Aug. 14, 2009
Q: Why are the sailing classes at Green Bay Marina three to four times more expensive than at other Navy installations? I reached a dead-end to this question with MWR staff. The basic 2-day sailing class costs:

• CFAY: $150

• CFAS: $50

• NAVSTA San Diego: $75

I received my sailing training at Naval Station Norfolk for $39 about six years ago. Is the quality of instruction really worth the extra money?

A: Thank you for allowing us to respond to your concern. We contacted the other base you mentioned and compared their sailing programs to ours. In brief, the analysis concluded that when comparing similar programs, our sailing program basic sailing certification course is very closely aligned with both Norfolk ($200/class) and San Diego ($125-$175/class). As for the Sasebo program, there are many differences in their program compared to ours. The most significant difference is that our staff instructors are certified by the American Sailing Association (ASA) whereas their staff has no affiliation with any sailing association. In fact, to ensure we offer a qualified and safe sailing program we pay for ASA Instructor Trainers to travel to Yokosuka and train and certify our local sailing instructors every two years. This certification adds considerably to our costs, but we feel its well worth the expense to ensure our instructors are well-trained, and equates to well prepared customers and safer Sailors. The Sasebo classes have many other differences, including types and sizes of boats used, curriculum and total hours trained. In summary, on the surface, fees and class descriptions can be understandably misleading. However, in this case, once the matter was drilled down and a comparison of like programs was conducted, we discovered that our sailing program fees are similar with other Navy MWR sailing programs. The same analysis holds true for the Youth/Teen/Junior sailing programs. Contact the MWR Recreation Director Paul Lopez at 243- 1215 for any additional questions or concerns you may have.