Become a sailing instructor in Greece.
Seven nights in the Saronic Gulf, teaching real students across a five-catamaran flotilla, with a senior instructor coaching you every day. 8 places, by application.
The Sailing Virgins Instructor Academy in Greece is a one-week sailing instructor training program, 19 to 26 June 2027, sailing from Athens through Poros, Hydra and Aegina. Candidates live aboard a five-catamaran flotilla, teach real students on the other boats, are coached daily by senior instructors, and finish with their ASA instructor evaluation. Tuition is $4,990 with merit scholarships of up to 50%.
- Dates
- 19 to 26 June 2027
- Where
- Saronic Gulf, from Athens
- The fleet
- Five catamarans, 42 to 46 feet
- Places
- 8 candidates
Inside the Instructor Academy.
Five boats of real students. That is the classroom.
Most instructor courses have candidates teach each other. In Greece you teach the sailors on the flotilla: beginners working toward their first certification, and returning sailors stepping up a level.
Every morning you plan and run real briefings and manoeuvres. A senior instructor watches how you teach, not just how you sail, and every evening the fleet ties up in the same harbour for the debrief.
| An instructor clinic on its own | The Greece Academy week | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An evaluation of skills you already have | Training in how to teach, then your evaluation |
| Length | Two to three days | Seven nights aboard |
| Who you teach | Other candidates playing beginners | Real students on the other boats of the fleet |
| Coaching | Feedback at the end | A senior instructor coaching you every day, with a debrief every evening |
| Afterwards | A certificate | The method, and for the strongest graduates an invitation to teach with us |
A new harbour every night, a new lesson every morning.
Remote prep before you fly, so the week is spent on the water. Then seven nights through the Saronic islands, weather permitting.
- 1
Athens
Pick up the boats, meet the rest of the fleet and spend the first night together in the marina.
- 2
Poros
The first proper sail, out of the city and across the gulf. Poros town sits on a channel so narrow you can almost call across to the mainland, with a clock tower on the hill and tavernas all along the quay.
- 3
Ermioni
A real fishing town on the Peloponnese coast, where the locals still outnumber the visitors. Fresh fish in the harbour tavernas and a walk through the pines out on the headland.
- 4
Spetses
If the wind allows. Pine woods, beaches and an old harbour where wooden boats are still built by hand. It was home to Bouboulina, who led her own warships in the Greek War of Independence, and her house is now a museum.
- 5
Dokos
Hardly anyone lives here. A big, quiet bay with clear water and no town at all, so it is swimming, rafting up with the fleet and dinner under the stars. One of the oldest shipwrecks ever found lies just off its shore.
- 6
Hydra
The one people talk about for years. There are no cars on the island, only donkeys, water taxis and stone lanes. Old captains' mansions climb the hills around a tiny horseshoe harbour, the boats squeeze in side by side along the quay, and you swim off the rocks before watching the sun go down from the cliffs. Leonard Cohen lived here for years, and you will see why.
- 7
Aegina
Our last night together, on the island famous for its pistachios, with a 2,500-year-old temple up in the pine trees.
- 8
Back to Athens
An early start on Saturday morning for the short sail back to the marina, then breakfast together before everyone heads home.
Can you sail, and do you want to teach?
- Real time on the water as a skipper, or as a strong mate
- You are happy standing up in front of a crew to brief and debrief
- Patience for the moment a student gets it wrong for the fifth time
- You can spend 19 to 26 June 2027 in Greece
Never taught before? Most of our best instructors hadn't either.
- Your berth aboard for the week
- Remote prep before you arrive
- Daily coaching from senior instructors
- Your ASA instructor evaluation
- Merit scholarships of up to 50%, decided after your interview
8 places. Applications are reviewed as they arrive.
Apply from your captain profile. Your application is also your scholarship application.
- Step 1
Apply
About ten minutes from your captain profile.
- Step 2
Interview
A call with our senior instructors.
- Step 3
Offer
Your place, and any scholarship, by email.
- Step 4
Confirm
Pay your deposit from the link in your offer.
Come on the flotilla. No application.
New to sailing, or an Ex-Virgin coming back? Join the same week as a sailor, on your own boat with your own instructor. $4,715 per person, and Ex-Virgins have their own rate.
Book my spotMore about the flotilla week