I took the beginning keel boat course in Late July 2025. All of the instructors (3) were obviously great instructors and experienced persons. Top Notch. BUT in this basic class, one must remember that not only are you learning to sail a boat BUT you are also learning a new language. Sailors have their own language. Period. A rope is no longer a rope but a Sheet. Or a halyard. Confusing, eh? So do your reading before the course. There are also 3 different instructors on three different days. That leads to some confusion as each has their own nuances. It might be helpful to students if the 3 of them sailed together one day to learn how everyone is teaching students; it may help resolve some of the confusion for students. read more

Top notch all the way around! Great instructors, great dock techs, great boats; you will not be disappointed.

Stopped by here with a friend who was interested in viewing an available boat. It was a pleasant enough experience. Windworks sells boats and offers lessons and rentals. The gentleman who eventually helped us was focused on the classes and was very informative. He never was pushy, though kept emphasizing that if he wanted to buy a boat he should put down money now otherwise it would be years before another of that model came available. What caused me to pause was that my friend discussed in the beginning that it would be at least two years before getting a boat. I felt there was a bit of a disconnect there. The classroom looked nice. The instructor walked us through with a description of the various available classes and which ones to take in what order. Literature was provided to review later. We were able to sit on the boat my friend was looking at and it was everything he was imagining it would be. No one assisted us with that tour except a worker pointed us in the direction of the boat. That was fine. It was a nice, leisurely experience. read more

We've been members of Windworks for a few years now and have had a great experience with them. It's so nice to be able to have access to an entire fleet of top-notch boats without all the hassle of ownership. This is a great option with lots of flexibility and the boats are in excellent shape. With respect to instruction, I took the Basic Keelboat 1 class with Nancy last week and it was awesome (my husband is the certified sailor in our family). Very small class, lots of individualized attention, and Nancy was an incredible instructor both in the classroom and out on the water. She's clearly committed to ensuring that her students learn their stuff, and it shows. I'll be doing Basic Keelboat 2 next and am looking forward to it. read more

I have completed courses at Windworks through Bareboat Cruising and the experience has been great. Most recently I spent two days on a 46' Dufour with Captain Jon Fritzberg. Jon is incredibly knowledgeable and just an all around great guy. Highly recommended! read more

I took a class on sailing with an asymmetric spinnaker with John Reigart. The class was phenomenal, John was an experienced racer and throughout the day was giving tips on trim, helming, how to read the wind or current, how to think like a tactician on race day. And that's all on top of the actual content. We walked through each and every step of the evolutions - prepping the sail, hoisting, gybing, and dousing. For dousing, we went through each form (windward, leeward, and onto the jib). In addition to talking about it, we did it. In the morning, we took turns at each position, with John helpfully talking us through and answering every question. For lunch, we pretended to be racing to give that little bit of added pressure to improve our focus as we rounded the upwind or downwind mark. read more

Great places, great instructors, boarts are in great state, a lot of new boats, good technicians providing help Great captains organizing Friday sunset sails All sorts of activities are done well I chartered boats, I received instructions, i was at sunset sails. a great club read more

Just completed my 8th class with Windworks - Bareboat Cruising. This was an excellent overnight sailing class taught by Jon Fritzberg, one of the best instructors I've met. Jon set a great tone in the class: Super patient, asked great questions to ensure we all got time on areas we felt needed more attention, and provided very insightful instruction. Well done, Windworks and Jon! Highly recommended. read more

Windworks has a great fleet of vessels and fantastic instruction. As a US Sailing affiliate they offer the full suite of US Sailing Certifications. The location is perfect and the staff is phenomenal. Schedule a lesson with Nancy, who is both patient and superiorly knowledgeable! I cannot say enough good things about the experience. read more

Windworks Sailing & Powerboating - Boating Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Some friends and I rented a sailboat for the afternoon yesterday. Captain Mike was great! The boat was very clean and comfortable. We were allowed to bring food and beverages of our choice. We sailed around Puget Sound for 6 hours. It was a relaxing and beautiful experience. I don't see how a person could go wrong chartering from Windworks! read more

My wife and I took keel1 sailing class. Bez was the instructor and we had 2 other students. Great class. Nice pace and Bez did a great job explaining everything. Very informative classroom and on the boat. I would highly recommend. read more

I've been a Windworks member for about a year now and have really enjoyed chartering and experiencing/learning on different sailboats. This year I decided it was time to buy my own sailboat and stopped by Windworks to check out a listing they had. As sellers the staff were a great in showing me their listings and answering questions about every aspect of the boat. I was really interested, but also interested in checking out other listings in the area. Karolee, one of Windworks agents, proactively offered to help check availability in the area and beyond. When I found the boat I was pretty sure would be mine, Karolee initiated the conversation with selling brokerage, even though they weren't offering co-brokerage. She discovered they were willing to do a lower than standard commision, but I would never have known it. Karolee's involvement from start to finish was top notch! This was the boat for me and she helped every step of the way in arranging the showing, offer, survey, escrow, and import from Victoria, BC. Having taken delivery I am so happy that I went with Windworks for my sailboat purchase. All I had to do was fill out the paper work along the way and Karolee covered the rest. I would definitely recommend working with Windworks whether you are a member or not on your next boat purchase! read more

Our sailing skills were rusty and we needed certification to charter. We joined Windworks and first took Powerboating certification with instructor Brian Gross. We just finished our Basic Keelboat series and had requested Brian again. Brian is a fantastic teacher. He is patient, matches instruction to individual needs and adds humor and unique sailing life hacks to simplify the mechanics. We've taken out Catalina Capris 22 twice since getting certified - one day w light rain, and another with winds at 10 plus mph. We felt confident leaving and returning to dock and sailing on the sound. Windworks dock support is also excellent. Everyone has been helpful and thanks to Victor - we now have the outboard motor start down. We are looking forward to a few more sails on the 22s and then heading into Basic Cruising - with Brian Gross again as our instructor. read more

I love this place! Sailing is the perfect Seattle activity and I have taken great classes here. Both Nancy and Elena have been lovely instructors, FULL of information and patience. They both did a great job at lowering anxiety and encouraging my love for sailing. I am looking forward to taking more classes with each of these instructors in the future. Thank you Windworks for helping people get out on the water! BTW, Le Reve was a great boat, very comfortable! read more

Took BK1 with Rainer, such a passionate and fun instructor! Loved this class and learned so much on the water in one day. Will most likely be taking BK2 & BK3 for the certification! read more

Windworks Sailing & Powerboating - Boating Near Me - Seattle, Washington

I've been sailing for years on other people's boats and finally decided to take a course and learn on my own. Windworks has the perfect program to learn from the basics through to the advanced levels of taking a boat out on your own. I knew what I was looking for so after a year of research I finally chose Windworks because they have the right balance of learning the aspects of sailing along with understanding the many systems of running a boat (wind, rigging, electrical, radio, engine, and navigation). Their instructors are patient, friendly, and knowledgeable enough to teach all levels from beginner to advanced. They teach in the classroom, use model boats to teach the basics, and then quickly get you out on the water. Very important is that they have a balanced fleet of small to large cruising and racing boats and they do a great job of keeping the boats in good clean shape. The class sizes are small so you get plenty of hands-on experience for yourself while learning from the other classmates. I've never had more than 3 other people on the boat which meant we each received alot time with the various systems. We learned to sail, dock, and work all of the equipment. After just a few classes I was able to feel comfortable taking a boat out on my own with friends. The membership program runs very efficiently and every weekend there's always someone taking a boat out so it's easy to just tag along to get time on the water. The whole process and costs make it so easy once involved you kind of get hooked. If you're looking to learn, or just get out and sail, Windworks is the way to go. read more

My daughter and I just completed the BK II course at Windworks. The boat was in great shape and we had a wonderful time and could not have asked for a better captain/instructor. Captain Barend was extremely knowledgeable and patient with us newbies. He let us work through problems we encountered instead of immediately taking over. Highly recommend the club and the captain. We'll definitely be taking BK III. read more

My husband and I took the Basic Keelboat 1 class with Barend. Learning to sail has been a goal for us both for years now, and after some quick online research we settled on Windworks. Everything from booking, to the class, to getting out on the water was a breeze. We thoroughly enjoyed learning from Barend and look forward to taking more lessons! read more

This review is for the Basic to Bare Boat certification - 5 day class. My husband and I got a LOT out of the class, and will be comfortable taking boats out after this! I would take a class from Windworks again. We took the Class with Michael Mullins, who is a very good teacher, and exceptionally knowledgeable. Laid-back teaching style but gets the points across. He was able to explain why answers on the cert tests were wrong--which was super helpful and a great way to gain knowledge. He also allowed us to do maneuvers as many times as we needed to be comfortable. The boat was in good shape and clean. Things to know- 1. Pick up your books and plan time to study them before you go if you want to be certified. We ended up with quite a bit of no-wind time, so could do some studying on board, but it would be better to not count on that. 2. Windworks "bareboats" these boats from the owners, so while they tell you you will need to bring your own bedding, you should also look at things like hand and dish towels, soap for bathrooms, any spices you want to cook with, etc. Honestly, I thought Windworks should have provided towels and soap--hard to dry dishes without towels, and from a sanitary perspective, the no soap or towels in the bathroom was ick. The heads smelled (boats do that) but doing some additional cleaning brought the smell way down. 3. You will buy food as a group. We did- but ended up eating out a couple of nights as it's a long day sailing then cooking. Don't over buy! You're also expected to buy the captain's/instructor's food--which Windworks should have let us know. (After shopping I asked other passengers for their 'fair share' based on an even split--so i ended up buying for the captain--which was 50% more than i expected to spend on food). Why a four and not a five star? There seem to be a few (mostly minor) glitches in their communications (like paying for the instructor's food) and practices. We were told that we would get a communication from instructor with additional information, but only got a one liner the day of. When going through the checklist, we discovered the registration on the boat was expired (they had some docs, but not the actual registration). I asked instructor twice before leaving for foul weather gear, and it didn't get on the boat. Overall- I expect to continue at Windworks. Had a very good experience, and I include the few hiccups for both future student and Windworks read more

All the instructors are good, but Mike is great! You will be on the water in no time with confidence. Highly recommended.

We took out Chester, a 34 ft Bavaria on a trip to Port townsend. Nice roomy boat. Most everything was in working order. A couple of minor things: no electric hot water but engine warming worked good and we used shore facilities at all our stops. We were somewhat disappointed with the mainsail not coming totally out from the roller furler. Don't know what was wrong. Otherwise, the boat was clean, roomy and in good shape. Before departure we had good support from the shore crew. Also good support coming back in. Because of problems with moorage at our destination I had to change boats on this reservation two times. Windworks staff were very helpful and patient with those changes. read more

If you have the opportunity to buy a boat from this guy, run away FAST! Everything about our first boat buying experience was a joy, except anything having to do with this astonishingly incompetent yacht broker. - Turf war between father and son about who "owned" the deal - Inexplicable delays in passing information to and from the seller -- sometimes 3 days between offer and counter - Lost parts from the boat between showing and closing - Expired registration -- title company had to purchase my registration stickers - No communication about delivery. Deal was done, he went radio silent. - Boat keys locked in son's van at the airport. Luckily we found a spare set hidden in the boat. Mark's response: "Relax, it's boating.Things happen!" If his sailing school is anything like his attitude about selling a very expensive piece equipment, I fear for his students' safety and sanity. read more

Will was my instructor for the BK1 class. I was really impressed with his depth of knowledge of sailing. He taught us thinks beyond what the class was tailored for as the situations arose. He was easy going and yet professional given the students in the class room to learn. Windworks sailing has a great fleet of well kept Catalina Capri 22 boats for the BK lessons. Boats are clean, outfitted well and great for learning. read more

Attended Day 2 of my 3 day sailing course with Windworks. Captain Patrick was awesome!! Patrick was so incredibly patient and took the time to have understand the theory behind Sailing, how everything works and why! He was interested in having me to able to think and work out what to do in any circumstance. I felt safe and very taken care learning completely new for me!!!! And I had fun and even managed to look good some of the time Highly recommend learning to Sail with this company read more

They provide fantastic sailing lessons all year! Plus Victor helped a lot with the purchase of our sailboat, and was very responsive and helpful whenever we had any general sailing or boat related questions about our boat! read more

After enviously watching the sailboats out on Elliott Bay, my husband and I decided to learn to sail. We attended the Boat Show, and signed up for membership and lessons (at a different club). Even with our first certification, we didn't feel comfortable or confident enough to take a sailboat out on our own, so we didn't. Enter Windworks. At the next year's Boat Show, we found the Windworks booth. We signed up for Basic Keelboat, for what we thought would be a refresher course, and also for Basic Cruising. The Windworks BK program was much more thorough, and a lot more fun! At the end of the class, we were even given two passes to take a boat out on our own, which we did. Then the BC course gave us the confidence to take out even bigger boats. The people at Windworks are friendly and very welcoming. Even to beginners. There is a "Windshare" program, where emails are sent out by members to help fill a charter -- most welcome beginners, some even welcome kids or guests. The boats are kept clean and in great shape -- yes, this means you have to wash down the boat and store the sails properly when you return it, and you will find it that way when you want to take it out. There is a wide range of boat sizes available to members, and many of the smaller ones available for day-sailing. If you want to buy your own boat, the owner, Greg, will be happy to talk to you about the option of including your boat in the charter program -- saving you money, and assuring your boat won't sit and gather moss. In summary, the boats are great, the classes are thorough, but the people make the club. All skill levels are welcome; there is no "clique". read more

I am absolutely new to sailing and chose Windworks Sailing Center over their competitors because the length of their sailing course was 3 days which was longer than the 2 days offered elsewhere. Also Windworks offered their course over 3 consecutive Saturdays which worked best for my schedule. This also allowed me to read the course material between classes which increased my learning. The class sizes were small and the instructors were very knowledgeable. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. This was a GREAT EXPERIENCE. I have just completed my 4th class with Windworks and would heartily recommend them to anyone! The Windworks rates for sailboat rental are extremely competive and convenient. Sailboats are generally available to me when my schedule allows me to go! read more

For me boating has been 99% fun and 1% anxiety while docking and maneuvering within the marina. Practice makes perfect and Windworks Sailing and Powerboating provided me with competent instruction, advice, and training to improve my powerboat handling. I took the Basic Powerboat Cruising 1 & 2 classes based on the US Powerboating Start Powerboating Right! curriculum. I haven't found very many places (San Juan Sailing is another) with qualified instructors patient, steadfast, and unflappable enough to let students practice docking and maneuvering power boats around the marina. I got some new tips on using spring lines to dock and undock in high wind. These folks have courage in the realm of driving instructors for teenagers and test pilots. I am very happy to have found powerboat instruction and charter availability less than 30 minutes from my home. Also... saw a really beautiful sailboat they have added to the fleet - is it time for me to get my sailing certification as well? Worth checking out for sure. read more

We took a Power Boating Basics class (two Saturday's) with Patrick, and it was a great experience! My husband is a long time sailor, but I am new to boating, and Patrick was able to teach effectively to both of our skill levels. Plus he is patient and fun! We both got hands on experience with everything on the boat, and we both learned a lot. The boat itself is a new Camano Troll 31, which is a good size to learn docking. Highly recommend, and can't wait to use our new skills! read more

Windworks Sailing and Power boating! Awesome! Windshare program allows you to go out with fellow members and enjoy a day of sailing, sharing the boat.....great fun! Karolee read more

I took basic keelboat 1 and 2 so far and have gone out with Will, Barend, and Giorgio and all were excellent instructors. 1 instructor to 3 students on the boat is just right. read more

Had a great introductory to sailing class ( keel boat 1) and look forward to doing the next 2 classes. The class was super informative and very accessible for newbies. Everyone was super friendly. Rainer and Nancy were the instructors and really knowledgeable and approachable. I felt like I really got the basics of sailing by the end of an 8 hour day. I'm hooked! Can't wait to do more. read more

Our experience with your team has been extraordinary! Captain Patrick taught us a series of the best sailing lessons. After completion of our lessons we started renting boats. Victor and the rest of the guys on the docks, who always kept the boats in tip top shape helped with any concerns we had. After a summer of renting we decided to buy a boat. Mark was so helpful offering up any advice and help we needed. He was honest and forthright on the cost and frustrations as well as the joys of owning a boats! Thank you to the crew at Windworks for giving us the joy of sailing! read more

I've been a member of Windworks for a long time, when I wanted to learn how to sail and "not just on those J boats", I was looking for power boats, sailboats, cruisers, and anything else I could enjoy for a weekend or more. Windworks had it all so I signed up, got my first couple of classes done for sailing and power boating the bigger boats. Fast forward a few years, I had dropped out of Windworks, but got the itch to sail again but I was married, wife not so keen on sailing "yet". I bought her a few sailing classes at Windworks, she got certified, LOVED it, now the closer, I convinced her we should buy a boat. We bought our boat, and because we had such a great experience as members at Windworks we put it in the fleet, Windworks takes better care of our boat than we ever could and we can write off the maintenance and repairs now! The staff at Windworks are passionate about boats and it shows in their performance. They make sure members enjoy the boat they rent and make sure that owners know about all problems that need repair or have been repaired at a very reasonable discount. The classes at Windworks are US Sailing certifications, Coast Guard approved, the instructors are as salty as they come, they've flushed more saltwater than Captain Ron has sailed on they are so salty. Six years working with Windworks and they are still the best yacht club in the PNW! read more

Having recently moved from the east coast I had a little extra time on my hands before starting my new job. A quick web search put me in touch with windworks where I arranged for a private class to learn the basics of sailing. Greg arranged for a one on one class with my instructor Adam, who was both knowledgable and friendly. Under his instruction I learned not only the mechanics of sailing, but a plethera of terminology, as well as practical experience in sailing maneuvers, and emergency procedures. Windworks is also military frfiendly, giving me a very generous discount for my years of service. Overall I would say that windworks is a very professional, friendly, and expert business that provides valuable instruction, and introduction into the world of sailing. I plan on spending many more days sailing and learning with them in the future. Book a sailing class with them because it will open up a world of great experiences to you. My instructor was both patient, and able to explain through practical demonstration all I needed to know to have a safe and rewarding experience sailing puget sound. read more

I completed the powerboat conversion class with instructor Brian last week. This class covered far more material than I had expected and allowed me to feel very confident when chartering a powerboat from the club. The class began with a refresher on the main systems on board. We then practiced close quarter maneuvering, MOB, and emergency avoidance/stop maneuvers. I really like the approach Brian took when teaching the class. We started practicing the maneuvers in wide open water areas. After the maneuver was well understood and practiced by the students, we then moved to narrower and narrower fairways while repeating the exercise. We also practiced docking at both the fuel and pump-out slips, which eases the pressure of having to do it during a charter. Brian is obviously a very experienced captain and did an incredible job at demonstrating and teaching the necessary skills to safely maneuver and dock a powerboat. I highly recommend this clinic for anyone considering chartering a powerboat from the fleet. Thanks for a great day! Paul. read more

Did BK2 with Barend and it was a great experience. Very patient and very hands-on kind of approach which makes everything better. Overall a fantastic skipper and instructor. Looking forward for BK3 and beyond read more

This review applies to the chartering membership. I've been sailing for past several years and just recently joined Windworks' chartering membership at $50 a month: it's awesome. The membership give you access to the community and access to a huge fleet of sailing and powerboats, everything from 22' to 42'. If you tend to prefer cruising well appointed boats over racing J-boats, Windworks is the program to join. The boats are always clean and in good condition, and they are very patient and accommodating to sailors of all abilities. Very good online management/reservation system, very helpful staff, and a customer-centric culture. When you arrive to charter the boat, it's usually opened up for you, ready to go with all of the supplies you'd need for a single-day or multi-day sail. Even in peak season, I have no problem getting the class of boat I want to take out. In fact, I usually don't have to make reservations that far in advance! Prices are very reasonable and depends the on size and age of the boat you want to charter. There's also a good sailing community at Windworks through the 'Windshare' program. Members seem to be very diverse but all are passionate about sailing safely. All-in-all, Windworks offers members a great program and it's so efficient and cost-effective, it offers all of the benefits of boat ownership and none of the disadvantages. read more

I've absolutely loved the training and coursework through Windworks. Rainer (one of their instructors) is absolutely the best. He provides so much great information, in an easy-to-understand way, all while building great confidence! Highly recommend. read more

I am writing to express the wonderful experience I've had so far as a new member of Windworks Sailing Club. I've been sailing for over 30 years and have previously belonged to other sail charter clubs. From day one, I found the folks at Windworks to be friendly, helpful, cooperative, thorough and professional in their dealings with members, and diligent with the maintenance of their charter fleet. I especially want to thank Windworks instructor Elena Leonard for the excellent private instruction that she gave to me and my partner. Elena not only has impeccable credentials and experience, but is also an especially gifted instructor. Using an engaging and somewhat Socratic style, she was calm, articulate and well-reasoned in every piece of advice she offered. Moreover, she was never dogmatic, and was refreshingly open to new information and ways of doing things. I highly recommend her. read more