Our Philosophy

“I started Sound Sailing to get more people involved in sailing by providing high quality instruction. Eight years ago, I was with a class coming up from Annapolis, and it looked like we were going to hit a line of intense thunderstorms just as we were coming in to Norwalk. I called to see if all the boats were in.

“All were, except for one, a student who was out with his family on their first sail after completing our Basic Keelboat course. We had one boat out looking for them, and I joined the search with my class. The squall line came through with winds over 30 knots and driving rain just as we passed Greens Ledge Lighthouse.

“Twenty minutes later, we found our new sailor. Although the conditions were awful, he had rolled up the jib, reefed the main, and was making good progress, with his family safely in the cabin. I felt pretty darn good to see him doing exactly what he should have done in difficult conditions, instead of panicking.   We may push you a little, and our classes are not easy, but as a result, you know you will be ready for anything. If this is the kind of professional, high quality program you are looking for, come sailing with us.”

—Martin van Breems Founder and owner of Sound Sailing Center

If there are 2 people taking lessons typically from the same family group, the lessons will be 4 hours long, running from 8am to Noon.  Of course, if you have 3 family members (or 2 adults and 2 kids) taking lessons together, the lesson will be 5 hours long.  We will do group lessons with up to 3 Adult family members per instructor/class.   In a 5 hour lesson, you get almost 50%  more time on the helm with 3 instead of 4 students (1.5 hours vs 1.1 hour).   

We have a class for any level.

Click the following links for more information
Instruction Overview
Junior Program
Try Sailing
Intro to Sailing
Basic Keelboat
Basic Cruising
Advanced Cruising
Bareboat
Ocean Sailing
Private Instruction