Eight Bells Toll for Lake Merritt Sailing Club
We don’t often see a sailing club close its doors, but when we do, it’s a sad day. After 88 years, the Lake Merritt Sailing Club has reached the end of its lifespan and is closing its doors for good. Denis Hazlewood, club commodore 2022–2025, shares the news with a recap of the club’s history and course through the decades.
It was surely not the first sailing organization on the lake, but in 1937 a group of Oakland small-boat sailors formed the Lake Merritt Sailing Club. By 1952 the club had grown so large that they incorporated as a California Nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporation. The oldest club roster that we’ve been able to find is from 1969, and at that time the club boasted 281 members, with 255 senior sailors and 26 juniors. There were a total of 302 boats registered, representing 44 classes.
The largest fleet was El Toros, with 94 boats. In the other larger fleets there were 45 Lido 14s, 36 Snipes, 16 Blue Jays, 11 Flying Juniors, 9 Zephyrs, 7 Sunfish, 7 OK Dinghies, and 5 each 5O5s, Melodys, and Top Cats. Hanging in our garage at Lake Merritt is a photo taken sometime in the ‘50s, showing around 70 boats, from seven classes. In one 1972 regatta there were so many Lido14s on the starting line that the boats started in two ranks.
Over the years membership declined, and by 2022 was down to 25 members, with 12 sailboats, representing 5 classes. The largest fleet is still the El Toros, with 8 boats, and there are now one each: Laser, Sunfish, S.F. Pelican, and Strike 18. The commodore, too old to climb back into a capsized sailboat, rows his home-built sharpie skiff, Some Cats Swing.
For quite a few years the major club activities were the five regattas held each year. Beginning in 1999, the Edna and Howard Robinson Memorial midwinter series consisted of four monthly regattas of four races each. Until 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic, this series was very well attended, and mostly kept the club “afloat” socially, and financially. For nearly 60 years the club had also hosted the City of Oakland Mayor’s Cup. This popular regatta was held each year near Independence Day, and attracted sailors from as far away as Chico, and Fresno.
In 2022, in an attempt to increase the club’s income — and general Bay Area small-boat “footprint” — a second, 16-race summer/fall Commodore’s Curse series was begun. This new series never really took hold, and attendance was irregular at best. Due to the cost of the City of Oakland’s insurance requirements, this lack of participation put the club in financial peril.
In spring 2022 the commodore was contacted by the representative of a group who wished to be anonymously referred to as The Ladies. With four easily met requirements The Ladies offered to donate funds to help cover the club’s insurance cost through June 30, 2025. It’s now June 2025, The Ladies have met their commitment, the well is dry, and the membership has aged out. In January, by a margin of 65%, the members voted to end the club.
The sad reality is that, as of July 1, 2025, the 88-year-old Lake Merritt Sailing Club will have ceased to be, ending its nearly 90-year relationship with Lake Merritt, the City of Oakland, and the San Francisco Bay Area sailing community. It’s sad to say goodbye after so many years, so many memories, but we had a hell of a ride, with one hand on the tiller, and one hand for the mainsheet.
Fair winds and following seas to you all,
LAKE MERRITT SAILING CLUB, Denis Hazlewood, Commodore 2022–2025.
We share Denis’s sentiments; with such large numbers, it must have been “a hell of a ride.” We send a heartfelt “Fair winds and following seas” to the Lake Merritt Sailing Club members, family, friends and community.
Sad..my dad took me there when I was maybe 8 ..and that was the first in a sail boat..an el toro..over 67 years ago..
Nearly 30 years ago I learned to sail on an el toro in lake Merritt. I’m sad to see a part of my personal history going away. Thank you for getting me started on my sailing journey.
Fair Winds,
William Cabranes
Sailing SF Bay
William,
Thanks for sharing your experience.
If you’re able, our last Regatta is on Sunday, June 29th. Drop by if you can.
Denis
I learned to sail on Lake Merritt in the mid 1960’s. We kept our El Toro #513 in the boathouse at the club. Our father had a downtown Oakland business so we accompanied him to work from Danville to sail as often as possible. We learned the shallow parts of the lake, enjoyed capsizing just to cool down, and generally just enjoyed being on the water. We sailed the lake until I left for college. GREAT TIMES! After 26 years in the camera industry, I have just entered my 26th year in the boating business. Always attracted back to the water I have sailed the world.
Jeff,
Thanks for your comments.
Our last Regatta is on Sunday, June 29th. Drop by an say hi if you’re able.
Denis
Very sad to see it go. I took sailing classes on a Sunfish there in the early 70’s. I remember scooting around the lake getting to know where the wind typically was, and where it wasn’t. There was definitely local knowledge to be gained.
Sean,
Thanks for you comments.
Our last Regatta is Sunday, June 29th. Drop by and say hi, if you’re able.
Denis
My dad took my brother & I sailing there often in the early 1970’s – we have a great photo of all 3 of us in our Melody. I remember the challenges of sailing over near the bandstand & the wind dying.
Susan,
Thanks for your reply. Our last Regatta is on Sunday, June 29th. If you’re able please drop by and say hello.
Denis
How sad to hear. I’m almost 78 and I remember learning to sail on Lake Merritt when I was 12 in 1958. My parents took lessons from the Oakland Parks Department on a weekday (one of my father’s two days off per week) and then we would go down to the lake on Sunday (his other day off) and rent two boats so they could teach me what they learned the previous week. I loved it! The following year my dad and I (probably mostly my dad) built a Snipe (#14098) in our garage in Napa where we lived. We did our first launch and madden voyage in Lake Merritt.
I’ve owned and sailed in many boats since then, but when someone asks me how long I’ve been sailing or where did I learn, I always tell them my Lake Merritt story.
Jim,
Thanks for your comments. Our last Regatta is on Sunday, June 29th. Drop by and say hi, if you’re able.
Denis
I crewed for my son on my first Snipe at Lake Merritt. We were new to Sniping and it took us 3 different tries to even get the boat into the water let alone get to the race course. After my son started sailing with someone his age, I started racing with my daughter at Lake Merritt. I learned a lot about how to make a crew unhappy while sailing with her and that has been a lesson I still keep in mind every time I sail and especially every time I race. I had good times there and my daughter work in the boathouse as a junior instructor when she got out of High School. Sorry to see the Club go away even though I have not sailed there in many years.
Vince,
Thanks for your comments. Our last Regatta is on Sunday, June 29th. Drop by if you’re able.
Denis
What a shame… such a long legacy and ideal learning environment. Sign me up for the Revive Lake Merritt Sailing Club committee.
I learned to sail on an El Toro there at 8-10 years old for a few years around 1958-1960.
From there it took me to Etchels and Mercurys on the Bay to Santa Cruz for 40 years on multiple ultra lights and many SF Bay series in various classes.
Still floating at 75 and this news is very sad.
I learned to sail on Lake Merritt in the late 60s. El Toros, FJs and finally 505s. I did race committee and learned a lot. I enjoyed the annual crab feed and hanging out at the lake with the likes of Jim Warfield and Vicky Gilmour.
I took a summer sailing class in an El Toro on Lake Merritt in 1972 or so – I was about 12 years old. I always had fond memories of it, but life moved on. One day, when I was in my fifties, I was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge and remembered that class. I looked at the sailboats on the bay, and said, “Why am I not doing that?” I now have sailed and raced sailboats for 8 years. The orgin story is Lake Merritt.
I learned to sail in an El Toro when I was about 16 yrs old some 50 yrs ago, great times. Then the Windsurfer was born and I was off to Lake Del Valle and the Bay. Seems the present gens only want to play on their phones, such a loss for them.
This is so sad. I rented an El Toro on Lake Merritt one day after school on my 17th birthday. My family totally forgot about my birthday, so I treated myself. I did not know how to sail, but out of necessity, got the hang of it pretty quick. I had no previous lessons and interestingly, no certification was required to rent back then. I learned how to back my mainsail that day when I got stuck on one of the logs that served as a duck pen. The ducks mocked me with their incessant quacks until I got out of my situation and I returned to the boathouse. Lake Merritt, April 29, 1968, that was my introduction to sailing and it will always be one of my fondest memories.
LMSC Commodore 2018-2021 I learned sailing/racing on the lake in the 50’s-60’s. Raced ElToros, OK Dinghy, Snipe and Blue Jay (still have it). Sadly the end of an era. Good times never forgotten.
I too have many, many memories of racing El Toros and other boats on Lake Merritt. I will try to visit on June 29. I am very impressed that you (and Gary Hartsock, who made trophies for a regional championship I helped organize in 1977) kept the club going this long.
I hope the substantial memorabilia and records from LMSC can find a home… perhaps at the Oakland Museum of California. They appear to have a related photo to that you posted… based on the construction status of the Kaiser Center, I’d guess the photos are from the Mayor’s Day Regatta of 1958.
Maybe this link will work… https://portal.museumca-aws.org/catalog/665cfc20-ab16-4620-ab9d-85c791a11eb6
They have 10 or so photos of LMSC races online.
My son, Deaf with CP, and daughter, Deaf and legally blind, both learned to sail El Toros in the Adapted Sailing program, I’m guessing early 90s. Our son then learned to sail a Sunfish in the same program. They both later became Sea Scouts. Our son eventually got to sail from somewhere below Carmel to Oakland on the Tall Ship California.
I then learned to sail an El Toro myself. My husband was already a sailor.
So many, many important memories.
While attending grad school at UC Berkeley I sailed my Force 5 on Lake Merritt 1974-75 and thought it quite unique sailing in the middle of an urban area. Sad to see any long term sailing club shut down.
Cherish the friendships and memories.
Sad to see the Club die. Buried by the two year corona virus lockdown, and City of Oakland insurance costs. Government making our lives miserable. Thanks for the memories.
I am sad for the situation.
I got my first trophy at Lake Merritt in 1957 sailing my snipe 6127. I learned sailing at the Oakland city sailing program later joining the “boom dodgers” club. Sad to see a part of history go But …
I took sailing lessons at LMSC in the mid 70’s and Pete Newell was my instructor. My first time soloing a boat was in an El Toro on Lake Merritt. I’ll never forget it. I still have my 4th place trophy from the LMSC junior sailing program, and the custom drawing Pete drew and gave to every kid. My parents learned to sail and race an FJ on Lake Merritt and made some good friends. Thanks for the memories- they were/ are great!
Glen Moore here, up in the Smith Brother’s territory. I, too, cut my teeth sailing El Toros on the Lake Merritt of the North’s sister program, Green Lake here in Seattle. I had sailing fever like adolescent girls have Horse Fever. There is no cure. Like Lake Merritt, Green Lake had a very strong program, based upon the El Toro platform, and a great number of sailing folk here in the Northwest learned firs in the Smith-built El Toros. There were both adult and youth programs, with evening racing and even frostbiting throughout the winter months, all run on a volunteer-based model. The emphasis was on teaching and fun, and the program was similar to the Lake Merritt model, with the exception of rental options. But people had FUN! I can honesty say that programs like yours shaped many lives. For me it was the introduction to a lifestyle of campaigning boats all over the country, and circling back to building El Toros for a chapter. I’m down to only two boats these days, but with Jotz sails for great match racing still!
Best part was to go to El Toro regattas and sail against the best: the Jotz’s, Warfields, (Surtees?), Toschi’s, et al, and to make it into the T-shirt Division (top 30 or so in the BullShip Race, actually meant sumpin. The programs and the boats were a great way to improve my sailing in all areas: start timing, wind shifts, close-quarter maneuvering and rules study, but it seems that the sport has moved on.
Insurance and competition for very limited resources like water access and storage seem to be the common factors in the demise of these precious resources. How many foiling moth clubs are there in the country? Facilities like Lake Merritt Sailing Club formed the base of the pyramid that kept sailing viable as an activity and recruitment vehicle. Not every young sailor aspires to be an Olympian or a pedal pusher on an America’s Cup foiling machine: most of the pedal pushers probably can’t swim.
Your piece here only strengthens my resolve to pass this experience along to my own grandkids (Steve and Anne), did you read that? Truly a gift that you can give to that 3 and 5-year old, and it says that everything the Lake Merritt Sailing Club did over the years was valid.
Remember your roots. Sail on.
So sad to hear that Lake Merit Sailing is closing down. I learned to sail El Toro’s with my dad in the early 1960’s. Neither of us knew anything about sailing and made plenty of mistakes. I also fell in love with the idea of using the wind to go from point A to point B. Today as I head into retirement from a long and active career I look forward to spending more time afloat chasing after invisible forces, hidden currents and the splash of the bow cutting through the water. It’s my happy place. Thank you Lake Merit Sailing Club. I owe you a debt of gratitude for getting me off to a good start.
Sad day. I was a junior member in the 70’s racing a Laser with another member, Paul Naton.
I have wonderful memories of my days racing on Lake Merrit with my friends. Just watch the wind shifts when somebody opened a sliding glass window on the 10th floor!!
A special memory is being the club junior representative to get to attend race camp at Tinsely Island. Good times.
End of an Era for sure…
Hello to all of the sailors making comments here. Thank you for your kind, and heartfelt messages. For some reason I’ve only been able to reply to 6 of the first 7 comments, the “Reply” link goes right to comments. In 2022, when I agreed to run for Commodore, I told the members that I didn’t want to be the last Commodore of the Lake Merritt Sailing Club. To my great disappointment I didn’t get my wish. If you would like to contact me with a PM feel free to email me at redleader429comcast.net.
Denis Hazlewood
Lake Merritt Sailing Club
Commodore 2022 – 2025