PORT DOVER - A new fleet of sailboats will be racing along Lake Erie ’s north shore this summer.

The Port Dover Yacht Club, a longtime Ontario Sailing BOOM host, was awarded a $50,000 Ontario Trillium Foundation grant last summer, making it possible to launch a full-time sailing school.

 

“This has been a dream of so many sailors in Port Dover for years,” said Lisa Marr, sailing director.

“In a way, this started decades ago with Hadley Jackson’s young Wednesday night sailing crew. Many sailors in the club today learned from him. Hadley has always encouraged youth to sail in the area and managed to attract the Ontario Sailing BOOM program here years ago.”

 

Marr said that sewed the seeds for the launch this year of the program.

 

The sailing school has moved from Port Dover, however, to the Norfolk Conservation Area in nearby Port Ryerse.

 

Marr said Ontario Sailing instructors have complained in the past about the heavy boat and pedestrian traffic on the Port Dover beach, where the BOOM program was traditionally held.

 

The Long Point Region Conservation Authority has been very cooperative and welcoming, along with the Norfolk Youth and Children’s Association,  a Y affiliate that holds a summer day camp at the park. What’s really exciting is that for the first time, courses can be offered from White Sail I to Bronze IV. There are about a dozen kids who qualified in Port Dover’s BOOM program to take White Sail III and Bronze in the past few years. The school is purchasing six Picos and two Club 420s for its inaugural fleet.

 

A core executive sailing school committee is operating the program, reporting monthly to PDYC.

 

The PDYC sailing school is about to launch its own website, www.pdycsailingschool.com and is actively recruiting instructors.

 

That has not yet yielded any results, so the committee will redouble efforts to hire enthusiastic staff willing to work on building this program.

 

Otherwise, response from the community to the program has been great, said Marr.

 

One of the goals of the committee is to raise funds to send 16 kids to camp who otherwise would not be able to attend.

 

So far, three spaces are sponsored, one of which is by the Port Dover Power and Sail Squadron.

“We just want to get as many people hooked on sailing as we can,” said Marr. “This is one of the loveliest stretches of water and we have a great bunch of volunteers making this happen. It’s going to be a great asset for the whole region.”

 

For more information, contact Lisa Marr at 519-443-7847 or marr@cablerocket.com