Mobile Sailing School at Africville Wins Sail Canada’s Recreation Event of the Year for 2025
October 22, 2026
Sail Nova Scotia’s Mobile Sailing School at Africville has won Sail Canada’s Recreation Event of the Year Award for 2025. The award recognizes a club, an organization, an individual or a group, which is Canadian-based and affiliated with Sail Canada, that has contributed to the promotion of recreational sailing in Canada.
Every summer in July and August, Sail Nova Scotia operates a Mobile Sailing School that visits communities unable to provide their youth with access to sailing, therefore introducing the sport to up to 100 participants. From August 18-22, the Sailing School was hosted by the Africville Heritage Museum, which recruited 12 African Nova Scotian and Indigenous youth to participate at no cost. These youth spent the week learning to sail on Laser Picos and trying out foiling disciplines, i.e. wingfoil, foil boards and Nacra 17). The foiling equipment and coaches were provided by WeCANFoil as part of their 2025 Foil4All Event.
The youth participants were excited to learn new skills and to connect with their maritime heritage. Families and friends were also invited to join for an evening of sailing education and celebration during a tour of the Bedford Basin from the water in sailboats, schooners, and power boats.
Africville’s success as a Mobile Sailing Community Host will open doors for participation in the future as they will be continuing to provide opportunities for sailing and boating by launching a Marina and sailing school of their own. “We’ve been hearing from the parents that when the kids come home at the end of the day, they can’t stop talking about their experience,” said Africville Heritage Museum Executive Director, Juanita Peters. “I heard a student say: ‘Its not just instruction. We’re able to play, too’. This particular program is geared toward African Nova Scotian and Indigenous students, predominantly, because sailing is one of those sports that really has not been open to underserved communities. We want to change that. We want to open the doors and give these students a chance to see what that’s like and to see if they can find their place in it. It’s very exciting because these are jobs and careers that can take people around the world. Also, we aim to reintroduce people to the water, and the benefits of it.”
Additional information on the Recreation Event of the Year Award is available at
https://www.sailing.ca/recreation-event-award-past-winners/.
