Maryland School Of Sailing

What Maryland School Of Sailing does

The Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship, Inc. is a privately held ASA-certified sailing school headquartered near Rock Hall, Maryland on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay, founded in 1991 with blue water ocean operations beginning in 1993. The school delivers a full curriculum of American Sailing Association certification courses (ASA101 Basic Keelboat through ASA108 Offshore Passage Making, plus ASA118 Docking Endorsement) taught primarily on 32–45 foot Island Packet cruising yachts, with course durations that exceed industry norms — including a 4-day ASA101 versus the more common 2-day format, and an 8-day, 400-mile ASA106 Advanced Coastal Cruise. Advanced ocean training cruises are conducted across Chesapeake Bay, the DELMARVA Peninsula, the Atlantic between Norfolk and Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the USVI/BVI, with over 310 such cruises logged since inception. Instruction is delivered by USCG Master-licensed captains (notably Captain Tom Tursi, a part-owner with 70,000+ blue water miles, Captain Gerald van Wilgen, and Captain Joe Kliment with 33,000+ offshore miles), and classroom-based navigation is offered both in-person and via live online classes for Coastal, Celestial, and Electronic Navigation.

The company's business model is direct-to-consumer professional services: students register through mdschool.net or by contacting the school office, with fees quote-based rather than publicly listed. A secondary revenue stream comes from the School Store, which sells proprietary instructional publications authored by Captain Tom Tursi — including the Coastal Navigation & Piloting and Docking Techniques textbooks (both adopted by ASA as standard texts), Celestial Navigation for Sailors, and the Offshore Training Cruises Preparation Guide — at unit prices ranging from $12 to $80. The firm has no institutional investors, no parent company, and no public funding; ownership is anchored by part-owner Tom Tursi. With approximately 5 employees, a single training base, and reliance on word-of-mouth, YouTube educational content, blog posts, free monthly Chat Nights, and a deep archive of student testimonials as marketing channels, the operation is small, asset-light, and differentiated by instructional depth, instructor credentials, and ASA-standard content rather than scale.

Name

Maryland School Of Sailing

Legal name

The Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship, Inc.

Website

https://mdschool.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship is a privately held ASA-certified sailing school in Rock Hall, Maryland that delivers beginner-through-ocean-passagemaking instruction on Island Packet yachts, primarily to individual recreational sailors in the Mid-Atlantic and Caribbean.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sailing Education & Maritime Training

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAOANAE

Navigation, Seamanship & Offshore Operations

Education/Vocational, Technical & Trade Education/Maritime, Logistics & Transportation Trades

SECONDARYTHAKAGAM

Educational Cruises & Shipboard Learning Programs

Travel & Hospitality/Travel Agencies, Tour Operators & OTAs/Group Travel & Educational Travel Operators

Keywords

• Sailing instruction
• ASA certification courses
• Ocean sailing training
• Marine navigation education
• Seamanship training

Headquarters

HQ city

Rock Hall

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Sailing Course Instruction: Revenue from teaching sailing courses ranging from basic keelboat sailing through advanced ocean training cruises. Courses vary from 1 day introductory classes to 8+ day advanced coastal and ocean passages. Students earn ASA certification at each level.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship is an American Sailing Association (ASA) certified sailing school that delivers hands-on sailing instruction ranging from beginner basic keelboat sailing through advanced offshore passage making. Courses are taught on rugged Island Packet cruising yachts (32-45 feet) out of Rock Hall, Maryland, with live-aboard training cruises on Chesapeake Bay, the DELMARVA Peninsula, the Atlantic Ocean between Norfolk and Bermuda, and the Caribbean/Virgin Islands. The school also produces and sells proprietary instructional textbooks and training materials authored by Captain Tom Tursi, two of which have been adopted by ASA as standard texts.

Product overview

Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship is a sailing education institution offering a comprehensive curriculum of ASA (American Sailing Association) certification courses ranging from beginner (ASA101 Basic Keelboat) through advanced ocean passage making (ASA108 Offshore). The school teaches on rugged Island Packet cruising yachts and provides live-aboard training experiences. The core product portfolio includes eight ASA certification courses (ASA101, ASA103, ASA104, ASA105, ASA106, ASA107, ASA108, ASA118) supplemented by Docking Practice Classes and Live Online Navigation Classes. Additionally, the school produces and sells a suite of proprietary training publications authored by Captain Tom Tursi, including the Coastal Navigation & Piloting textbook set (adopted by ASA as standard text), Docking Techniques for Single Engine Boats (ASA standard text), Celestial Navigation for Sailors, the Offshore Training Cruises Preparation Guide, and the DELMARVA Circumnavigation Training Plan. The school also offers video-based Coastal Navigation Class Lectures via YouTube. Over 310 advanced ocean training cruises have been completed since 1993.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ASA101 Basic Keelboat Sailing Course

Quantifiable outcome

• 310+ advanced coastal and ocean training cruises completed since 1993
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• American Sailing Association (ASA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerASA provides the certification framework and standards. Maryland School of Sailing is an ASA Certified School offering courses from basic through advanced levels. The school has developed proprietary textbooks (Coastal Navigation & Piloting and Docking Techniques) that ASA has adopted as standard texts for their certification curriculum.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• SailTime: National sailing club/school franchise offering ASA courses and boat membership across multiple U.S. locations. Broader, lower-touch alternative for entry-level sailing students.
• Sunsail Sailing School: International charter company with affiliated sailing schools in the Caribbean and Mediterranean offering ASA/RYA courses. Competes for vacationing sailing students in the Caribbean.

Direct peers

• Blue Water Sailing School: ASA school focused on blue water and offshore cruising instruction with multi-day live-aboard courses. Comparable to Maryland School in targeting ocean passagemaking students.
• J World Annapolis: Performance sailing school in Annapolis offering ASA and in-house curricula focused on racing and cruising skills. Competes for the same Chesapeake Bay sailing student base.
• Annapolis Sailing School: Long-established ASA-certified sailing school in Annapolis, MD on Chesapeake Bay. Directly competes with Maryland School of Sailing for beginner through advanced ASA students in the same regional market.
• Offshore Sailing School: ASA-affiliated blue water sailing school (founded by Steve Colgate) offering basic through offshore passagemaking instruction. Closest national-level competitor in the advanced/ocean passage niche.

Others

• US Sailing (association): National governing body for sailing in the U.S., offering its own certification pathway parallel to ASA. Functions as both a curriculum competitor and an industry body Maryland School interfaces with.

Regional players

• Modern Sailing School: ASA-certified sailing school in Sausalito, CA offering basic through advanced coastal cruising courses. Comparable curriculum structure to Maryland School but serves the West Coast market.
• Sailing School of Long Island Sound: ASA-certified school in the Northeast U.S. offering keelboat and coastal cruising courses. Comparable mid-Atlantic/Northeast ASA peer in a different geography.

Emerging players

• Dream Yacht Charter Academy: Charter operator with ASA-affiliated training centers in the Caribbean. Comparable destination-based learning model with Caribbean/BVI itineraries.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/mdschoolofsailing/videos
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/maryland-school-of-sailing

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Maryland School Of Sailing