Mark Showalter

Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Mark has been sailing on San Francisco Bay for decades, starting as crew in beer can races out of Berkeley. For many years, he also sailed his Laser on the Bay, and has since decided that he prefers big sailboats.

In 2019, Mark was a member of the crew dubbed “Kings of the Beer Cans” by Latitude 38.

Mark’s sailing adventures have taken him beyond the Bay to Catalina, the British Virgin Islands, and Croatia. He’s now looking forward to his next international sailing adventure, but doesn’t know when or where that will be.

“I’m excited to take on this new role,” Mark says. “I encourage everyone to come by, say hi, introduce themselves, and let me know how we can take the Berkeley school to the next level.”

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John Kratochvil, Oregon

I would like to compliment Stan Lander for his coaching, counseling and teaching Heavy Weather Offshore Sailing. Stan was very accommodating to all of the student's interests and shared his many years of insight on handling the boat in heavy seas. I would certainly recommend Stan and this course to sheltered waters sailors. My confidence in handling a boat of this size was certainly enhanced by the experience.
John Clark

Every aspect of Modern Sailing - training, syllabus, course materials, quality of the boats, quality of the instructors, and the very friendly and helpful staff - exceeded my expectations. Modern Sailing has a first class sailing program in an environment with challenging winds and currents. I look forward to coming back to charter a boat and certainly plan to continue my sailing training.
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.
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.
David Dolenc, Member

I love sailing in the San Francisco Bay and greatly appreciate everything that MSC has to offer, the classes, clinics, club sails, racing and charters. I enjoy our supportive sailing community and use every opportunity to spend time on the water. After obtaining the certifications from MSC I did my first charter in Croatia in 2022 with my family. It was amazing and we’re looking forward to returning soon!