Sixty years of prairie sailing

Sailing in Manitoba goes back to the earliest days of the fur trade. The Manitoba Sailing Association, now Sail Manitoba, was incorporated on August 5, 1965, and has grown into a mature provincial sport governing body on the strength of its clubs and volunteers.

Sail Manitoba promotes competitive sailing, and sailing for life, through sport advocacy, leadership, and program delivery.

Performance excellence and a vibrant recreational sailing community

Our vision for Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.

Fairness and respect

A commitment to fairness and respect.

Empowerment and camaraderie

Sailors, coaches and volunteers lift each other up.

Community collaboration

We work with other sport and sailing organizations.

Excellence in programs

Excellence in the delivery of programs.

How a few lakes became a province of sailors

Incorporated

On August 5, 1965, at 10:20 in the morning, at the old law office of Aikins, MacAulay and Co. in downtown Winnipeg, the Association was incorporated and Dr. Max Desmarais was elected president. The idea began with the West Hawk Lake Yacht Club and meetings in 1964 and 1965, convened by Dr. Allan McCulloch. The founding board: Dr. Max Desmarais, John Higham, Bert Bristow, Dr. Hugh Tayler, Clark Popham, Dr. Richard Johnstone, Graham Lount, Forbes Carter, Tammas Scott and Jack Yellowlees.

Boats you could build

The Association grew quickly on the Y-Flyer, the Fireball and the Lightning, boats an average person could build and trailer. Winnipeg saw its first sailboat manufacturer, Western Sailcraft, and one of the association’s first projects was a mobile sailing school.

Pan Am Games in Gimli

In the space of a year, a province just becoming organized in sailing built the Gimli Yacht Club and welcomed some of the best sailors in the world to the Pan Am Games.

The Porthole begins

Alan Cool became the first editor of the Porthole, the Association’s main way of talking to its members.

Lasers, keelboats and cats

The Laser generation, the keelboat generation and, later, the catamarans changed how Manitobans sailed. Hundreds of people started on low-maintenance fibreglass boats.

Lottery money and boardsailing

Lottery funding paid for a provincial team, coaching and major regattas. The Mobile Sailing School returned, the Learn to Cruise program began and thousands of people started boardsailing. In spring 1988 the team trailer broke loose and burned a hapless Honda Civic; nobody was hurt.

A golden age

Kelly Hand and Kelly McCaig won gold at the 1993 Canada Games in Kamloops, and Kelly Hand carried the Team Manitoba flag at the opening ceremonies, a first for a sailor. Murray McCaig won the Mistral Canadian and North American championships.

World Boardsailing Championships

The Gimli Yacht Club and the Association hosted more than 240 athletes from 42 countries. The RCMP estimated 18,000 spectators on the first weekend, the largest crowd for a sailing event in Canada.

Canada Games and Pan Ams again

The Pelican Yacht Club hosted the 1997 Canada Games and raised close to half a million dollars for its facilities. Gimli hosted the Pan Am Games again in 1999, 32 years after the first.

New champions

Gimli hosted the 2002 Canadian Youth Championships and the 2003 Western Canada Summer Games, where Manitoba’s women sailors won gold. The Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club hosted the 2003 Canadian Optimist Championships.

The High School Sailing League

High schools join the sport at the Winnipeg Sailing Centre at FortWhyte Alive.

New bylaws

The members enact the current Sail Manitoba bylaws in November 2022.

A national training centre

Sail Canada and Sail Manitoba designate Gimli Yacht Club as the National Training Centre – Prairie Region, announced December 2024.

Past presidents

1965–1979

Dr. Max Desmarais (1965–1969)Dr. Hugh Taylor (1970)Mr. Clarke Popham (1971)Mr. Gord Konantz (1972)Mr. Chuck Page (1973–1974)Capt. Don Freudenberg (1975–1976)Dr. Ian Peggs (1977)Mr. Jim Kern (1978)Mr. Frank McKendry (1979–1980)

1981–1999

Mr. Arno Giese (1981–1982)Mr. Charles Burns (1982–1984)Mr. Egon Frech (1984–1986)Mr. Jim Richardson (1987–1988)Mr. Richard Walls (1989–1991)Mr. Steve Pellerin (1992–1994)Mr. John Gosselin (1995–1996)Mr. Van McLean (1997)

1998–2019

Prof. Dr. Peter Loewen (1998–2003)Mr. Kevin Stewart (2004–2007)Mr. Ivan McMorris (2008–2011)Mrs. Nancy Folliott (2012–2013)Mrs. Tannis Leach (2014–2015)Mr. Paul Krestanowich (2016–2017)Mrs. Liz Kristjansson (2018–2019)

Be part of the next sixty years

Learn to sail, join a club, coach, officiate or volunteer. There is room on the water.