Northeast · Fernandina Beach
Amelia Island school running since 1997 with direct ICW-to-Atlantic access. Four-time ASA Outstanding School recognition; full curriculum from Basic Keelboat through catamaran cruising.
Windward Sailing School has taught on Amelia Island since 1997, working out of Fernandina Beach at the northern tip of Florida’s Atlantic coast. Its home water offers direct ICW-to-Atlantic access: protected sound for the fundamentals, open ocean a short sail away for coastal work.
The school is a four-time ASA Outstanding School and runs the full ASA curriculum: Basic Keelboat (101), Basic Coastal Cruising (103), Bareboat Cruising (104), Coastal Navigation (105), catamaran cruising (114), and the docking endorsement (118). That’s a complete pathway from a first sail through the skills a bareboat charter company will want to see.
For a corner of the state without many schools, Windward’s longevity and award record make it the anchor learn-to-sail option for the Amelia Island / Fernandina area and the Jacksonville sailors willing to drive north for it. The school takes part in ASA’s Veterans Sailing Education Program, so the 101 is discounted for veterans, active military, and reservists.
Featured Northeast · St. Augustine
Camachee Cove-based ASA school with both Matanzas River and offshore Atlantic access. Small classes (max four students) cover the full pathway from Basic Keelboat through celestial navigation, offshore passagemaking, and catamaran cruising.
Northeast · St. Augustine
Nonprofit teaching center on Salt Run beneath the St. Augustine Lighthouse, on the water since 2012 and now reaching over 300 kids a year. Youth camps, after-school and a 10-week homeschool course, US Sailing-coached Opti and 420 race teams, and adult clinics on the J/24.
Northeast · Jacksonville
Jacksonville membership boat club with an ASA school inside, on Julington Creek where the St. Johns widens south of town. Courses through Advanced Coastal on a Catalina fleet; members check out club boats at no charge once certified.