In Step 1, your sailor will get their first taste of sailing at Courageous. They will explore the Boston Harbor, learn the parts of a sailboat and their purpose, and start practicing basic skills that will be important in their future on the water, like rigging/derigging, skippering, and tying knots. Though students will leave the pier with a lot of new knowledge and stories, our main goal is to get every sailor more comfortable and confident while out on the water and excited to keep sailing. To reach this goal in the 1-week (4 or 5 day) session, our instructors will teach through a fun, high-energy, game-based approach on stable keelboats, Rhodes-19s. Days may include a field trip out to Spectacle Island, a harbor scavenger hunt, a raucous round of Follow the Leader, and plenty of fun, games, and crafts during on-land time. No prior sailing experience is necessary, though all students must be able to demonstrate a minimum level of swimming competency.

A course new to Courageous in 2025, Step 1+ is an introductory sailing course for 12 - 16 year olds to learn sailing basics at an accelerated pace. Sailors will start on Rhodes-19s with instructors on board and direct supervision, then will learn to sail without instructors on board, and transition to dinghy sailing by the end of the week if conditions allow. The course is designed to prepare older students for our upper level Steps, so they can join Step 3, 4, or 5 by the next summer. Step 1+ is a 4 day course that runs during the same dates and times as Step 1 Session 3.