Conestoga Sailing Club.

Youth Sailing Camp

Kids spend the week on Conestogo Lake learning to sail a small dinghy on their own. Mornings open with rigging on the dock and shore drills — tying knots, reading the wind, righting a capsized boat — before everyone heads out under sail, with Sail Canada–certified coaches following in chase boats. By the second week most campers are tacking across the bay, racing in fleet circles, and helming solo. The CANSail national curriculum runs underneath all of it, but most of the day looks like nine- to seventeen-year-olds out in dinghies — Optimists, Topper Topazes, RS Zests, and Club 420s, sized to each sailor. Days are full and outside; charter buses pick up from Kitchener-Waterloo–area depots so parents skip the drive to the lake. Fee assistance is available through the City of Waterloo.

Adult Sailing Courses

Six evenings or weekend days of learning to sail a small dinghy, no prior experience required. Sessions start with shore drills — rigging, knot work, reading the wind — before everyone heads out on the water with an instructor in the boat, working through tacks, jibes, and capsize recovery. CANSail 1 graduates can sail solo in light air; CANSail 2 builds toward sailing without an instructor aboard and the basics of racing. Boats are Topper Topaz, Club 420, and Wayfarer dinghies (up to 16 ft). Prerequisites are practical — swim 50 metres in a life jacket, tread water, and bring an MOT-approved PFD. Rain-day make-ups are built into every session.