Armdale YC Welcomes Atlantea Expedition

May 15, 2024

By Nicola MacNevin

There’s still a chill in the Nova Scotia spring air, even on the sunniest of days, and the ocean hasn’t yet shed its winter slate grey. Venturing from Bermuda to Halifax at this time of year is daunting. For the crew of Carlina the challenge of an ocean passage to Halifax is part of their mission. 

This past week, Armdale Yacht Club (AYC), located in Halifax, was pleased to welcome the Atlantea Expedition: a group of young engineering students enroute from Bermuda to Greenland who are sailing the North Atlantic to study plankton and raise awareness of the importance of the oceans.

The group of six, aged 21-24, set out from France last November aboard a 44-foot aluminum keelboat on a year-long expedition. More than a sailboat, Carlina is also an on-board laboratory, a means of uniting people around ocean preservation, a testing ground for environmentally friendly navigation, and the host of an extraordinary human adventure!

Though the science of their project and the fact that they’re doing it while sailing is interesting, learning that the crew had little to no ocean sailing experience before this voyage is what makes their story remarkable. Aside from the Captain (who’s 21 years old!), the crew’s combined experience included dinghy and windsurf. To hear them speak about what they’re learning and enduring as new sailors is truly inspiring.

Here at AYC, our learn-to-sail instructors mentor an increasing number of new sailors each year through our junior and adult sailing programs, which have undergone substantial growth since 2021. In two seasons, the sailing school has gone from offering an adult-only sailing program for 10-15 people per season to enrolling literally hundreds of participants from ages 5 and up! AYC’s Broader Reach Program, which enables participants from under-represented communities to learn to sail at no cost, has grown from six participants in 2021 to 58 in 2023 and was the winner of Sail Canada’s 2022 Recreation Event of the Year Award.

As AYC kicks-off the 2024 boating season, the opportunity to welcome Carlina reminds us that sailing and community building go hand-in-hand and we appreciate the important role sailing plays in breaking down barriers and uniting people through shared experiences, regardless of language or culture, whether they be local or international.

With SailGP just around the corner, we excitedly anticipate the connections that will be made and the communities that will be strengthened through sharing this grand prix sailing experience. If you’re coming to Halifax for SailGP, consider stopping by Armdale Yacht Club while you’re here. We look forward to welcoming you! 

For more information on the Atlantea Expedition visit https://sailowtech.ch/en/atlantea/in-brief/

To learn more about AYC’s Broader Reach Program visit https://www.broaderreach.ca/

Located in Halifax’s Northwest Arm on Melville Island, Armdale Yacht Club is a nationally designated historic site. The club’s property can be tied to events dating back at least to 1732. The beautiful island AYC calls home has, since the arrival of the Europeans, been a family estate, hospital, quarantine station, military prison, prisoner of war camp, recruit training station for the British Foreign Legion, ammunition depot and a yacht club. https://armdaleyachtclub.ns.ca/