Bill Ibsen

Photo of Bill Ibsen

Instructor in Buford, Georgia, USA

Rated 4.92/5 by 5 students

Level V Captain Rank Qualified Sailing Instructor / Assessor

Level V Bareboat Charter Master Rank Qualified Powerboat Instructor / Assessor

Teaching, coaching, and instructing others to grow in their knowledge, skill, and experience has been a decades-long passion of mine. Helping others to perform skills that at first seem daunting or scary, but with repetition and fine-tuning turn into “I really can do this!” or even “I’m good at this!” brings me great life satisfaction. I am teacher/instructor at heart, and bring multi-disciplinary experience into my sailing instruction. Serving as a professional high-performance driving instructor for the Porsche Experience Center plus my 20 years’ experience teaching and authoring national articles on off-road competition motorcycle skills, combined with being a NauticEd Course Author and Editorial Contributor, I feel comfortable teaching any adult student, male or female, especially in situations that feel like near a student's limits. I am a volunteer skipper for weeklong marriage sailing adventures around the breathtaking Caribbean waters of the BVI on new Voyage 590 catamarans.

Credentials

NauticEd Credentials

NauticEd System Knowledge Expert NauticEd System Knowledge Expert
Transformational Instructor Course Graduate Transformational Instructor Course Graduate
American National Standards Instructor/Assessor American National Standards Instructor/Assessor
SLC Instructor/Assessor SLC Instructor/Assessor
Catamaran Catamaran
  • Level V Captain Rank Qualified Sailing Instructor / Assessor
  • Level V Bareboat Charter Master Rank Qualified Powerboat Instructor / Assessor
  • American National Standards Instructor/Assessor
  • SLC Instructor/Assessor - Sail
  • SLC Instructor/Assessor - Power
  • Catamaran Instructor/Assessor

Other Credentials

NauticEd course and blog author and editorial contributor. Sailed in 9 countries. ASA101-108 certified. Skipper in British Virgin Islands. Porsche Experience Center, Atlanta, GA High Performance Driving Instructor; Porsche Club of America High Performance Driving Instructor. Executive coach, and professional corporate trainer specializing in emotional intelligence and conflict resolution. Trials motorcycle instructor/mechanic/minder for 20+ years.

Publications

Read the Expert Articles Bill Ibsen has written

Location

Lake Lanier, Atlanta, GA

6800 Lights Ferry Road Flowery Branch, GA 30542 USA Map it
I train on customer sailboats or powerboats, or on a 1989 Erickson 27' monohull at Lake Lanier
Notes: Contact me at billibsen@mac.com or 678-429-3479.

Training and assessment

Sail Practical Training Courses

Power Practical Training Courses

International License Training/Assessment

Notes: 1989 Erickson 27' Monohull with tiller

CONTACT WITH QUESTIONS OR TO SCHEDULE TRAINING

As a bonus "thank you", we'll give you two FREE sailing courses and electronic logbook!
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billibsen@mac.com
678-429-3479

Rate responsiveness

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Feedback from previous students

Christopher G., USA, AR, conway at 2026, Jun 16
Practical Competence of Bareboat Charter Master Rank
Bill took his job seriously and ensured that I was ready to charter a sailboat. This wasn't a "check the boxes" kind of assessment, and I really appreciate that. He asked good questions and taught me a few things in this final step of the SLC qualification. We focused on some of the areas that I had self-identified as weaker - in particular I was glad to get the opportunity to practice a few Med moorings and get his advice on how to train my crew. We also had a great discussion about the finer points of crew overboard retrieval. I hope all of the NauticEd instructors are as competent as Bill!
Spencer R., USA, GA, Decatur at 2026, Jun 08
Practical Competence of Bareboat Charter Master Rank
Bill was awesome. Patient, knowledgeable, and friendly. I learned a lot and I'd sail with him any time.
Lewis M., USA, GA, Gainesville at 2026, Jun 13
Practical Competence of Bareboat Charter Master Rank
Cudos to Bill Ibsen. He mentally prepped me for what to expect on a Charterboat and a charter environment. On our first charter I took the knowledge and more importantly the confidence that Bill gave me.
Dana M., USA, GA, Gainesville at 2026, Jun 10
Practical Competence of Bareboat Charter Master Rank
Bill is a great instructor and did an excellent job for my on water assessment. He made me feel relaxed and competent and gave me the confidence to do my own bareboat charter which I recently completed without incident. I felt totally at ease during my charter which I contribute to Bill's guidance during my competency assessment. I would highly recommend Bill as a NauticEd Instructor
Ryan M., USA, MN, Maplewood at 2026, Jun 16
Practical Competence of Bareboat Charter Master Rank
I had the privilege of completing my NauticEd Practical Competency Assessment under Captain Bill Isben, and I couldn't recommend him more highly. I think being an assessor in his position, it would be hard to strike the balance between being thorough and verifying that I completed and understood the curriculum while also being approachable, but he nailed it. As sailors, we are always growing and learning together. Whether you're looking for someone to do your assessment or provide on-the-water training, I couldn't recommend him more. Great guy, loves sailing, knows his stuff, and I could tell he loves teaching people. I guess he even taught at the Porsche Experience!
Showing last 5 reviews.