Start your sailing adventure today with Sail Ontario in the historic shadow of the War of 1812. You’ll start your journey at the Madison Barracks Marina, named for President Madison and host to then 2nd Lieutenant Ulyses S. Grant. You’ll spend plenty of time on Lake Ontario, sail past the historic battlefield that saw action in 1812 and 1813, and have plenty of wind. Sails go up within minutes of leaving the dock giving you maximum time on the water to practice all the skills until they are second nature.

We are ideally placed (geographically and academically) to develop your confidence and experience and we do that with a syllabus that puts you on the boat within minutes of starting…no boring lectures here. What we do in the book only reinforces what you’ve seen, touched, turned, tied, trimmed, eased, hoisted and stowed on the boat. We consciously expose students to the basic concepts of sailing with a hands-on approach. We are the standard for hands on instruction on Lake Ontario and you will work hard while having fun on the water. Our dedicated team of ASA certified instructors is committed to a high standard of training to achieve your ASA certification to safely charter a sailboat here on the lake – or anywhere in the world.

Our primary teaching boat is a super solid and forgiving Dufour 24 with a HUGE cockpit. We also have a Catalina 22′ for early/late season classes or the busy weeks in August. Our class size is capped at four, giving each sailing student max time with a hand on the tiller. Our course offerings start with 101 for 2018 and we’ll add 103 and 104 for 2019. Once certified you receive a 25% discount on sailboat rentals for the duration of the season.

Our lead instructor is CAPT Brett, a qualified USCG Merchant Mariner and Instructor with more than a dozen years sailing experience on Lake Ontario. He retired from the Army in 2009 and has embraced the ‘Salt Life.’ Also an adjunct philosophy professor, CAPT Brett knows how to teach and how to have fun doing it. You might just learn a bit about life along with how to sail close hauled. CAPT Brett also offers captained sailing charters aboard our 32′ Ericson for 1/2 day, full day, and sunsets.