Remembering René Dallaire: An Icon of Accessible Sailing
March 6, 1951 – October 26, 2025
René Dallaire.
When René Dallaire laughed, you couldn’t help but join in. A grin would spread across his face and his eyes would twinkle, his shoulders bouncing as his chuckle took hold. René laughed easily, and most often when he was on or near the water. In his little green boat, he radiated joy, sharing his passion for sailing, the sport that defined his life for close to 30 years.
Growing up in Rouyn-Noranda, René was a competitive multisport athlete. His first love was alpine skiing, where he was lit up by the combination of speed, technical challenge, and the great outdoors. However, in 1970, at age19, a ski crash left him a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the neck down. Deeply driven, he set out to master life in his new body. Over the next five decades, he achieved remarkable academic, professional, community, and sporting accomplishments.
René earned a business degree and then an MBA, becoming a successful Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA). But as years went by, something was missing: the adrenaline and camaraderie of sport. That spark reignited in 1994 when he was invited to BC to try a new accessible sailboat. Using two straws, one for sails and one for the rudder, René could “sip and puff” his way across the water. “I soon realized there was a sport where I could compete and feel at the same level as anybody else,” he later recalled.
René returned to Quebec determined to share this discovery. In 1997, he founded the Association québécoise de voile adaptée (AQVA) at the Pointe-Claire Yacht Club. For the next 25 years, he poured his heart into raising funds, recruiting volunteers, and championing inclusion. From one Martin 16 sailboat and a band of volunteers, AQVA grew steadily under his leadership. Today, it is a thriving program with 8 boats and a full complement of staff. People with diverse disabilities can sail recreationally, take lessons, or compete in regattas. In 2025 alone, 250 children and adults sailed 1,000 hours with the Pointe Claire chapter, and countless more at affiliated programs that have spread across the province. For this incredible work, René was recognized by both Sail Canada as 2017 Volunteer of the Year, and by Voile Québec in their 2015 “Tribute to the Passionate”.
On the water, René’s sip-and-puff mastery was a feat of skill and technology, but perhaps more importantly, it showed that disabled sailors are “just another sailor”, tearing up the racecourse and then sharing stories over a beer afterward, his pint always with a straw.
From René’s vision, a movement has blossomed. Lives are transformed at the dock: disabled sailors discover the joy of the sport, volunteers witness the power of inclusion, and generations of kids, disabled or not, grow up understanding that disability is a normal part of an active life. Rene has changed sailing for the better, and in doing so, has changed society for the better.
René’s life was richly lived: accountant, organizer, neighbour, friend, and cherished family member to many. But in Quebec’s sailing community, he will be remembered most as a visionary champion, laser-focused on making the sport welcoming for all.
Sail in peace, René.
By Jennifer Davey
