75 degrees. Tacking and gybing is easy with the non-overlapping jib and high boom. The Sonar gives you instant feedback when you trim the sails or adjust the helm. It's the best classroom afloat.
Comfort, Safety and Stability
You want a large cockpit since you’ll spend 95 % of the time in it. The Sonar’s outstanding feature is its 11 foot long cockpit with deep contoured seats, reassuring high angle back rests and plenty of leg room. This means that 4 students and the instructor will have room to handle sail trim and steering duties in comfort. Since the boom is high above your head, you’ll learn without worrying about getting hit in the head. And, the 900 lb. keel provides the stable ride that allows students to keep learning .
Your Classroom time ashore is just long enough to get knowledge about the theory and procedures, discover what will be accomplished that day and get answers to questions. NYSS has been so successful because we teach by doing. Learning how to sail in the classroom is just not as effective as learning by hands-on experience. When you look at other sailing schools' programs, you should look to the total time you’ll spend on-the-water.
The Sailing Campus
The Sailing Campus
The school’s sailing campus is very important. NYSS’s sailing territory prepares you to go sailing anywhere. You will be exposed to 95 percent of the sailing conditions that exist in the world. The moment you cast off from your NYSS mooring, you will be learning to sail in the center of recreational boating: the large Long Island Sound with plenty of room to maneuver, limited commercial traffic and many interesting places to visit. We will teach you about rocks, buoys, right of way, currents and tides - everything you will need to know to sail a boat anywhere .Don’t Take Your Sailing Campus For Granted.
Beware of sailing in the Hudson river. We tried to teach our students there and we were dissatisfied because the strong currents, especially on light windless days, overpowered the boats. Students were learning how to sail with the current instead of with the wind. Also, the density of commercial traffic created an unsafe and distracting learning environment for our students Finally, there is no buoy system to learn about on the Hudson RiverBeware of Lake Sailing
Some students learn in uncluttered waters that allow them to concentrate on wind direction and sailing techniques. We call this lake sailing; not sailing in the real world which includes rocks, buoys, anchored boats and currents. If you’re not exposed to the real world in your classroom environment, you will be unprepared for any sailing - except sailing in a lake.
Don’t take your sailing campus for granted - Ask to see a chart of your sailing campus before you enroll.
Quality Sailing Time
NYSS avoids the pitfalls found in other programs that undermine the learning process - wasting time getting to productive sailing waters.
Let’s face it, you should get extra time with an instructor when your time was wasted fighting strong river currents getting to your course area. All NYSS instruction takes place in reliable afternoon breezes, with plenty of pure sailing time. You’ll sailing in ideal waters (the Long Island Sound) the second you cast off your NYSS mooring.
Students getting ready to cast off
An important part of your Master’s Course training is learning by doing. Here Master’s Course (Learn to Sail) students are preparing the Sonar to leave the mooring.
The Slalom Course
An important part of your Master’s Course is the Slalom Course. It’s a series of buoys that students sail around with other Master’s Course students. The Slalom course teaches students all the points of sail and exposes them to sailing close in a confined area with other boats (It's like learning how to drive on a highway with other cars).
More Slalom Course
Students maneuvering in the Slalom Course. Most students agree that the Slalom Course was the major factor in their learning how to sail. Why? because with each trip around the course, students learn how to head up, fall off, tack, jib and steer to the next buoy.
Students get good at sailing around the Slalom course; then the NYSS instructor makes them reverse course and sail around the Slalom Course in the opposite direction. This is where most students begin to understand sailing. It all comes together when students sail the Slalom course.
Sailing Close
It is ironic that most students get frightened when sailing close to other boats that are going 6 miles per hour but think nothing of traveling in a car on a speeding highway a foot apart from other cars going 55 mph. Towards the end of each class day, NYSS instructors have their students meet at the Slalom Course where they practice sailing in close quarters. This is a great confidence builder for students and relieves the fears most students have when sailing close to other boats.
Man-Overboard
An important part of the Master’s Course is the Man-Overboard drill. Here students are sailing along when their NYSS instructor throws a PFD overboard. The students must turn the boat around, sail towards the PFD and stop the boat near it in order to reach and pick it up.
At the Mooring
At the end of the day, students sail their Sonar back to the mooring. At the mooring, students learn how to properly put the sails away and secure the boat to the mooring.
Racing Program
Nothing sharpens your sailing skills more than to take part in NYSS’s Racing Program. Here students learn the theory, procedures and the new simplified 1997 racing rules; then it's off to the races. For the 1997 season, students will take a short theory lecture, and then participate in the Thursday night racing held off New Rochelle; racing against other Sonars and J-24’s.
What is the Student /Instructor Ratio?
At NYSSs we never place more than 4 students on board with each ASA Certified instructor. Two other Metro NY schools had 3 students per boat (although at the time we'r writing this we don't know if eithr is still in business). It was a great marketing gimmick but here is how we view it:
Their cockpit fits only 3 students (their instructor has to stand). In contrast, in a 4-to-a-boat instruction format, students rotate through 4 positions about every 20 minutes, One position is devoted watching the other students working the jib, main sail, tiller while doing chart work and resting (taking a break and enjoying sailing). We found this practice of giving students breaks from sailing functions actually helps them to learn quicker: because they are tired during the last 2 hours of the class, and because they reinforce their learning process by watching how their shipmates are performing their duties. By day 3, our students practice handling the boat alone, with everyone else watching.
COASTAL CRUSING PROGRAM
This is the course for our Master’s grads or other groups of sailors who have similar knowledge or experience. This 36 hour program concentrates on advanced sailing techniques and navigation of which 30 hours are on-the-water. You’ll start "plotting" your position, using advanced electronic instruments. You’ll experience sailing in yachts ranging from 25’ to 30 and you’ll be prepared to go places and handle any adverse conditions. The ASA "sailing fundamentals" is sent to you in advance . ASA Certification available.
Spinnaker Workshop
This one day program is designed to give you the most experience in the shortest possible time . You’ll set, trim, gybe and douse spinnakers until you can do it in your sleep. Anyone from Master’s grads to veteran racers can benefit from this one day workshop
Passport Sailing Club
Many our graduates have asked us for an inexpensive way to go sailing and meet new people at the same time. Now it’s here. Join the Passport sailing Club. The Club provides unlimited sailing and special events for members and their guests for only $480.00 per season or select our installment payment method of $40.00 per month. See our special web page for more information.
Renting Boats
Why go to a sailing school that won’t trust you to sail or rent one of its boats after teaching you? Or one that requires the large expense of joining their club in order to go sailing after they taught you how. Think about it, these schools won’t let you take your family and friends out for a day of sailing after they taught you. It would be like Hertz teaching you how to drive and not letting you rent one of their cars!
NYSS gives it graduates a two 3 hours weekend morning practice sail and a full day mid-week practice sail after graduation. NYSS rents its boats to its graduates by the day or half day. We have that much confidence in our ability to teach you how to sail that we let you rent our boats after your graduation.
Bareboat Chartering Course
This course is the "learner’s permit" you need to safety and confidently charter or own a large cruising vessel. You’ll spend 2 ½ days aboard a fully equipped 39’ yacht, with ample time for exploring and relaxation, starting with a short session on how to prepare and stock the boat. You will then practice docking and navigation in a crowed harbor situation. You will spend the night aboard and leave early for one of eastern Long Island’s historic seaports. Along the way, your NYSS expert instructor will guide you through sail changes that need to be made, channels to be navigated, logs to be kept and preparation for the unexpected. This course shows you the how-to-do’s on a large cruising vessel. The ASA’s "Cruising Fundamentals" is mailed in advance to study.
Overnight Cruise Adventures
Try one of NYSS’s overnight sailing cruises and see what big boat sailing is all about. The trip starts on Saturday morning at 9:30 am where you’ll board a beautiful cruising vessel. You sail from New Rochelle to a historic seaport where you can enjoy the local cuisine for dinner. Spend the night on board and return Sunday evening
Florida Winter Sailing Programs
For the 1997-1998 Winter season, Sunrunner will be going to Florida. You can join in the sail down to Florida by booking passage on one of the weekly "leg" trip to Florida. The first legs sails from New Rochelle to Virginia, Leg two is from Virginia to Miami and leg #3 is from Miami to Marco Island. If you cannot make the trip down then plan to sail Sunrunner while it is at Marco Island during November to March or join her in the Trip Back.