Welcome to Rockland Community Sailing, The Apprenticeshop’s community sailing program! For adults, sailors age 16 and older, we offer early evening and weekend sailing opportunities. Rockland harbor provides some of the best sailing conditions in the state, with a variety of wind and weather conditions suitable for learning to sail.
Rockland Community Sailing instructors teach beginner and intermediate level sailing skills, with occasional expansion into more advanced topics. Depending on student ability and interest, instructors will customize classes to meet student needs.
RCS instructors cover the 10 basic skill groups listed below. This forms the backbone of our curriculum. There is some instruction modification and variation between recreational, traditional and racing classes.
Skill Groups
- Preparing to sail: weather, communication, safety
- Rigging the boat & parts of the boat
- Wind awareness and sailing directions
- Sailing, steering, tacking upwind jibing downwind
- Leaving and returning
- Overboard recovery and heavy weather tactics
- Charts, rules of the road and navigation
- Motors, dinghies & rowing
- Anchoring, dock lines & securing the boat
- Knots and lines
Adult instructors share their knowledge in a relaxed and hands-on environment where you begin rigging and sailing the boat right from the start. Learning by doing is the key concept in all of our courses.
Our adult sailing instructors are not full-time employees of The Apprenticeshop and we give them at least 48-hours notice for adult programs. Please sign-up early!
“We rigged the boat and immediately went out to sail. In my opinion, this is the best way to learn. I believe the instructor gave just the right amount of direction to allow us independence. Enjoyed the opportunity to sail 2 different vessels – the Cape Dory and the Bristol 24. This adds a good deal to the experience.” – James Murphy, Adult Sailing Student
