Updated November 25, 23

The Fanshawe Yacht Club Sailing School (FYCSS) is located on Fanshawe Lake in London, Ontario and offers certified learn to-sail courses for both Adult and Youth (ages 9-18) students in a fun and exciting environment.

We also offer an introductory course for younger children (ages 7-9) called Wet Feet. 

All instructors at the FYCSS are certified under Canada’s national authority for sailing, Sail Canada. Class sizes are optimized for learning; Sail Canada recommends a maximum of 10 students per instructor. The fleet of sailboats available at the FYCSS includes Optimist prams, CL14s, Club 420s, Lasers, Laser Radials and RS Quests. The school provides all necessary sailing equipment, including a personal floatation device (PFD) for each student.

The FYCSS has been owned and operated by the Fanshawe Yacht Club since 1993. The School administration is accomplished by a committee of volunteer club members who look after the marketing and finances of the school operation and who hire the sailing instructors for each season. Instructors are the only paid staff in the school and are trained for the jobs and certified by Sail Canada. Many of our instructors are former students who developed their skills through our School and have decided to pursue employment in the sport.

The sailing courses are held on Fanshawe Lake in northeast London and use a fleet of dinghies that vary to suit the level of course being offered. Our current base boat is the CL 14, a hard-chined hull, fourteen feet overall, carrying a jib and main sail and large enough for two adults or two to four children. Our “step-up” trainer is the Club 420, also fourteen feet, but with a round-bottom hull and more complex rig with a spinnaker and trapeze system to achieve greater speed. Race Team levels are taught using Laser Radials and Lasers that are equipped to a more competitive standard to move quickly through the water.

The Fanshawe Yacht Club Sailing School enables our club to work towards its Objectives:

• to provide facilities in which members and the community may receive instruction in sailing skills
• to encourage all phases of sailing activity on Fanshawe Lake
• to promote a high standard of skill and seamanship in the handling of sailcraft
• to foster a friendly and co-operative spirit among its members and associates
• to perpetuate the tradition and fine spirit of the sport of yachting