ASTA's mission is to "encourage character building through sail training, promote sail training to the American public, and support education under sail..." The professional membership of the American Sail Training Association represents virtually all of the ships engaged in sail training in North America and individual members hail from every US state, Canada and around the globe.

Different from learning to sail, sail training enables learning from sailing. ASTA member vessels provide opportunities to study the marine arts and sciences, explore blue horizons and make history come alive. The possibilities are as varied as the sea~Rs edge. Long utilized by the navies of the world to develop strong leadership skills in young officers, sail training is now accessible to people of all ages and walks of life. Each year, more and more ships come on-line as various schools, municipalities, museums and other non-profit organizations incorporate the powerful ability of the sea to teach in their curricula.