Program Details

Overview of programs...

Our lessons introduce participants to the sport of sailing. We offer well maintained boats, access to good sailing waters, quality instruction and evaluation based on the Fundamental Stage of Long Term Sailor Development as described Sail Canada standards.

Sailing is a sport that requires balance, focus and core body strength. We tailor our lessons to meet your needs based on your age, experience and size:

• • Our Junior program is designed for sailors from 8 to 13:

    • Junior sailors will sail the Optimist sailboat unless they are over 120 lbs and have the experience to join the Youth program.

  • Our Youth program is designed for sailors from 13 to 17:

    • Youth sailors will sail in pairs in the 420 sailboat if they are over 100 lbs and have the experience, otherwise they would be encouraged to join the Junior program.

  • Our Adult program is designed for sailors 16 and older:

    • Adult sailors will sail in pairs in the 420 sailboat.

Junior, Youth and Adult programs all draw from the same Sail Canada CANSail program, but differ in the way that skills are presented and also to the type of boat used for instruction.

For all our programs, evaluation is skills based and is ongoing. Our goal is to teach skills, not grant certificates, however we do record student achievement according to the CanSail guidelines in the program's national database for future record.

PLEASE NOTE: each level of certification for the CanSail program will take several days to complete, depending on the individual & sailing conditions.

For those seeking higher levels of skill development (CanSail 2 and greater) we recommend that students join local sailing clubs and further develop their skills through the kind of practice and competition that only a sailing club can offer.

Generally speaking, each day of instruction we offer will cater to students in one or more of these levels of development. So, to help all students reach their sailing goals as quickly as possible, our instructors may tailor each day by splitting students into groups based on past experience.

These modules will not necessarily be taught in the strict order outlined above. Different days will present different sailing challenges and our instructors will adapt their daily topics based on the weather, group dynamics and experience.

We hope to encourage our students to come to love the sport of sailing as much as we do, regardless of levels obtained. We would like to emphasize the fact that we offer continuous instruction and evaluation throughout all our sessions.

We offer different configurations of dates, such as consecutive Sundays and midweek dates, please see the Lessons Registration page for more details.

Our Junior and Youth programs...

NASC is pleased to provide coaching to junior and youth members of sailing clubs on lake Wabamun. Sessions will be offered to children and grandchildren or members of the Wabamun Sailing Club and the Edmonton Yacht Club.

These programs consist of a series of half-days spread throughout the summer, typically Saturday mornings or afternoons.

The goals of the programs offered will vary, but in general the idea is to get kids from 8 to 17 sailing independently of their parents and to have them develop the beginnings of a lifelong passion for sailing competitively and or recreationally.

To get additional information about the programs, please see the various club websites for upcoming details of their Junior Sailing Programs.

Our Adult CanSail programs...

Our Adult program is structured into the following modules that will lead our students through the CanSail 1 and CanSail 2 curriculum. Each module spans over several days: