Prerequisites: None.

Courses: 3 consecutive weeks, Tuesday & Thursday 6-9pm.

For specific dates, please check out our online registration.

Eighteen hours is all it takes to turn a complete beginner into a confident crew member, and there's something genuinely special about that first day aboard a sloop-rigged keelboat. You'll pick up the language of sailing, marine weather, knots, and the roles of skipper and crew, while learning how to safely depart, handle the boat under sail and power, and stay calm if something goes sideways.

Objective: We want you to feel safe, comfortable, and genuinely excited to be on the water. Every participant gets hands-on time with every part of sailing, starting from your very first lesson.

Membership required: No.

What's next: From here, the water's wide open: keep building in Basic Cruising, test your competitive side in Learn to Race, or jump straight into crewing on Monday and Wednesday race nights. Reach out to learntosail@pcyc.net and we'll help you find a crew.

Prerequisites: None.

Courses: 4 consecutive weeks, Monday & Wednesday 6-9pm, OR 2 consecutive weekends, Saturday & Sunday 9am-4pm.

For specific dates, please check out our online registration.

If sailing the Caribbean has ever been on your list, this is the course that gets you there. Building directly on Start Keelboat Sailing, this 24-hour course earns you the Sail Canada Basic Cruising Standard, the same credential that opens the door to BoatHub or owning a keelboat of your own down the road. It's a real step toward the kind of sailing life you've been picturing. Training includes:

• Boat handling under sail & power
• Terminology
• Safety equipment and procedures
• Boat handling under power
• Understanding weather
• Basic Navigation
• Anchoring and docking under power
• Reefing
• Knots
• Rules of the road
• Crew-Overboard procedures

Prerequisites: Sail Canada Basic Cruising (or equivalent sailing experience), Sail Canada Basic Coastal Navigation, VHF License RoC(M), Pleasure Craft Operators Card (PCOC).

Courses: 5 day/4 night Liveaboard Thursday 10am to Monday 4pm.

For specific dates, please check out our online registration.

Options: Western Lake Ontario / To or From the 1000 Islands / Women Only.

• Western Lake Ontario
• To or From the 1000 Islands
• Women Only

This live-aboard course is where you really come into your own, moving from crew to command. You'll operate the vessel as both crew and skipper, under sail and power, making daytime passages through unfamiliar waters, and building the exact skills and confidence you'll need for live-aboard cruising and bareboat charter. For more information, please click here to read the full Sail Canada Intermediate Cruising Standard. Practical training includes:

• Sail selection and trim controls
• Anchoring and mooring pickup
• Enhanced docking techniques
• Navigation skills
• Pilotage and passage planning
• Vessel systems management

Meet Your Instructor:

You'll learn from Merilee Wright, one of the most experienced instructors on the lake and someone who genuinely loves passing on what she knows. She's certified by Sail Canada, the American Sailing Association, and NauticEd, with over 20 years of sailing experience, including:

• Sailboat racing and cruising
• Over 1,000 sailing days and 2,500 nautical miles
• 15 bareboat charter cruises

For specific dates, please check out our online registration.

Led by racing enthusiast and National Judge Katie Nicoll and her team, this course is where your competitive side gets to come out and play, turning keelboat sailors into real racers aboard our fleet of J/24s, versatile, responsive keelboats about 7 meters long with a sloop rig and fixed keel. You'll dig into racing rules, sail trim, practice starts, start-line tactics, upwind and downwind strategy, and spinnaker rigging, jibing, and trimming, with every participant getting real time at the helm and on crew.

Timing: 6-week course, June 3, 10, 17, 24 and July 8 and 15, 6:00-9:00 pm.

Pre-requisites: At least one introductory sailing program or equivalent.

Membership required: No.

What's next: If you already own a keelboat, put your new skills straight to work on PCYC's Monday and Wednesday race nights, with approval to use one of our J/24s to race in White Sail on Monday nights. And if boat ownership is still a few years off, crewing is one of the best ways in: our racers are always glad to welcome crew with some racing background.

This is PCYC's fastest path from complete beginner to CANSail-certified dinghy sailor, and one of the most fun ways to spend a summer evening. A Sail Canada certified instructor will coach you through rigging, launching, steering, tacking, and jibing on our fleet of RS Zests, light, responsive dinghies that are perfect for beginners, and you'll walk away with your CANSail 1 and 2 levels in hand.

For specific dates, please check out our online registration.

Timing: Twice a week (Tuesday & Thursday) 6-9pm for 4 consecutive weeks, offered in June, July, or August.

Pre-requisites: None.

Membership required: No.

What's next: From here, take your fundamentals to a keelboat with Basic Cruising, your qualifying step toward BoatHub access, or challenge yourself further with Learn to Race. Either way, you've already got the hardest part behind you: you know how to sail.

Women on the Water is where the fundamentals of dinghy sailing meet a genuinely fun night out on Lake Ontario, built for PCYC women and their friends, and open to complete beginners. You'll learn the basics, rigging, launching, steering, tacking, and jibing, from Sail Canada certified instructors, on our fleet of double-handed 420s, trading off helming and crewing with a partner as your confidence builds together. And when the sailing's done, the evening keeps going: everyone heads back to the clubhouse for a free drink and good company with your new sailing friends.

For specific dates, please check out our online registration.

Timing: Every Wednesday, 6-9pm, 4 consecutive weeks, offered in June, July, or August.

Pre-requisites: None.

Membership: Open to PCYC members and their friends.

What's next: Take your fundamentals to a keelboat in Basic Cruising or Learn to Race.