Pacific Yachting and Sailing

Instructional Courses
Practical Checkout Challenge

Experienced sailors can challenge our practical two-hour check out for a cost of $125.00. If you are not earnestly confident that you can perform all of the practical check-out requirements with a score of at least a 90%, we'd appreciate it if you'd take a course or a private lesson to improve and refine your skills. It's important that sailors requesting a check-out have had ocean experience as the Bareboat certified captain.

Private Instruction -(30-34' $85.00 per hr./ Member- $76.50 per hr. / 37' to 43' $135. per hr./Member 121.50 per hr.).

The sailing skills tested in the checkout are as follows: sailing

"Sailors must perform the following skills with competence and ease (emphasis added):

Tight quarters maneuvering and challenging docking, reefing, coastal navigation, all points of sail with near perfect sail setting and steerage, sail shape and control-proper traveler use, controlled gybing, tacking, anchoring, man overboard, proper setup/take down and more."

The purpose of the Practical Check-out is to assess the sailor's ability to competently and safely handle a sailboat, both under sail and power under all wind and sea conditions with confidence, precision and ease. Knowing the correct action in a given situation, communicating clearly to the crew what is expected and performing the maneuver with precision and confidence (what we call "Command Presence") are also critical components of the sailor's boat handling abilities.

You are not required to utilize crew for every or for any part of the checkout-you may chose to singlehand. Our USCG skipper would be your standby crew. Should the sailor chose to use crew then one of the skills assessed is his/her ability to clearly instruct the crew on what they are to do and when they are to do it. Should the sailor chose to singlehand, the same criteria hold true, i.e., how well does the sailor prepare for the maneuver, how well does he/she take into account the prevailing conditions (e.g., wind speed and direction, current, proximity of other vessels, etc.) in planning the maneuver, how well does he/she recover when the initial plan goes awry, etc.

Sailing is a communication-intensive sport. Communication between skipper and crew is critical to avoid chaos and potential damage or injury. Even the single-handed sailor "communicates" with himself prior to taking any action, looking ahead, thinking through the action choices available and making alternative plans.

What is expected is that whatever approach the sailor chooses it is appropriate to the given situation and is performed with precision, confidence and ease with due regard for the safety of the crew and
vessel.

The ASA sets competency standards for both sailing knowledge and on-the-water skills for sailors, as does the Practical Checkout. While the ASA standards may or may not require that a maneuver be done in a specified way, the critical similarity between ASA and the checkout is that the skipper display precision and confidence in safely handling the vessel.

Please don't hesitate to e-mail us at sail@cruzio.com or call at: 1-831-423 sail(7245) or 1-800-374-2626 if we can further explain any of our sailing courses to you and sign you up directly.

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Please see the (click) Basic Sailing & Seamanship, Basic & Intermediate Coastal Cruising, and Bareboat instruction programs for other requirements. Most sailors who take the eight -day consecutive course can incorporate the check-out into course time. We also recommend that you charter or sail within 30 days of receiving your certification and continue to sail on a regular basis to stay current on your skills. When students take three separate weekend group courses, a review/check-out class is frequently required.

Pacific Yachting accepts ASA or US Sailing certification on an individual case by case basis. We discuss the sailor's experience and if it meets our ocean-going standards, preferably with a resume and oral confirmation from another charter company, the practical bareboat certification requirement may be waived.

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