Boat Shows: Rendez-Voile Attracts Quebec Sailing Community

April 23, 2026

By Marc Robic

For many years now, the very large and active Quebec sailing community felt somewhat disappointed by the annual Montreal Boat Show, with the lack of or little attention to sail specific activities (booth, vendors, conferences, etc.). So much so, that some sailing groups decided to take matters into their own hands and create their very own sail only trade show and conference event.

Lead by Bianka Julien from Voile-Com and thanks lots of support from social media, on Saturday April 18^th at the Old Port of Montreal, this event, Rendez-Voile (Sailors’ Rendez-vous) drew 2,000 guests, from every corner of the province.

With vendors and sailing community organizations manning booths and capacity, back-to-back information sessions, this event was a great success and sure to be repeated year after year.

Venue operators had to keep adding additional chairs as seminars filled. Subjects ranging from technical, sail handling, trip planning and readiness, voyages, Marine Scouts and more. As a finale live aboard YouTube sensation, Sailing Atypic, presented their adventures including the ups and downs of their world traveling lifestyles.

Vendors I spoke with were very pleased with the show, many even proclaiming the attendance had surpassed their expectations.

The organizers hope to hold this event in March, a month earlier to accommodate more attendees next year prior to the spring pre-launch season here in Quebec.

For more details on this year’s event visit their website at this link Home – Rendez-Voile