Pacific Yachting and Sailing

The best! Highly recommend for chartering and the school. Could not have been an easier experience. The instructors and Marc are all great to work with.

With no prior sailing experience (but always loving the water), I woke up one morning (at age 56) and decided maybe I should take up sailing. I went on line. Based on the 5 star Unilocal reviews you are reading right now I signed up with Marc Kraft’s Pacific Sailing school. The result? Every outstanding review you are reading here is spot on. At the hands of Marc’s outstanding instructors I learned to captain 30′ sailboats on the Monterey Bay over the course of four delightful weekends. I have been out on the water, in one of the beautiful boats in Marc’s charter program, every weekend since (tides and winds permitting). I’ve found a new passion, I’ve made wonderful new friends, and I’ve found new horizons for travel and adventure.

Marc and his instructors are knowledgeable and friendly, and made getting my ASA Bareboat certification a blast! The boats are well taken care of. I’m already recommending Pacific Yachting and Sailing to any of my friends who have the sailing bug.

Just did the 2 day basic keelboat course.
Couldn’t ask for more — very pleasant guys, know their stuff, very professional, great fun. Justin our skipper was excellent. Highly recommended.

Took ASA 104 bareboat charter course. Instructor was super knowledgable and very calm. By far the best sailing instructor I have ever had. This made it a fantastic learning experience. We covered all essential aspects of docking, motoring, and sailing in two days. The boat was very well equipped and the harbor in Santa Cruz is conveniently located to get out onto the pacific. In the summer wind is calm in the morning which is perfect to practice docking and picks up a lot in the afternoon which is great for sailing. There is convenient parking. All in all a fantastic experience for a very reasonable price. I would go back here any time for more lessons or to charter.

I just took the 8 day course with Pacific yachting and Sailing and loved every moment of it. The instructors are professional (we sailed with Captain Todd and Captain Dillon) accurate, calm and patient. This completele new adventure was fun and interactive, covered all of the topics in the ASA exam, and most importantly gave me the life skills to take a sail on the water and be confident about chartering a boat for the upcoming weekend. It was my vacation and what a treat that was! Mark was amazing on explaining all of the details of the course and was extremely supportive. I am looking forward to continuing my further certifications with Mark and chartering boats (which are in great condition) from Pacific Yachting and Sailing.

I love Marc and his company! I completed the Bare Boat Certification Classes and now I am certified as a skipper to charter a bare boat. It was an amazing and intense experience and one that I wouldn’t trade for the world! All of the Captains were professional and wonderful to work with. I encourage anyone who has wanted to learn to sail to take the classes offered and full fill your dream as I did!

Amazing experience with these guys. Marc is extremely professional, responsive and accommodating.
We had Captain Frank for two all day lessons as a couple. He is knowledgeable, experienced, thorough and above all extremely patient. He really gave us the opportunity to get a feel for the boat rather than just text book steps in completing the sailing drills. From turning a 32 ft sail boat on a dime, docking it, anchoring, sailing all points, jibing, tacking picking up a man over board and heaving to; Frank takes you through everything step by step and you practice until you get it. He gives you a feel for the wind, the waves and installs confidence that you can be safe in stronger breezes and higher seas. Excellent experience!

I don’t normally write reviews, but my experience with Pacific Yachting and Sailing has been amazing. I just completed the 8 day course: Marc was incredibly knowledgeable, has awesome instructors, and greets everyone with a friendly hello each Saturday morning. They have just the right blend of professionalism and skill, combined with a relaxed, conversational and friendly atmosphere that makes you feel really comfortable. I took the course over 4 weekends (I couldn’t do it consecutively and Marc was really helpful and understanding when I changed my schedule a few times due to work). I had a different instructor each time which was great, because I learned from instructors with all different backgrounds including tall ships, chartering companies, racing, cruising, etc. They all had a different style, which I appreciated, because I learned so much from each of them. The instructors all speak very highly of Marc and his company, which is always great to hear and indicative of the company as a whole (I worked with Dylan, Darcy, Bryan, and Steven). I highly recommend Pacific Sail for learning how to sail. My confidence increased with each class and I can’t wait to charter boats!

Just did the 2-​day basic sailing and seamanship training and the experience has been amazing. Shannon (our instructor) was great — took his time to walk us through all aspects of sailing and had some great experiences & stories to share. We were given the full control of the boat both the days and got a chance to play all the parts of a sailing crew.
We’ll probably complete the 8-​day course sometime soon and get ourselves certified to rent a boat the next time!
Recommended.

Pacific Yachting and Sailing is a top notch sailing school. My wife and I took Basic Coastal, Intermediate Coastal, and Bareboat Chartering with three different instructors, all of whom were top notch professionals and really nice people. We took our last class and checkout on a 46 foot Beneteau (at our request and for an extra fee) in winds up to 15 mph and left PY&S feeling very confident and safe on the water. Marc Kraft and his crew of instructors were very supportive of and attentive to our sailing goals. His fleet of vessels are beautiful and in A#1 condition. Santa Cruz Harbor was a great place to take our lessons; we learned how to safely maneuver a large sailboat around tight quarters and feel confident of our ability to perform the task independently. The instructors gave us plenty of time to practice and built our confidence. We were drilled in «man overboard» exercises, anchoring, picking up a mooring, points of sail, and navigation in the beautiful Monterey Bay. On our first day of classes we had dolphins swimming at the bow of our yacht and on our last day of classes we saw a whale while we were sailing to Capitola, it was so cool! We became members of PY&S — with a membership (1 per family) the classes and charters are discounted. Our goal was to feel confident about bareboat sailing in the British Virgin Islands, a dream I have had all of my adult life. Not only do I feel confident, but Marc booked the trip for us, and helped us select the yacht! I look forward to sailing Monterey Bay in the future, and also to taking more classes through PY&S. I highly recommend this company.

Highly Recommended Provider. I’ve been sailing for a long time — first as a kid on sunfish boats at summer camp, then as an adult on charters in California, the Med, the Caribbean. I finally decided to get my ASA Bareboat Charter License and checked out different providers in the Bay Area.
Really glad we chose Pacific Yachting and Sailing. The equipment was in excellent shape and our three family member gang got lots of helm time and a deep understanding of how to manage the boat in tight quarters with every possible docking situation covered including port, starboard, reverse, spring off and taking on fuel.
Our teacher, Chris, was remarkably patient and his style helped every member of our family develop real confidence about every aspect required for competent bare boat chartering from sail management, to marina navigation, anchoring, man overboard and radio communications. I’ve had lots of technical training over the years (private pilot) and all I can say is Chris is a gifted, natural instructor who imparts confidence and owns a depth of knowledge that makes it possible for him to connect with every learning style.
Looking forward to becoming a Pacific Yachting and Sailing member and spending lots of time out on Monterrey Bay with the family.

Still the best! The experience that started with Mark and his team has taken us far!

Marc and the team at Pacific Yachting ran a Corporate Team Building Challenge for my group at work. We had a fantastic day, everyone had a great time. it was the perfect balance of fun and competition. I recommend it highly!

We took the Private 8 Day Bareboat course, and could not be happier with the experience.
Marc, the owner, was easy work with and very helpful. He promptly mailed us the ASA books, and was alway quick to respond to our questions. We had taken the time to study the course materials prior to arriving, which definitely helped a lot.
We were able to sail in several different wind conditions, that will be a normal occurrence for this, and the SF Bay area. Our Instructor, Todd Johnson, was patient and knowledgable, and had an excellent disposition. He was very supportive and challenged us, as our sailing ability developed/​improved.
Staying on the sailboats over night was a great bonus, and there are many fantastic restaurants right within easy walking distance from the marina. Our personal favorite was Johnny’s Harborside! We also enjoyed eating our lunch at anchor, as well as docking for lunch.
We look forward to returning to Pacific Sail soon!

My husband, son, and I just completed 8 days ASA bare boat sailing certification course at Pacific Yachting and Sailing. We all loved it and had great experience!
Marc Kraft is a very knowledgeable, helpful, and accommodating manager.
We had a pleasure to learn how to sail in style from 4 excellent instructors — Steven, Chris, Chrysta, and Mark.
We would highly recommend Pacific Yachting and Sailing!

Booked a 3 hour team building «race» for over 50 folks in my company. Everyone LOVED it and can’t wait to do it again next year. Marc, the owner, was awesome to deal with — answered all of may questions and made everything easy — I looked like a rock start to my team for booking this team building event. We had 6 folks on 9 different boats and all 9 captains were great. Wonderful fun for the inexperienced and experienced sailors both. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

Pacific Yachting and Sailing is the best for sailing classes, and chartering. I took a basic sailing class a few years ago with another outfit so I have something to compare to and PY&S is by far the better experience. The instructors are all different but are friendly, and are more than competent. They are not professional instructors but some have great experience and will give you valuable insight into sailing and sailboats, in addition to the class material. And, if you really like sailing you can get on the crew list and will be notified via email when someone needs a crew member. Marc Kraft, the owner, does his best to make sure you have a memorable and enjoyable experience.

Took a sunset cruise last weekend on the Chardonnay II. The staff were helpful and friendly. And the snacks were quite yummy. Loved the free flowing wine! Would love to do it again if I am ever in the area.

Hi Marc,
I wanted to send you this note to thank you for the exceptional ASA training I have received at Pacific Yachting and Sailing over the last three weekends. I have been very impressed with the quality of training, knowledgeable instructors, equipment, and professionalism of your operation. I am a flight instructor myself so understand importance of all these factors and you have exceeded my expectations to make me a safe and competent sailor. This past weekend I completed my ASA 104 Bareboat certification and looking forward to wonderful sailing experiences in the near future with my family and friends. Thank you!