Mark Showalter | Modern Sailing

Mark Showalter

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Mark has been sailing on San Francisco Bay for decades, cruising with friends and racing in beer can regattas. His sailing adventures have taken him beyond the Bay to Catalina, the British Virgin Islands, Croatia, St. Lucia and Thailand — and he's always planning his next international sailing trip.

Mark's path to Modern Sailing started through a prior career in tech, where he met Leigh Hunt — now Modern Sailing's owner and CEO. When the opportunity arose to bring his sailing passion into his professional life, Mark joined Modern Sailing as Fleet Service Manager at the newly opened Berkeley location. From there, he became Fleet Service Director, overseeing the Fleet Service team across both locations, then General Manager of the Berkeley location. In 2025, he stepped into the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Today, Mark oversees operations across all three Modern Sailing locations. He holds advanced ASA and US Sailing credentials. During his tenure as COO, Modern Sailing has grown into the largest sailing school on San Francisco Bay — three locations, a fleet of 50 boats, and an unmatched team.

"My passion is building strong teams and empowering them to succeed." Mark says. "We offer the broadest sailing curriculum on the Bay, and every day, our team is focused on one thing: making our members' sailing dreams come true.”

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  • Steve Hood, Basic Coastal Cruising

    I would definitely recommend Modern Sailing to anyone who is interested in learning to sail the right way.

  • Andrew Goble, San Francisco

    It has been wonderful sailing with MSC over the years. Please extend my thanks to the owners, management, and staff for unrequited professionalism and high standards in a charter fleet. I have sailed with several in my years and none nearly hold a candle to the quality of business and staff at Modern Sailing.

  • Jessica Zittere, Member

    The Full Moon Sail with Skipper Bob Gutsgell was Ah-Mayzing!! The group dynamic was lovely and the views spectacular. I can't say enough good things about the experience. Thanks so much for the wonderful Club Sails, they are really great.

  • Trudy Flores

    Captain Jeff Cathers is really cool. I had such a great time on the Farallones Day Trip. It was actually my very best day of 2020. Thank you so much for coordinating the trip.

  • Danny Collins

    The office staff was very accommodating in meeting my availability.

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