Our Staff

Our professional and friendly staff is here to help you get the most out of your sailing experience. Do you have questions or would like to get in touch with us? Email us or give us a call (415) 331-8250. We look forward to seeing you around the club!

Operations Team

Leigh Hunt

President and CEO

An electrical engineer by education, Leigh was working in Product Management for Bay Area telecommunications companies before he decided to make sailing a profession and purchased Modern Sailing in July 2014.

Originally from Canada, Leigh began his sailing education at a Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) school in Ontario. After moving to California in 2004, he quickly found two ASA schools to help take his skills to the next level. He completed his ASA 106 at Modern Sailing by...

Mark Showalter

General Manager, Berkeley

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...

Dan Bailey

General Manager, Sausalito

Dan's journey with Modern Sailing began in November 2022 as a client, quickly falling in love with the sport and completing his ASA 101 and 103 certifications. This passion led him to join the Modern Sailing team in March 2024 as a Customer Service Representative, where he quickly demonstrated a deep understanding of Modern Sailing's operations and a commitment to providing exceptional service.

Prior to joining MSC, Dan honed his leadership skills during his 11 years as Global Network...

Jeff Cathers

School Director / ASA Master Instructor

When Jeff Cathers was 17 years old, a classmate told him that he and his father were going to sail to Hawaii for his summer vacation. Jeff was awestruck at the notion and couldn’t imagine how it was possible to cross a giant ocean in a small sailboat. Captivated by the idea, Jeff asked his classmate a million questions and soon knew that he wanted to learn everything about sailing, the sea, the explorers and their ships.

Since then, Jeff learned to sail and went on to skipper several...

Kim Richards

Master Scheduler

Modern Sailing welcomed Kim aboard in November of 2018 and was promoted to the role of Master Scheduler in 2022. Her professional background is in Travel and Tourism and Campaign Management for local elected officials. She has a passion for helping others celebrate life in the great outdoors and finds her role in the Customer Service, Sales and Marketing Team to be enjoyable and rewarding. Her wry sense of humor, eye for detail, and trusted ethic are valued by fellow staff members and...

Sage Behan

Scheduler

Sage grew up racing FJs off the coast of Southern California. She worked a brief stint as a re-enactor on the square rigger Balclutha, on Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco, and is a former OCSC customer service representative. When she’s not sailing, she’s usually found reading, writing, fencing, baking, or playing the accordion.

Robert Bivin

ASA Master Instructor

Robert Bivin has been an integral part of the Modern Sailing community since 2016. As an American Sailing Association (ASA) Master Instructor, Robert has guided students of all ages and abilities, from beginners to advanced sailors, where he specializes in ASA 108 Offshore Passagemaking and Heavy Weather Sailing. He is one of the few ASA Master Instructor Evaluators in the country, able to conduct ASA Instructor Qualification Clinics and teach courses to sailors pursuing a USCG Merchant...

Scott Bonder

Instructor

As a youngster, Scott was dragged kicking and screaming to his dad’s boat in New York. Despite his initial resistance, Scott was quickly hooked. Within a few years, he found himself a 14-year-old salty dog teaching boating safety courses to adults and performing emergency tows on the Long Island Sound. Even after his move to the land-locked city of Atlanta, Scott traveled yearly to the Virgin Islands to island-hop with his wife and also, eventually, with his kids.

Scott's passion for...

Tyler Cobbett

Instructor

Captain Tyler loves time on the water on any kind of craft from sail to power, canoes to kayaks. A member of Modern Sailing since 2009, Tyler has chartered most of the yachts in the Gold and Platinum fleets in Sausalito. Favorite cruises include Greece’s Ionian Islands, Canada’s North Channel, a delivery from Newport, Rhode Island to Toronto via the Erie and Oswego canals, and trips to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Carmel.

In 2024 he sailed as First Mate on an Oyster 655 from Bermuda to...

Katie Cornetta

Racing Coach & Instructor

Katie is an avid racer, cruiser, and sailboat captain based out of Oakland, CA. Her sailing began right here in the Berkeley Marina at the Cal Sailing Club. There she got her first taste of sailing and racing on small boats, and since then has sailed and raced extensively aboard boats of all sizes. Her racing career has taken her on two trips to Hawaii, twice around Vancouver Island, and all over the West Coast of North America. She has navigated aboard many ocean and coastal races including...

Jeff Fairchild

Instructor

It is never too late to learn something new…it is never too late to learn to sail. Growing up, Jeff had very little exposure to sailing. On rare occasions he had the opportunity to sail on dinghies, but never learned how to sail on his own. In 2003, after retiring from a lifelong career in the restaurant industry, he and his wife, Barbie, moved to Inverness, just north of San Francisco where they currently run a vacation rental business.

In late 2006 on a beautiful Indian summer...

Cliff Fitzgerald

Instructor

Cliff grew up in a family that sailed on Long Island Sound. At the age of eight he got his start at skippering and racing in a summer youth sailing program. Dinghies led to small centerboard sloops, which led to keelboats of all types ranging from twenty-two to fifty feet. By the time he was in college, Cliff was crewing on coastal passages from New York to Nova Scotia and also teaching in the same summer program he had come up in. His family continued sailing throughout, including bareboat...

Andrea Geisinger

Instructor

Andrea is a seasoned sailor with over 30 years of experience. Her passion for the sea began on the tranquil waters of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Since then, she's explored the world's oceans, from the Canary Islands to the Mediterranean, the English Channel, and the North and Baltic Seas.

Andrea’s love for sailing grew after moving to the San Francisco Bay. She's cruised extensively along the West Coast, from Mexico to Alaska, and participated in the prestigious Pacific Cup race....

Dan Givens

Instructor

Dan’s first experience sailing was on a Lido 14 with his grandfather in Oregon. On those lazy summer days, he developed a love for sailing, but never really thought about it as a full-time hobby, let alone a career.

Fast-forward to 2013, when a co-worker asked Dan to crew on a 36' X-Yacht for springtime beer-can races. Through weekly practice sessions and race events, Dan was hooked. He enrolled in classes at OCSC Sailing and worked his way through Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising,...

Wolfgang Hausen

Instructor

Wolfgang immigrated to the US over 40 years ago, just married and with a brand-new degree in electrical engineering. He established himself in the hi-tech industry initially as a computer design engineer, and later, after completing an MBA, as manager and executive at various Silicon Valley companies.

Having always had a dream of sailing to far-away places, 25 years ago Wolfgang joined a sailing school on the Bay and proceeded to climb the ASA certification ladder. In 1991 he began...

James Jenkins

Instructor

James’ sailing experience began at a New York high school that specialized in oceanography. He developed a thirst and love for the ocean and watersports when he joined his school’s boating club.

After moving to California in the early 2000s, he gained even more sailing experience at the Lake Merritt Boating center in Oakland, at OCSC, and several other sailing clubs. In 2014, he acquired his Captain’s License.

James’ appreciation for sailing was further realized after sailing...

Richard Jensen

Instructor

Richard's lifelong sailing adventure began with island hopping on a small sailing dinghy at age 14 in the South Pacific Kwajalein Atoll of the Marshall Islands. Frequently meeting visiting cruisers expanded his desire to explore the world of sailing. Learning to sail native outriggers, understanding their creative navigation technology, and appreciating the significant role that sailing vessels have played in the evolution of mankind drew Richard even deeper into the world of cruising....

Mark Jordan

Racing Coach & Instructor

Mark Jordan remembers the first time he went sailing as a teenager. It was a typical blustery summer day on San Francisco Bay, and he recalls the excitement he felt when the sails were first hoisted, the engine shut off, and the boat came alive under the power of the wind. Right there and then, he knew he wanted to be a sailor.

Since that day Mark has sailed thousands of miles, both cruising and racing, in San Francisco Bay and in waters all over the world. In 2015, he was asked to...

Steve Kent

Instructor

Steve joined the Berkeley instructor team in 2021 and is USCG licensed captain and certified ASA Instructor. He began sailing at age 8 with his family in Southern California and progressed to his first Pacific crossing by age 16. Steve raced in high school and college and has sailed more than 15,000 offshore miles between California, Mexico, and Hawaii.

Steve’s love of fishing, sailing, and adventuring have fueled many years of exploration along the California coastline, the Channel...

Carmen Maio

Race Coach and Instructor

I started as a brand new sailor with no experience in 2009, at OCSC in Berkeley, after discovering the excitement, rush, and thrill of a J/24 on the San Francisco bay in summer winds. I wouldn't call myself a thrill seeker, but I am an adventurer and everything about sailing spoke to my soul. It quickly became my newest passion not only for the hands-on aspect of sailing but for the community of people that sail. Water people, sailors especially, are a unique breed, and I fit right in.

...

Kira Maixner

Instructor

Captain Kira is a California Bay Area transplant after moving from landlocked Colorado in 2012. She has been boating since she was a youngster and sailing since the spring of 2013. After meeting a brand-new boat owner, she began sailing regularly on the San Francisco Bay. Her first sail was wet and wild aboard a J/88 racing yacht, but from that first day, she knew that sailing would play a huge part in her life. Soon she was sailing 3 to 5 times a week and taking lessons at Modern Sailing....

Steve Matles

Instructor

You’ve got to really love sailing when you launch your first boat in the “mud puddles” of Oklahoma reservoirs. It was a 19-foot Flying Scot, a daysailer that followed him from Tulsa, to Galveston, and finally to Lake Tahoe where he turned it in for a 28-foot Lancer. Steve currently owns Moon Dance, a Bavaria 42 Cruiser in the Berkeley Platinum Fleet.

At 10, Steve got the sailing bug as a summer camper...

Mindy Oppenheim

Instructor

Captain Mindy's sailing story starts with “how a nice Jewish girl from Miami Beach ended up in the middle of the Cuban (Marielito) boat lift in 1979.” Mindy graduated college essentially homeless, except for her brother’s couch, and had this great idea to go to the Miami River, bilge out a half-sunken 32 ft. sailboat, and get towed to a very funky Watson Island Marina right across from the Port of Miami.

Luckily the Siddhartha in Search of Nirvana had no sails, no engine,...

Laura Parent

Instructor

Growing up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Laura was influenced at an early age by the ocean, boats and waterways of her hometown as well by as her father’s career as a Port Everglades Pilot.

After earning her degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University, Laura followed her dream and the call of the sea. Achieving her 100-ton USCG master's license at age 23, she logged 20,000 nautical miles over 9 years working as crew, watch officer, or captain on a variety of vessels...

Dave Russell

Instructor

Dave got his start sailing tall ships in the Caribbean in 1991, and this first experience in the islands changed his life forever. While he prefers to sail large catamarans, Dave has never met a boat he didn’t like. In fact he’s invested in three large schooners that offer vacation cruises in the Caribbean, and frequently crews on those ships.

Dave began instructing in 2009. His favorite activity is instructing the ASA courses for Cruising Catamaran and Bareboat Chartering, anywhere...

Philip Strause

Instructor

Philip got hooked on sailing after a family trip to the British Virgin Islands just before college. Shortly after, he joined as crew on a J/105 that campaigned throughout the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2013, he was able to go on sabbatical and sailed his 1966 Bristol 27 solo from Annapolis, Maryland to Key West, Florida. By 2015, Philip had relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he began racing out of Berkeley Yacht Club.

Philip joined OCSC Sailing that same year and went on to...

Irina Walker

Instructor

Irina Walker's boating experience began in childhood, motoring up and down rivers of the USSR in family-owned boats. As an adult living in the Bay Area, watching boats out on the Bay from her home got her thinking about getting on the water herself.

In 2016, Irina decided to give sailing a shot and signed up for an Introductory Sail at OCSC, followed by a Basic Keelboat course. She admits, "I didn't like it much. But I felt there was so much potential there that I decided to pursue...

Remembering Bill Moreland

by Mary Elkins, Former Digital Marketing Lead (Retired)

The Modern Sailing community mourns the passing of our Chief Operations Officer, School Director, mentor, and friend Captain Bill Moreland, who set sail on his final voyage after his battle with cancer ended on December 23, 2024.

Bill started sailing San Francisco Bay over 40 years ago while working in the supply chain business. He wanted to have something to take his mind off...

John taught advanced sailing courses on San Francisco Bay and along the California Coast since 1993. As a former owner of Modern Sailing, his incredible experience and high-energy creativity helped to shape the school and club.

In addition to teaching local courses, John was most known for teaching advanced ASA courses in overseas locations including the South Pacific, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Thailand, New Zealand, Australia, Seychelles Islands, Africa, and Alaska.

The John...

Operations Team

Leigh Hunt

Mark Showalter

Dan Bailey

Jeff Cathers

Kim Richards

Sage Behan

Instructors & School Leadership

Robert Bivin

Scott Bonder

Tyler Cobbett

Katie Cornetta

Jeff Fairchild

Cliff Fitzgerald

Andrea Geisinger

Dan Givens

Wolfgang Hausen

James Jenkins

Richard Jensen

Mark Jordan

Steve Kent

Carmen Maio

Kira Maixner

Steve Matles

Mindy Oppenheim

Laura Parent

Dave Russell

Philip Strause

Irina Walker

In Memoriam

Remembering Bill Moreland

John Connolly

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