Eight Bells Toll for Lake Merritt Sailing Club
- Guillermo Gasperi
- Jun 23
- 3 min read
By Denis Hazlewood | June 6, 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area
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.
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