About | The SailingAcademy

We swapped our house for a sailboat and lived aboard with our five children .

This is a family business

Liveaboard Family cruising the islands on catamaran.

Now, with the help of our professional instructors, we provide the instruction needed for you to achieve your own sailing dreams.

Who we are

The Sailing Academy has been introducing people to sailing for many years. Our teaching method is more like on the water coaching rather than simply taking a class. The reason for this is simple; we started out as a Sailboat Club, not a school. Our goal was to coach new sailors to become proficient and confident so they could take our sailboats out on their own. It doesn’t matter if your goal is to simply to cruise the Chesapeake Bay or to eventually cross oceans, The Sailing Academy is a great place to start. All of our instructors have extensive cruising experience and have much more to offer than just the sailing curriculum.

Even though we have been an official American Sailing Association affiliate school since 2002, our instruction was only available to club members. In the spring of 2008, we started offering courses to the general public at Herrington Harbour Marina. You no longer need to be a member to take advantage of our unique instruction style!

You will start out on a yacht with wheel steering. There are two ways to steer a sailboat, with a wheel or a tiller (a long stick attached to the rudder). All modern cruising sailboats have wheel steering, that’s why we start all our beginning students on boats with wheels. We are a sailing school that focuses on cruising.

After you complete a course, time is needed to practice the new skills acquired. The more time you have on the water, the more naturally you execute sailing procedures. Your confidence grows as the skills become second nature.

Although we are not a “boat rental” facility, we do make our boats available to students. You may charter a sailboat for a day, or join the Sailboat Club to have regular access to our fleet. As you progress, you can move up to larger boats. A majority of our former members have gone on to own their own boats.

Meet The Crew

Capt. Jeff Bowen Captain Jeff started sailing in his early teen years and began teaching sailing during summers while in college. His sailing experience includes boats ranging from windsurfers to large cruising boats. Jeff lived aboard a 44′ Catamaran for 3 years with his wife and 5 children. As a family, they cruised between the Chesapeake Bay and the Bahamas. If you want tips on sailing with children, he is definitely the one to talk with! As a family, they are back on land for a while but are dreaming of new adventures. Captain Jeff also started a non-profit sailing organization to mentor at-risk teens through the sport of sailing. Planet Hope has been impacting the lives of young people for over 10 years. He has worked with young people through his church and other non-profit organizations in some capacity for over 25 years and brings this passion for young people to our Youth Sailing Camps. Captain Jeff holds his 100 Ton Master’s license, is an ordained minister, but he will tell you that his most important title is “dad”. He is also the founder of The Sailing Academy. He would rather be sailing than sitting in the office, so he actively teaches all levels of sailing.

Capt. Andrea Wilson Angie left her southern roots to pursue her dream of blue water sailing. She taught herself to sail Lasers before graduating up thru keelboats to the Pearson 35 that she now skippers and cruises. Besides teaching, she also goes on deliveries throughout the Chesapeake Bay region. Angie enjoys sharing her passion for sailing and her enthusiasm is infectious. Capt. Angie spends her winters teaching and sailing in the Bahamas. You cannot help but fall in love with the sport as she shares her knowledge and skills out on the Bay.

Capt. Phinehas Bowen Captain “Phin” started sailing early when he spent several years of childhood living and cruising on a sailboat with his family. Phin has sailed over 80,000 ocean miles and has extensive cruising experience in the Bahamas and along the east coast of the US. He earned his USCG Captain’s license at 18 and has been teaching at The Sailing Academy for over 8 years.

Capt. Jack Zuraw Jack Zuraw is a registered architect, but he’s been interested in boats since he was a kid daydreaming about the Chesapeake steamboat era and sailing a Sunfish on family vacations. Since then, he’s crewed on racing sloops on the Bay and sailed up and down the East Coast. Post graduate studies on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts set the stage for an enduring interest in traditional boats. He built a Catboat called the “Julia Rose” in the 1970s and 1980s and repaired a semi-dory, designed by John Gardner of Mystic Seaport and built by Jack’s wife’s grandfather in the 1960s. When the opportunity arose to buy and restore a Bay built boat, it seemed like a pretty natural thing to do. Jack holds a US Coast Guard 50 ton Masters credential with a sail endorsement.

Capt. Ken Kessler Captain Ken started sailing in his teens as a Sea Scout on Lake Michigan. He continued his sailing hobby while in the Army (retired as a Colonel) and when he and wife Pat ran their own Engineering firm. He took the German Offshore Course in the Aegean Sea and has sailed numerous times in the North Atlantic. He has raced on the Chesapeake for 25+ years. He regularly participates in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race from Annapolis to Norfolk and races locally on a Beneteau 367. The only thing he enjoys more than sea stories and having fun is seeing students get the joy of mastering the skills to skipper a sailboat under all conditions. Captain Ken holds his USCG 50 Ton Master’s license with sailing endorsement for boats over 20 meters and ASA Instructor certification for Advanced Coastal Cruising (ASA106).

Capt. Burak Tanyu BIO