Bill Mantle

Bill Mantle had big plans to turn his own hobby into a community-wide venture.

Mantle, along with friends Jim Leeson, Keith Cattell, and Jack Wilson, launched the idea of building Nepean’s own sailing club on the Ottawa River in the late 1970s.

While many members of Nepean’s city council were against what they perceived to be an elitist activity, Mantle and company persevered, selling the idea that a sailing club could be a grassroots activity, believing it would attract the interest and participation of families and young people. 

In 1978, the city voted unanimously to commit $90,000 towards the construction of a marina.

From there, the idea grew and grew, to the point where the Nepean Sailing Club has since become one of the signature features along the Ottawa River in the west end of Ottawa.

Mantle passed away in 2021. He was 80.