Sail Canada: Stay Home / Stay Safe

Sail Canada, the national authority for sailing in Canada, offers this update for its members regarding the evolving COVID-19 health pandemic.

Toronto, ONT (April 7, 2020) – To help provide clear direction to the Canadian sailing community, Sail Canada and the Provincial Sailing Associations are providing the following position statement on COVID 19 and the expected response from sailors and member clubs.

The message to the Sailing Community is two-fold:
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• The First and Immediate Priority is for all of our members to Stay Home/Stay Safe and respect the Government of Canada’s directive to carefully follow physical distancing practices, to abide by your provincial or municipal regulations, and adhere to regular guidance from your Provincial Sailing Association.

The sailing community has the opportunity to be leaders and role models for our broader community and show how our actions can contribute to controlling the spread of this virus. We need to be vigilant and take our collective responsibility seriously for our members and our communities at large.

Sail Canada and our Provincial Sailing Associations strongly urge all member clubs, schools, and organizations to close the boatyards to boat owners and sailors, and suspend all activities other than those that can be offered remotely, or that are serving the community such as offering take-out food for their members and others if it is safe to do so.

In addition, it is critically important that those returning from outside of Canada (or outside their home province) be extremely diligent and respect the mandated 14-days of self-isolation.

• The Second Priority for Sail Canada and the Provincial Sailing Community is to provide re-integration advice when the time is right, and Governments lift restrictions on physical distancing. Sail Canada is forming a Medical Committee that will provide advice on how to safely start sailing again, while still respecting physical distancing and on-water safety.
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We ask all sailors to be patient during this time of self-isolation and physical distancing but recognize there will come a time to fully re-integrate back into the sport. Sail Canada and the PSAs see this time as an opportunity to promote the sport of sailing as a great activity to get outdoors, enjoy the water, and take part in a sport that is also environmentally friendly. Sail Canada is working on a collective communications strategy that will be shared in the coming weeks.

In the meantime, Sail Canada encourages clubs to stay connected with their members, and join the growing number of clubs across the country that are offering Virtual Sailing races to engage members and those sailors eager to get out on the water, while we wait out the storm.