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Marina del Rey Sailing School

One World Sailing Academy is based in Marina del Rey, California, one of the most influential and recognizable sailing harbors on the West Coast.
At one point in time, Marina del Rey was considered the largest man-made marina in the world, and it still remains one of the largest man-made marinas in the world today.

Marina del Rey was developed in the 1960s as one of the largest federally funded small-craft harbors ever constructed in the United States. Over the decades, it became a major center for recreational boating, yacht ownership, sailing education, marine services, and Southern California sailing culture.

Today, Marina del Rey is home to well over 5,000 privately owned vessels, along with numerous commercial vessels, charter companies, yacht brokers, sailing schools, repair facilities, and marine-related businesses. It has also served as a launching point for countless Catalina sailors, offshore cruisers, racers, and Pacific passagemakers over the years.

There are numerous sailing schools located in Marina del Rey, making it one of the most active sailing education environments in Southern California.

Over the years, I have taught sailing at at least three of those schools, along with a tremendous amount of private sailing instruction as well.
Our focus is directed toward people who want to commit more seriously to offshore passage making and blue water sailing. They are committed to the cruising lifestyle itself, whether seasonally or eventually full-time. These people want to exit the rat race and pursue a life centered around sailing and exploration. They are my heroes.
As far as I know, there is not a single true advanced live aboard and learn to sail Marina del Rey program currently being offered in the area.

And if there is something live aboard and learn to sail Marina del Rey related being offered, I would strongly suspect it is not focused on advanced offshore sailing or immersive seven-day and ten-day expeditions throughout Channel Islands National Park and the surrounding Southern California islands. I am also one hundred percent sure they are not offering an approximately 1,100-mile offshore training passage from Southern California to Baja Mexico like we do every November. It is also unlikely that the training is being conducted aboard a Category A blue water cruising sailboat like the Amel Super Maramu 2000.

You will probably find a school with a coastal cruising vessel where students stay aboard at the dock while taking beginning sailing lessons on a smaller vessel, and later progress into an intermediate-level class involving a trip to Catalina Island aboard a coastal cruiser. I know those programs exist because I have personally taught those types of classes myself. But that is a very different experience than a fully immersive offshore liveaboard training expedition.
We are based in Marina del Rey, which is a full day or, even better, an overnight sail away from Channel Islands National Park and the surrounding Southern California islands. This area is a true proving ground for vessels preparing for offshore cruising and an ideal location to hone seamanship skills and teach the art of coastal cruising, offshore passage making, and blue water sailing.
It is an outstanding environment for advanced offshore sail training. The Channel Islands National Park, Catalina Island, and the surrounding offshore islands provide excellent opportunities to fully utilize all onboard systems, build solid seamanship skills, practice navigation, anchoring, watch standing, and prepare crew and vessel for true offshore blue water cruising.
Our three-day, seven-day, and ten-day passages departing from Marina del Rey are fully immersive liveaboard training experiences. Students live aboard the vessel throughout the trip, and the courses are completely hands-on from beginning to end.

As a Marina del Rey Sailing School, our focus is heavily directed toward advanced offshore and blue water sailing skills. Training includes sail handling, sail configurations, navigation, anchoring techniques, night passages, safety procedures, offshore routines, weather routing, passage planning, watch standing, and onboard systems management.

If your goal is offshore cruising or blue water sailing, it is extremely important to get your hands dirty mechanically and become comfortable understanding and maintaining the systems aboard your vessel before departing on serious cruising adventures.
If you are searching for an advanced sailing course in Marina del Rey, you should ask some very specific questions before choosing a program.
  1. Is the person you are speaking with about sailing courses actually an experienced sailor, offshore sailor, or licensed captain themselves? Or are they simply handling office work, bookings, or sales?
  2. Do you actually offer advanced offshore sailing courses? How often are they offered? What is the duration of the course? And what cruising grounds will the course take place in?
  3. What type of vessel is the advanced class being taught on? Is it a true offshore-capable blue water cruising vessel, or is it primarily a Category B or lesser coastal cruiser?
  4. How many prerequisites are required before taking the advanced offshore cruising course?
  5. Will you still conduct the advanced offshore cruising course if only one student signs up, or will the course be canceled?
  6. Do you offer a certificate showing that the student successfully completed the full course that may be useful for insurance companies in the future regarding vessel ownership, or for charter companies so you can charter vessels?

We look forward to meeting you and introducing you to some of the best cruising grounds and offshore training environments Southern California has to offer.