2026 Annapolis Boat Show | American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Visit American Sailing at the Annapolis Boat Show and connect with our team, explore our educational programs, meet fellow sailors, and learn more about our brands and experiences.

WHEN

october 15–18, 2026

Thursday – Sunday

Annapolis Boat Show

WHERE

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

City Dock, Annapolis, MD

TICKETS

Planning to join us?

Purchase admission directly

through the Annapolis Boat Show.

SCHEDULE

October 15th–18th

THURSDAY

OCT 15 • 9:50AM – 11PM

Get hands-on sailing experience during the Annapolis Sailboat Show with a First Sail Workshop designed to get you out on the water.

Location:

DOCK K

Presenter:

Sailtime

the art of teaching on the water

11:00 – 11:15 AM

Not open to the public. Affiliate schools and instructors only. RSVP required. Connect with fellow American Sailing instructors and affiliate schools for an evening gathering co-hosted with HILB.

Invite only

FRIDAY

OCT 16 • 8AM – 6:30PM

Get hands-on sailing experience during the Annapolis Sailboat Show with a First Sail Workshop designed to get you out on the water.

Location:

DOCK K

Presenter:

Sailtime

Score a free American Sailing sun shirt, wear it around the show, and you could take home the prize package!

Location:

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Giveaway:

Prize drawing time TBD.

Why sailing schools should go niche

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Not open to the public. Affiliate schools and instructors only. RSVP required. Join fellow American Sailing instructors for an exclusive luncheon and an opportunity to connect during the show.

Invite only

NORTHU: SAIL PERFORMANCE

2:30 – 2:45 PM

asv: no crew. no boat. no problem!

4:00 – 4:15 PM

SATURDAY

OCT 17 • 9AM – 10PM

Get hands-on sailing experience during the Annapolis Sailboat Show with a First Sail Workshop designed to get you out on the water.

Location:

DOCK K

Presenter:

Sailtime

Score a free American Sailing sun shirt, wear it around the show, and you could take home the prize package!

Location:

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Giveaway:

Prize drawing time TBD.

From Curious to Confident

9:00 – 10:00 AM

the art of teaching on the water

11:00 – 11:15 AM

NORTHU: SAIL PERFORMANCE

2:30 – 2:45 PM

asv: no crew. no boat. no problem!

4:00 – 4:15 PM

American Sailing members are invited aboard the new Tartan 34 for an exclusive evening gathering during the show.

No spots available

SUNDAY

OCT 18 • 10AM – 12PM

Get hands-on sailing experience during the Annapolis Sailboat Show with a First Sail Workshop designed to get you out on the water.

Location:

DOCK K

Presenter:

Sailtime

NORTHU: SAIL PERFORMANCE

2:30 – 2:45 PM

Sweepstakes & Giveaways

Stop by our booth at the Annapolis Sailboat Show for a chance to win, learn something new, and take home great prizes.

American Sailing Vacations Sweepstakes

ALL DAY, EVERY DAY

annapolis boat show ticket holders are automatically entered to win

$500 gift cert toward an American Sailing sponsored ASV vacation. No blackout dates, no expiration. Get your tickets at the show.

WEAR IT TO WIN IT

Free Sun-Shirt giveaway

Friday & saturday

BOOTH O24/O26

Free Sun-Shirt giveaway. Drawing time TBD.

Location

1 Dock Street, Annapolis, MD 21401.

First Sail Workshop

45-Minute

Classroom Overview

Perfect for

New sailors

90 Minutes

on-the-water instruction

A Hands-On Introduction to Sailing.

We are proud to partner with SailTime to bring new sailors to the water. This hands-on workshop will provide the beginning sailor with a 45-minute classroom overview of sailing basics followed by 90 minutes of instruction on board a Beneteau First 22.

American Sailing

sailing textbooks

Get 20% off sailing textbooks by attending the Annapolis Boat Show.

COME VISIT OUR BOOTH TO GET YOUR DISCOUNT!

AMERICAN SAILING

INSPIRING THE WORLD TO SAIL.

The world’s most recognized sailing certification, from your first lesson to bareboat charter.

American Sailing

AMERICAN BOATING

BOATING SAFETY MADE EASY.

Become a safe and confident power boater. Certifications and courses from the world’s leader in powerboat education.

northu

WHERE SAILORS BECOME RACERS AND RACERS BECOME CHAMPIONS.

Performance racing and boat handling from the sport’s best coaches, race weeks, seminars, and essential books to grow your skills.

American Sailing Vacations

SAILING TRIPS TO EXOTIC DESTINATIONS.

Charters, flotillas, and bucket list experiences in the world’s most beautiful waters.

About the BOATSHOW

Join American Sailing at the Annapolis Sailboat Show for a full weekend of learning, inspiration, and all things sailing. Stop by our booth and special sessions to sharpen your skills, meet fellow sailors, and discover where sailing can take you next.

American Sailing

Inspiring the world to sail

The Art of Teaching on the Water

Fifteen minutes on turning a first-timer into a regular.

Teaching someone to sail is its own skill, and the sailors who get good at it grow the next generation of sailors. Jenny Wight has spent years teaching people to sail, and she pulled what she’s learned into a new book, *The Art of Teaching on the Water* — now the manual behind American Sailing’s certified instructors.

 

At the booth, she’s sharing the short version: what to teach first, how much to hand over and when, and the small wins that make someone fall for sailing on their first day out. Good for instructors, and just as good for anyone who wants their friends and family on the boat more often. Bring your questions — Jenny’s here to talk about them.

 

Bring your copy of The Art of Teaching on the Water and Jenny will sign it. Order yours and have it in hand when you get here: Get The Art of Teaching on the Water Textbook

Location:

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Presenter:

Jenny Wight (American Sailing)

SAIL PERFORMANCE

The fastest upgrade to your boat is free!

In this short and salty session, KB will share tips and tricks for pulling real performance out of the sails you already own. Racers and cruisers both — if you have a boat and you have sails, there’s a way to power up!

Kristen Berry is the Director of North U and based right here in Annapolis. He is a full-time educator and has coached sailors at every level all over the world.

Location:

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Presenter:

Kristen Berry (North U)

No Crew. No Boat. No Problem!

You don’t need to own a boat to spend a week on one.

There’s a sailing vacation for any type of sailor. Zeke Quezada, Chief Development Officer at American Sailing, walks through the three ways to take a sailing vacation: a guided flotilla (by the cabin or boat) with a leader, a learn-to-sail week that sends you home certified, and a crewed luxury yacht where somebody else does all the work.

 

Greece, Croatia, Mallorca, the Bahamas and Beyond! How to pick the trip that matches your experience, your budget, and how much you actually want to do on vacation. Come with a destination in mind, and Zeke will tell you how to get there. Stick around after, and he’ll help you plan it. He might even give you a discount code to save big on a sailing vacation.

Location:

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Presenter:

Zeke Quezada (American Sailing Vacations)

Why Sailing Schools Should Go Niche

Lessons from Rebuilding Sailing Virgins Around One Kind of Sailor.

Sailing Virgins is one of the fastest-growing schools in the American Sailing network — and it got there by narrowing its focus, not widening it.

 

Building for everyone means building for no one. When Sailing Virgins narrowed its focus to younger sailors, everything downstream got easier: the marketing, the instructor hiring, the boat economics. In this session, founder James Kell breaks down how a school of any size can pick a niche and build around it. He covers the weekly content habit that drives organic bookings, why paid ads should be a third of your sales and not all of them, what it takes to pay and train instructors properly, and the referral loop that turns past students into your best sales channel.

Location:

American Sailing Booth O24/O26

Presenter:

Sailing Virgins

From Curious to Confident

A Guided Conversation for Beginner Sailors.

New to sailing and have questions? Hit the show early and take advantage of a panel of sailors who love sharing their love of sailing and expertise.

 

American Sailing and the Annapolis Sailboat Show are bringing together sailors whose journeys into sailing look nothing alike — the self-taught, the certified sailor, the competitive racer, and the sailor who grew up on the water. We’ll have a conversation about what it actually takes to get into sailing and keep going — how to start from zero, what to do after your first sail, and how to keep advancing once you’ve got the basics down.

 

Guests will enter through the Yacht Basin gate with a special early-access ticket, which includes admission to the show for that day. Early-access ticket holders can enter before the general gates open, giving you time to grab a seat and enjoy the panel while still having the whole day ahead of you. Once the panel wraps, look for our Boat Show Guides, who’ll help first-time showgoers navigate the largest sailboat show in America!

Location:

Seminar Tent

Presenter:

Kira Maixner (American Sailing)