TISC is a Community Sailing Club -- a sailing club for people who do NOT own their own boat --…read morelocated on Center Island, in a gorgeous corner of the Toronto Island Marina.
Most new members join with no prior sailing experience, and soon find themselves learning to sail and heading out onto the water frequently on the Club's boats, surrounded by new friends, some of whom are experienced sailors like me. For people who already know how to sail when they join (as I did), the Club immediately opens like an oyster! Access to the Club's 18 sailboats -- 13 Albacores, 3 Lasers, a Hobie Getaway, and a Hobie Wave -- is limited only by your skills. Pass a sailing test and you've got the run of the fleet! Add a written Racing Rules test, and you can take the Club's boats into Toronto's amazingly active Albacore racing scene. (Averaging around 45 boats per race for 19 races, Toronto's Friday Night Race series is the largest such series in the WORLD, as far as we can tell!)
Many of our best sailors and teachers and racers learned to sail at TISC.
I've been a happy member (and teacher) for decades, and an avid racer for all but my first few weeks. Before that, I owned and raced my own 26' sailboat, and I sure wish I'd discovered TISC before I bought it! Before I joined, I compared the competition -- there are three other excellent Community Sailing Clubs in Toronto, all located east of Cherry Beach. I preferred TISC's central, well-serviced, and bike-friendly location, its super-easy access to boats, and the fact that almost every member is scheduled to sail the same boat with the same "crew" once a week (Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday), sharing skills and having a good time. After each night's sail, there's a pot-luck BBQ until it's time to leave our Island hideaway and head back to reality.
As well as TISC's midweek Social Sailing and skill-sharing, there are introductory and advanced formal courses available at cost (to members only) run by Cdn Yachting Association-affiiliated instructors. And there are boats available for sailing on weekends, and organized fun events all season and even off-season.
In addition to the Club's website, there's a FaceBook group with some pictures of the grounds, and the Club's million-dollar view. (You've probably seen Toronto postcards photographed from our Club!)