ASA Bearings Newsletter

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Showtime

The American Sailing Association crew has just returned from a successful appearance at the recently held Miami Boat Show on the Biscayne Bay. Florida is a hotspot for ASA schools and they were well represented at this year’s show with many sailing school booths. It was also great to see a variety of ASA instructors participating and helping other sailors by presenting interesting lectures and seminars at the well-attended event. For instance:

Jeff Grossman and Jean Levine presented Catamarans Versus Monohulls for Cruising, which addressed the ongoing back and forth, pro and con topic of one hull versus two. They also did seminars that revolved around sailing as a couple, which involved the nuts and bolts of cruising but also more esoteric matters as well.

Another highlight was when Tony Wall from the Biscayne Bay Sailing Academy presented Gulfstream Crossing: Wind and Weather Considerations. Wall has over 50,000 miles under the keel and is a wealth of knowledge. He and his wife have been living the sailing life since 1992, so he knows a thing or two about cruising.

And it was particularly impressive to see ASA Instructor “Captain Ana Donovitch” (a pen name) introduce her book Selah in the Storm that is a story of love, perseverance, and faith that moves from the decks of a sun-kissed sailboat off the coast of the Florida Keys, to the fluorescent-lit hallways of a trauma unit. A synopsis of the book says it inspires “hope, humor, and the realization that no matter what the circumstances, we always have a choice.”

In addition to these sage sailors sharing their knowledge and talents, ASA once again provided some hands-on, real-life opportunities for new and novice sailors.

“ASA’s First 22 was a star at the show among new/beginning keelboat sailors,” said Tom Knighten who runs Discover Boating at the show. “Both the Learn to Sail and Intermediate Sailing Skills classes were completely full, with an additional 18 enthusiastic sailors on the waitlist.”

ASA School Florida Yacht Charters provided 2 Cruising Catamarans and 2 monohulls to the Hands-on program. ASA Instructors provided 3 hour lessons out on Biscayne Bay.

At the ASA booth, the crew also had an opportunity to show the folks of Florida the new Sailing Challenge learning game and get the word out about the GO SAILING app that connects skippers and crew.

All in all the show was great fun and another solid reminder that the American Sailing Association and its affiliates are sailing along quite nicely on a sweet downwind run!

Are you familiar with ASA’s International Proficiency Certificate?

The International Proficiency Certificate is useful for charter companies in much of the European and Mediterranean waters. Most charter companies accept this certificate as adequate proof of bareboat skipper proficiency including Kiriakoulis Charters, which has 300+ locations in the Mediterranean. A full list of the countries that insist on IPCs is at asa.com/ipc. It should also be noted that the IPC is all encompassing for recreational/cruising sailors, not just racers.

The good news is the level of knowledge required to obtain an IPC is the same as what is required to pass ASA’s 101,103 and 104. Anyone who has received a 104 ASA qualification is eligible and qualified for the IPC, however, the applicant must be a current member of ASA to be issued the certificate and there is a fee. If your school is approached by an experienced sailor who is not currently certified and wants an IPC simply administer “a Challenge”. Have the candidate demonstrate that he/she has all the on-the-water skills for 101, 103 and 104 and administer one written exam at the highest level. Enter the certifications through 104 and provide the sailor with a signed Logbook. Once these qualifications are satisfied to the 104 level the candidate can apply online for the IPC.

ASA highly recommends that schools advise anyone who is planning to charter in the region of Europe and/or the Mediterranean to definitely get the IPC.

National On-Water Standards (NOWS) for Recreational Boat Operation

by Jeff Riecks, ASA Standards Coordinator

Many readers may be familiar with the requirements for mandatory boater education in their home state. While this boating knowledge education has proven effective for reducing boating injuries and accidents, most instructors would agree that on-water skills training can significantly increase safety.

Based on recommendations from the National Boating Safety Advisory Council (NBSAC), the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has, over the last several years, been providing non-profit grant funding to create on-water skills standards for recreational boat operation.

Using the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process, the National On-Water Standards (NOWS) project has produced three entry-level skills standards for Powerboating, Human-propelled craft (kayak, SUP, rowboat, etc.), and Sailing. The three standards describe the outcome-based skills that entry-level boaters should be able to perform in order to be considered safe boat operators.

Each standard is accompanied by Technical Support Document (TSD), which provides information about why and how the standards were created, suggestions for using the standards in designing boating education programs, and a detailed set of performance rubrics that can help measure student skill levels.

ASA has been participating in the creation and field testing of the on-water standards for more than three years. Some ASA affiliates and many ASA instructors have volunteered their facilities and time to help ensure the standards are high-quality products. The on-water Sailing skills standard was also used as a reference when our ASA 110 Basic Small Boat Sailing Standard was refreshed recently.

The national on-water standards and the TSDs, as well as more detailed information about the project and a gallery of photos, are freely available and may be downloaded at onwaterstandards.org

Attention ASA Affiliate Schools! If you want to look great at the next boat show then why not get one of these fantastic textbook stands (shown on the right in the photo above). Each stand holds all 4 of our textbooks + a “certification panel” at the bottom. The stand also folds up neatly and can be easily transported to boat shows or educational gatherings. We only have 4 available so claim yours today!

Each textbook stand only costs $150 (a 35% discount).
We will include 1 copy of each of our Sailing Made Easy textbooks (4 books total).
We will include the “certification panel” shown at the bottom of the display.
We will also pay for shipping to your school (US Only).

If you would like to order one or more please contact Brenda at bw@asa.com

Schedule a Spring Docking Class Now!

ASA Sailors are just starting to think about the start of sailing season.

Get them scheduled now for a Spring Docking Endorsement Course.

ASA designed this fun poster that you can download and post around the harbor. If you don’t have a Docking Endorsement Instructor on staff consider an upcoming IQC for the 218 certification.

Download the poster here >>

ASA Membership System

ASA has recently switched to a new membership system to manage our large database of certified sailors. This database was first started in 1983 and has grown to a considerable size. We have been having some difficulty with the transition and apologize for any difficulties you may have been experiencing. Instructors will not be charged a late fee if they were not able to renew in time because of these issues. We feel that once the transition is complete the benefits will be seen. Thank you for your patience while we work to improve our services.

Useful links for Instructors & Affiliates

www.ASA.com