Skip to content
ASA instructors · Licensed captains · Michigan
Meet the captains who teach confidence.
Learn from sailors who have cruised, raced, navigated and taught across the Great Lakes and beyond. Our instructors combine professional credentials with patient, practical guidance on Lake St. Clair.
Experience becomes instruction
Good sailing instruction changes how you feel at the helm.
Certification matters, but the best instructor does more than prepare you for an exam. Our team helps you understand what the boat is doing, make sound decisions and build the calm confidence to handle real situations on the water.
Patient instruction
Questions are welcomed, maneuvers are broken into manageable steps and students learn at a practical pace.
Real boat handling
Lessons move beyond theory into sail trim, steering, docking, safety procedures and decision-making.
Professional standards
American Sailing curriculum and licensed-captain experience support safe, consistent instruction.
Meet your instructor team
Five sailors. Decades of experience to share.
Instructor assignments vary by course and availability. Every profile below preserves the background and credentials published by the school.
Owner · Manager · Instructor
Owner, manager & ASA instructor
Captain Ranam Kazziha
Captain Ranam Kazziha is the owner and manager of Lake St. Clair Sailing School. She has been sailing since 2017 and has sailed in the Mediterranean, across the Great Lakes and aboard charter sailboats in Florida.
She is certified to teach ASA 101, ASA 103, ASA 104 and ASA 114. Ranam helps students develop practical sailing skills through certification courses, day sailing and sunset sailing experiences.
- Basic keelboat sailing
- Coastal cruising
- Bareboat cruising
- Catamaran cruising
Great Lakes cruiser · Racer · Instructor
ASA instructor & USCG master
Captain Joe Bowen
Joe learned to sail Flying Juniors, Flying Scots and Solings on Lake Michigan while attending Marquette University in the 1970s. He later owned a 24-foot Islander on Lake Michigan.
Captain Joe has cruised and raced on Lake Michigan, Long Island Sound, Lake St. Clair and the Gulf of Mexico. He continues to race a Catalina 30 on Lake St. Clair during the summer and enjoys teaching sailing and boating.
- Keelboat instruction
- Great Lakes cruising
- Catamaran sailing
- Sailboat racing
Advanced cruising · Navigation · Instruction
ASA instructor & USCG master
Captain Bill Stimac
Bill became interested in sailing in the late 1970s after reading Dove, the story of a sixteen-year-old who sailed around the world. He took his first sailing lessons in 1982 and began crewing on a Catalina 30.
He raced and cruised on Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Huron before focusing on instruction. Bill has sailed everything from an 18-foot Interlake to large cruisers, single-handing vessels up to 45 feet. His ASA instructor qualifications extend through Advanced Coastal Cruising, and he also teaches navigation.
- Advanced coastal cruising
- Navigation
- Single-handed sailing
- Great Lakes experience
Instructor since 2005 · 25+ years sailing
ASA instructor & USCG master
Captain Brett Bridgham
With more than 25 years of sailing experience, Brett has sailed a wide range of boats—from small dinghies and Hobie Cats on inland lakes to large keelboats on the Great Lakes, Pacific Coast and in the Virgin Islands.
Brett has been an ASA instructor at Lake St. Clair Sailing School since 2005. After racing on Lake St. Clair for several years, he now enjoys teaching and sharing his experience with both newcomers and seasoned sailors.
- Docking
- Coastal navigation
- Bareboat cruising
- Multi-vessel experience
Instructor · Delivery captain · Regatta sailor
ASA instructor & Great Lakes sailor
Captain Robert Durkin
Robert first discovered sailing during a childhood family vacation to Lake Wallenpaupack. As an adult, he bought a daysailer sloop while living beside a former quarry lake in Ohio, then carried that enthusiasm onto the Great Lakes.
During the Midwest sailing season, Robert focuses on instruction, charters and boat deliveries. He also sails his 29-foot sloop, Christina, on Lake Erie and competes in regattas throughout the Midwest and beyond, including the 2019 Conch Republic Cup in U.S. and Cuban waters.
- Great Lakes instruction
- Boat deliveries
- Regatta sailing
- Coastal experience
Find your next step
The right instructor meets you where you are—and helps you move forward.
Start with the fundamentals, strengthen your cruising skills or work toward independent bareboat chartering with practical American Sailing instruction.
Build a strong foundation
Learn terminology, sail trim, steering, safety, crew communication and essential boat-handling skills.
Become a capable cruiser
Advance into auxiliary systems, navigation, weather, anchoring, docking and coastal-cruising judgment.
Prepare for bigger adventures
Develop the planning, seamanship and onboard-living skills needed for multi-day cruising and bareboat goals.
Instructor questions
Before your first class.
Helpful answers about credentials, course assignments and where you will learn.
Yes. The team holds American Sailing instructor qualifications for the courses they teach. The certifications and teaching specialties published by the school appear in each profile above.
The team includes US Coast Guard-licensed captains, including masters with 50-ton and 100 GRT credentials. Each profile identifies the specific license information currently stated by the school.
Instructor assignments depend on the course, schedule and availability. Contact the school if you would like to request a particular instructor, and the team will tell you what is possible.
Classes depart from Lake St. Clair Sailing School at Lambrecht Marina, 31300 North River Road, Harrison Township, Michigan 48045, at Slip A3.
Depending on instructor qualifications and course availability, the team supports basic keelboat sailing, coastal cruising, bareboat cruising, navigation, catamaran cruising, docking and practical review instruction.
Your instructor is ready
Come aboard. Learn the skills. Leave with confidence.
Meet Lake St. Clair Sailing Instructors
Our Sailing Instructors have diverse experience in sailing. They are certified by American Sailing Association and they have a Captains license from US Coast Guards.
Captain Joe Bowen
ASA Certified Instructor: ASA 201, ASA 203, ASA 204, ASA 214, ASA 206
Captain Joe Bowen has a USCG 100 GRT, Near Coastal, Master’s License.
Joe first learned to sail Flying Junior’s, Flying Scot’s, and Soling’s on Lake Michigan while at Marquette University in the 1970’s. He owned a 24’ Islander on Lake Michigan. Captain Joe has cruised and raced sailboats on Lake Michigan, Long Island Sound, Lake St. Clair, and the Gulf of Mexico. He still races a Catalina 30 on Lake St. Clair most weeks in the summer. Joe is semi-retired and enjoys teaching sailing and boating. Captain Ranam Kazziha
ASA Certified Instructor: ASA 201, ASA 203, ASA 204, ASA 214
Captain Ranam Kazziha is the owner and manager at Lake St. Clair Sailing School. She has been sailing since 2017. She sailed in the Mediterranean, Great Lakes and chartered sailboats in Florida. She is a U.S.C.G. Licensed captain and she is certified to teach ASA 101, 103, 104 and 114. Captain Ranam has been with Lake St. Clair Sailing School since 2014. She helps her students learn to sail during sailing classes, sunset sailing and day sailing
Captain Bill Stimac
ASA Certified Instructor: ASA 201, ASA 203, ASA 204, ASA 205
Bill first became interested in sailing in the late 1970s after reading a book called “Dove” about a sixteen year-old who set out to sail around the world alone in a 24 foot boat. He took his first sailing lessons in 1982 and began crewing on a 30 foot Catalina. He has raced and cruised on Lakes St. Clair, Erie, and Huron until 1995, finally giving up racing to teach sailing. Bill earned a U.S.C.G. Master’s License in 1994 and have been teaching ASA classes ever since. He sailed boats from 18 foot Interlake to large cruisers, single-handing vessels up to 45 feet. Bill has ASA instructor certifications up to Advanced Coastal Cruising and he also teaches the Navigation class.
Captain Brett Bridgham
ASA Certified Instructor: ASA 101, ASA 103, ASA 104, ASA 105, ASA 118
With more than 25 years of sailing experience, Brett has had the good fortune of sailing many different types and sizes of boats – ranging from small Dingys and Hobie Cats on inland lakes to large keel boats on the Great Lakes, Pacific Coast and Virgin Islands. Brett has been an ASA instructor at Lake St. Clair Sailing School since 2005 and holds a U.S.C.G. 50T Master license. Having raced on Lake St. Clair for several years; he now enjoys teaching and sharing his experiences with newcomers and seasoned sailors alike
Captain Robert Durkin
ASA Certified Instructor: ASA 201, ASA 203, ASA 204
Robert’s passion for the outdoors and travel is the driving force behind his success as a captain. Robert was first introduced to sailing as a kid during a family vacation to Lake Wallenpaupack and immediately took to the sport. As an adult he moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio. He found himself living on an old rock quarry, that was now a lake, and bought his first boat; a daysailer sloop that he avidly sailed in his spare time. That sparked his drive to combine sailing and his love of travel; soon finding himself sailing The Great Lakes.
During the sailing season in the midwest Robert focuses on teaching sailing, charters, and boat deliveries on The Great Lakes. He also likes to spend his free time sailing the waters of Lake Erie aboard his 29’ sloop, Christina. Robert is also an avid competitor and can often be found participating in sailing regattas around the midwest and beyond. Most recently that has turned into international competition where he crewed the vessel Lunasea for the 2019 Conch Republic Cup, an international 3 race regatta where crews compete in both the U.S. and Cuban waters.
