What sort of certifications/official courses are available to learn to sail large boats?

Question

I am an experienced dinghy sailor and racer, but i do not have a lot of big boat experience, i was wondering where there are courses to learn about big boats and what sort of official certifications there are that you need to crew on a boat.

Answer 1

In general, there is no "official" certification required to crew on a larger boat, it's up to the skipper who he (or she) wants to take along.  Having a background in dinghy racing, you probably already understand the Racing Rules of Sailing, and have a good grasp of racing tactics, both of which will help you find a spot on a boat.

Check with local yacht clubs about racing schedules and show up ready to work - there's almost always a boat or two that is short handed and can use one more crew.

There are also some specialized web sites (e.g. http://www.steadycrew.com/) that provide a means for you to connect with skippers looking for crew.

There are two organizations that provide national certification standards for keel boat sailing education in the United States.  They are the American Sailing Association (http://www.asa.com/) and U.S. Sailing (http://www.ussailing.org/).  Both have similar progressions of courses starting with basic keel boat sailing and advancing through offshore passage making.  ASA focuses primarily on keelboat education, while U.S. Sailing is also the governing body for the sport of sailing in the United States, particularly yacht, dinghy, windsurfing, and radio sailing racing.  Both programs combine classroom knowledge with hands-on, on-the-water experience.  Their websites can guide you to schools in your area.

Answer 2

Unfortunately most licensing in the US requires no practical knowledge,  just regurgitating facts from a book.  There are sailing schools along the east coast,  check yachting magazine.  Some charter companies offer sailing schools.  These offer a certificate thet proves you took the course but not any official license.  The certificate is helpful if you plan on chartering boats in the future.