Bay Area Sailing School Club Nautique Declares Bankruptcy
It was a tough New Year’s Eve message for us and many Bay Area sailors when we learned that Bay Area sailing school and club, Club Nautique, was closing its doors and declaring bankruptcy. Over the weekend, we published the letter from Club Nautique on our Business News page, prompting the comment from reader Mark Joiner, “Oh my God, I agree that’s (sic) something steady as the sun coming up has gone by the wayside.”
The school has been an institution on the Bay since it was founded by Don Durant in 1980. Since then, the school has taught thousands of sailors and chartered hundreds of boats on the Bay and built a dedicated community of members and instructors. Durant sold the business to Jason and Stephanie LaChance in 2020, just as the pandemic was coming on.
It was a difficult start, but the school continued as one of US Sailing’s top commercial sailing schools and provided more Offshore Passage Making certifications than any other school. Since the announcement came out, we’ve received many emails from instructors and members regretting the loss of the school. It’s difficult to process such a loss, though it’s not been an easy time in the sailing industry. Club Nautique has been a major dealer for Jeanneau sailboats, which started the year with tariffs disrupting the marketplace. Then, in a tragic loss, the school’s long-serving and respected general manager, David Forbes, suffered a fatal heart attack in mid-November.
We’ve heard from former CN instructor Larry Haynie, former instructor and manager Jim Hancock (now of San Francisco Science Sailing Center), former instructor Doug Teakell, delivery skipper Arnstein Mustad and many others on our business story and Facebook page, including Angela Stiller Salvante Grigas, who wrote, “So sad to hear about this. We hosted Club Nautique many times at Benicia Yacht Club.”
Arnstein Mustad noted, “Together we accomplished some great things, such as the GRAD course (GPS, Radar, AIS, and DSC). I put the curriculum together using 12 laptops and a network hub to project a student’s electronic charting work on the screen. David and Antonio (instructor) also launched a new electronic navigation course for US Sailing. CN was the first to teach it for US Sailing using tablets in a classroom environment — a complete departure from paper charts. These new courses were revolutionary in the US Sailing education world.”
Instructor and captain Matthew Sessions wrote to say, “Club Nautique has been an amazing place to work for the last few years. The office staff and instructors are extremely knowledgeable and professional, and the fleet of yachts has always been in excellent working order. David Forbes pushed me to bring out my best as an instructor/coach for our students. I’m a better yachtsman thanks to the CN community.”
Deirdre Collins wrote, “This is so sad and such a great loss for the Bay. They were a top-quality sailing school.”
Having been at Latitude 38 for almost 40 years, we have said farewell to more than our share of sailing businesses. Through it all, we’ve always respected the people who take on the challenge of running a small business. We’ve sat with business owners through recessions, supply chain disruptions, the luxury tax, increased environmental regulatory burdens and a the full array of business challenges. Even the largest sailing businesses are small businesses compared to those on Wall Street.
The common thread connecting all of our advertising customers is a passion for sailing. The former and current owners and staff at Club Nautique were among many dedicated people we’ve had the privilege to work with in the sailing business. Times change, and it can be very difficult to navigate through the periodic squalls that flow through the business cycle. The loss of Club Nautique leaves a vacuum that, one way or another, will get filled. There is chatter online about rescuing the club, though it’s very early to know if anything like that is possible.
Regardless, the thousands of sailors trained by Club Nautique and all other local sailors know the allure of sailing the Bay that is so central to the Bay Area. Though it may not be easy, we trust everyone will find a way to get back to sailing the Bay.
Such sad news that I had not heard. I started teaching part time at Club Nautique in 1986 and did many offshore classes plus served as skipper/instructor for two Pacific Cup races in 1988 and 2000 with CN members onboard for a learning experience. CN was ahead of its time in approaching US Sailing along with Olympic Circle Sailing Club to ask them to start another sailing certification course in competition with American Sailing Assoc. That was early 1990’s and we instructors at both schools were part of the curriculum development program and testing. Lots of memories. Working with Don and Judy Durant was a pleasure. So sorry to hear about David Forbes’ passing as I worked under him and sailed with him as well. If it wasn’t for my years at Club Nautique and Don insisting that all of us get our US Merchant Marine license, I probably would never have achieved that in 1992. I still am current in 2025 with my 100 T.
Linda – thanks for the note. It’s a difficult loss for Bay Area sailing. With your help and so many others, Club Nautique created an enormous community of competent sailors. Like so many others that contributed to their teaching, it’s hard not to recognize all you’ve done yourself with the creation and on-going support for Island Yacht Club’s Women’s Sailing Seminar, your early sailing years written up over 40 years ago in our February 1979 issue and a more recent update on your support, recognition by BoatUS and many other accomplishments.
We’ve heard from several that there are folks working hard to fill the void and continue the tradition.
I did a 7 day flotilla charter thru Colgate sailing school in Florida. We had a wonderful trip to Bora Bora. Upon our return, we learned that the school had declared bankruptcy. We got lucky to have completed the trip before the bad news came.
Sad to see Club Nautique collapse. Back in 2008 I joined CN to learn how to sail and worked through their US sailing courses. Great instruction, charter boats always in great shape and I continued my membership despite moving to Minnesota 10 years ago. Joined a couple sailing clubs here, but continued to travel back to the bay to charter CN boats and share the Bay sailing experience with sailing friends. After retiring 4 years ago, I began my instruction journey and received my ASA instructor certification and now teach for two clubs. We charter 4 or more times a year in multiple countries and it all started with Club Nautique and the confidence they inspired through the teaching on the bay. If there is a way to revive or work with the owners to continue the club that would be fantastic.
I am sad they are closing. I bought a boat out of their fleet, and it was kept in great shape. Will they be selling any of their boats?
I didn’t know David Forbes had passed away. Condolences to his whole family and the CN community. He was so dedicated to growing the sailing community and getting more people on the water. Fair winds David.