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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  • Danny Collins

    The office staff was very accommodating in meeting my availability.

  • Emma & George Stubbs, Sausalito

    We just took our ASA 106 at a school in Rhode Island as we prepare for 6 months of cruising in the Caribbean. The class was great, but more than anything it made us really appreciate the quality of teaching and rigor at Modern Sailing. Even though we were the newest to sailing, the group seemed to think that we had the best fundamentals. We felt very well prepared and we see why Modern Sailing has the reputation it does.

  • Ray Arceneaux

    The vessel was clean and in fine condition - very nice boat for training, well-equipped.

  • 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.

  • Steve Hood, Basic Coastal Cruising

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

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