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We received this letter from Vijay Nilekani which he wrote to a sailing magazine. Vijay has taken several levels of training with us. INTRODUCTION
TO SAILING I
got interested in sailing about 5 years ago. I was already a licensed airplane
pilot and the similarities between airplanes and sailboats were so many that I
decided to explore the sport further. The ability to live aboard the latter and
travel long distances with the nominal use of hydrocarbon fuel, only made the
thought more alluring! I first attended a set of Coast Guard Auxiliary classroom
sessions to understand the basic principles and terminology of sailing. I then
began to seriously research the Chesapeake Bay area sailing schools to begin
on-the-water skills and advance my training further. I also signed up with the
American Sailing Association as a member and researched their resources as well. I
discovered the Maryland School of Sailing and Seamanship at Spring Cove Marina,
in Rock Hall Maryland. It was conveniently located, just an hour and a half from
my home in Wilmington, DE. I met with Tom Tursi, who runs the school and came
away, very impressed with his attitude and his credentials. Tom has sailed
across the three major oceans. He has a practical, conservative approach to safe
sailing and runs a sailing school oriented towards serious sailors with Ocean
sailing aspirations. The school offers the entire gamut of ASA certification
levels, from a neophyte who is learning port from starboard, all the way up to
the blue water sailing certification. Prospective students can meet all their
training needs to the extent that they want to advance their personal knowledge
and skills. The school has an impressive web site (www.mdschool.com).
All classes are live aboard sessions on Island Packet yachts, ranging
from 4 days to 11 days per certification level, depending on the curriculum
being trained to. There are also classroom only offerings that teach Coastal
Navigation and Celestial Navigation that Tom Tursi personally teaches. Tom’s
knowledge and insights really make this a ‘must attend’ class for anybody
who wants to soundly understand the principles of navigation and the various
resources available to do so competently. Every instructor at the Maryland
School is a US Coast Guard qualified Captain. Students come from all over the
U.S., some even from Canada and Overseas! I
am a little over half way through the ASA program. I am slowly working towards the Norfolk, VA to Bermuda
Atlantic sailing trip in the next year or two. It has been a learning experience
and is slowly but firmly orienting me towards achieving my aspirations as a
cruising blue water sailor in the coming years.
I can confidently recommend the Maryland School of Sailing without any
reservations to anyone interested in learning to sail proficiently, regardless
of how far they want to advance the art and craft of the sailing lifestyle. Vijay Nilekani
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