Our story begins with
Myron Spaulding
Myron Spaulding in the spar loft at the Spaulding Marine Center (1995)
“Myron was one of the best sailors on the Bay, ever. He knew the water, he knew design, and he knew how to make boats go fast. He was one of the first pros long before there were pros.”
“Myron was a tremendous influence on every sailor active on San Francisco Bay in the first 60 or 70 years of the century—whether they knew it or not.”
Myron Spaulding playing violin in the San Francisco Symphony.
About Myron
Myron Spaulding was a legend on the Sausalito waterfront, and was a tremendous influence on San Francisco bay sailors during the days when boats were made of wood and built locally by expert craftsmen. An accomplished concert violinist, Myron Spaulding performed professionally for many years, including with the San Francisco Symphony. It was, however, as a yacht designer, builder and sailor, that Myron left his mark on the Bay Area. Learning about working with wood at Polytechnic High School in San Francisco in 1924, he designed and built his first small boat while in school and thereafter was largely self-taught.
Opening an office in San Francisco as a naval architect before World War II, his first significant design was the 20 foot Clipper, of which 80 were eventually built. During this period he was making a name for himself as a crack sailor, eventually going on to win several season championships and racing in six TransPacific races from San Francisco to Honolulu. The highlight of his racing career was winning the 1936 TransPac as skipper of the famous 52 foot yawlDorade. In addition to the Clipper class, he created the Spaulding 33, which can still be seen on the bay, as well as notable custom boats such as the 50 foot yawl Suomi and the 45 foot yawl Chrysopyle.
During the War, he worked at the Madden & Lewis shipyard in Sausalito building subchasers, then spent a couple of years as a marine surveyor before leasing property near McNear’s Beach in the late 1940s, where he repaired boats, continued with survey work and designed and built the 36 foot Buoyant Girl. After losing his lease to make way for development, he returned to Sausalito in 1951 and bought the present waterfront site at the foot of Gate Five Road. Myron Spaulding died in the fall of 2000 at the age of 94.
Myron Spaulding’s widow Gladys died a little more than a year and a half later and left the Spaulding Boatworks in charitable trust, with instructions for the trustees to form a nonprofit corporation, named the Spaulding Center for Wooden Boats.
Further information on Myron Spaulding can be found in the Wikipedia article on Myron Spaulding.
Myron Spaulding on the San Francisco Bay.
Gladys Spaulding.
Preserved planning for Spaulding designed boats.