As the Collingwood Sailing Academy is preparing for its first season in the Collingwood harbour, it needs a little boost from the community so it can safely set sail.
The Collingwood Sailing Academy is hosting a fundraiser on June 15 at the Collingwood Yacht Club, which will include music by Jason Nash, a silent auction and refreshments for all in attendance. The goal is to raise $20,000 to help patch up the boats handed over to the school by the Town of Collingwood this year.
“The majority of the fleet is more than 10 years old and it’s up to us to do all the repairs over the summer. The boats are really old,” said Madison Boyce, president of the Collingwood Sailing Academy board.
Boyce said the start-up costs for the school include having to invest in new radios, wages for instructors and repairs to the fleet. So far this year, she said registration for the academy has been low, and the school receives no other funding outside of registrations.
Due to mould concerns, Boyce said the program can no longer operate out of the red brick building attached to the Collingwood Terminals, which is where the program operated when it was run by the Town of Collingwood. Luckily, the Collingwood Yacht Club has offered the use of some of their compound for the school.
“By the time we got the yeses, it was too late for us to apply for grants. Traditionally, not-for-profits rely on the summer grants program. We were too late for that,” said Boyce. “Because we didn’t get the go-ahead (earlier), we need help.”
Boyce grew up sailing on South Georgian Bay since she was eight years old, and spent seven summers as an instructor in the school before leaving to pursue other passions. When she returned to Collingwood two years ago, she was dismayed to find what had become of the school and she wasn’t the only one. Boyce, Laura Vlahovic and Jon Green have worked together to get the school off the ground and into the water this year.
“For all three of us, the sailing school had always played a huge part in all of our lives,” said Boyce.
In the fall, the trio approached the town with a proposal to have them run the school with the use of the harbour and town boats.
This past spring, Collingwood council gave final approval for the town to enter into an agreement with the Collingwood Sailing Academy board to run programming out of the Collingwood harbour starting this summer. The agreement includes the use of dock space, the town’s fleet of dinghies and a coach boat that were used previously by the school.
The Collingwood Sailing School was originally incorporated in 2004 and was started by Brian Bailey originally under the guidance of the Collingwood Yacht Club, with the Town of Collingwood eventually taking over ownership of the school.
The Collingwood Sailing Academy has a board, which includes members with a history of teaching the CANSail curriculum, as well as experience in teaching sailing to individuals with physical barriers. They plan to develop accessible service offerings starting in 2025.
Boyce said the fundraising request will likely be one-time only, as she and the school’s board intend to apply for grants for subsequent seasons to help ease the costs. She also hopes registration will increase over time.
“For 2025, we’ll be more than set. We’ll be like a well-oiled machine. This year has been slow for people to realize that we’re back,” said Boyce. “The best way to support us is to register your kids.”
The Collingwood Sailing Academy fundraiser takes place June 15 starting at 4 p.m. at the Collingwood Yacht Club. To make a donation to the sailing school which will include a tax-deductible receipt, click here.
To learn more about the Collingwood Sailing Academy, click here.