I used to teach sailing while attending the maritime academy but not at the academy.
Requirements:
A Coast Guard
license, usually a "six-pack" (6 tons, six passengers on an uninspected vessel)
license is good enough. One of the requirements for a license is to be able to document one year of sea time within the past five years. There is also the exam including a sail endorsement and some employers may want a
radar endorsement, a drug test, color blindness test, physicians exam and you need to acquire a TWIC card.
An
ASA or US Sailing instructors
certification may be required. These certifications teach you how to teach sailing, which can be very challenging at times. You are already supposed to be an excellent sailor. Whether or not these certifications are required depends on the
school.
You don't need an extravagant amount of sailing knowledge to teach the basic and intermediate courses, but you probably should have a very high level of knowledge because you
will be asked very advanced questions.
You do need to be people person who can adapt to all kinds of people and who possesses a limitless amount of patience. You also need to have excellent verbal skills and a natural ability to teach. These requirements are critical. Introverts need not apply.
Don't expect wages large enough to survive on. People will teach sailing almost for free and the schools know this. It is a hobby-job for many instructors so they can get out on the
water and make a little
money doing it. I turned down a part time job teaching on the weekends because they were only offering $15 per hour. My free time on the weekend was more valuable to my wife and I. I already get paid to go out on the
water on weekdays.
Google: Sailing schools.
Another option is to look into doing skippered charters through sailing schools and sailing clubs. The base pay is not much but most people who pay for skippered charters tip. Sailing instructors rarely receive tips.