Topmast is committed to conducting courses in a safe and responsible manner to ensure the health and safety of our students and Instructors. At Topmast we are mandated by the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and will act accordingly. We carefully examine...
This spring I was fortunate to spend some time with Erin and Marie on their Baltic 42. We had a great sail from Rhode Island to New York city where I jumped-off and Erin and Marie carried on up the Erie canal to Lake Erie. One of the concerns was the 2m keel and...
No one possesses the literary skills to make the subject of buoyage interesting – no one. Buoys, their markings and light attributes are a dry subject and a necessary evil in maritime training schemes. Still, getting them wrong can have very real repercussions....
It’s been a fascinating season sailing on the Great Lakes, not least of all for the unusually high water levels experienced this year (2017). While most RYA students are familiar with the subtleties of tidal heights and secondary port calculations from their theory...
A Bad Day at the Office The Old Salt Blog recently posted a slightly inflammatory but informative piece on keels falling off (here) which raises more questions than it answers. Â Whether or not the few tragic incidents require an overhauling of design specs or...
Before RYA Examiner Dave De Wolfe came out to Kingston from Halifax to examine two of Topmast’s students at the Yachtmaster level we had a phone conversation about the efficacy of various man overboard techniques. It took a few minutes but we both agreed there’s a big...
Join us on a Swan 44 as we make our way down the east coast from Newfoundland to Annapolis, Maryland. 4 legs with stops in St John's, Lunenberg, and Newport RI.
Topmast was established in 2016 by Fintan Hartnett as an RYA Training Centre and offers a wide array of boating related courses which can lead to employment in the yachting industry for those looking for professionally accepted credentials. Topmast is located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.