Dolphin Fleet

We have around 40 rowboats housed at our Aquatic Park Boathouse. Almost all are sliding seat rowboats ranging in a number of styles.

Traditional
We maintain a fleet of pristine wooden rowboats. Many of them were built right in our own boat shop. The boats are mostly named after notable Dolphins with strong ties to the rowing program.

Our vessels were modified and improved to handle the specific conditions of the San Francisco Bay. Now referred to as Dolphin Club singles and doubles, these boats are unique to our boathouse. There are no other boats in the world that feature our specific combination of forms and characteristics.

The queen of the fleet is JOHN WIELAND—a six-oared sliding seat barge originally completed in 1887 and completely refurbished in the mid-1990s. She was built in honor of the founder of the club, John Wieland. He was a German immigrant who struck it rich during the gold rush but died tragically trying to save his daughter from a building fire shortly after founding the club.

Viking
Some unique wooden vessels in our fleet are our Viking-class boats. These boats are also based on a whitehall design, but have much less beam, are longer, have outriggers and are therefore a bit more nimble than their whitehall inspiration. 

The first Viking boat (a double named VIKING) was built in 1915 by a pair of cable car repairmen who used the boat to row on the Russian River. The boat ended up in the Dolphin Club’s hands and eventually we commissioned a local boat builder named Jeremy Fisher-Smith to refurbish and copy the original. We now have three Viking-class vessels.

Contemporary
In addition to our wooden boats we have 14 fiberglass boats including open water racing singles and doubles from Maas boat builders and 4 coastal rowing boats made by LiteBoat boat builders.

Somewhere in between
Along the way we’ve also acquired rowboats that don’t quite fit into one of the above categories, but are still fun and safe to row on the bay.

NameBuild YearTypeWeight lbs.
John Wieland1887Six-Oared Barge588
Viking1916Cable Car Gig270
Farrell1917Dolphin Club Double350
Cronin1938Dolphin Club Double376
Hughes1938Dolphin Club Double380
Baggiani1948Dolphin Club Single207
Foster1948Dolphin Club Single198
Landucci1948Dolphin Club Single209
Herman Zahler1960Herreschoff Double-Paddle Canoe78
Spectre1973Single Whitehall261
Good Luck1976Stillwater River Boat187
Lifthrasir1985Cable Car Gig270
Austin1987Single Modified Whitehall205
Cecco1988Dolphin Club Single219
Joe Bruno1989Dolphin Club Single212
Ring2000Dory, Flat-Bottomed193
Haake2006Dolphin Club Single218
Kupuna2006Dolphin Club Single167
Kohlenberg2006Single Cable Car Gig189
Commodore2016Dolphin Club Single170
Semper Fi2016Dolphin Club Single165
NameBuilderModelClassMaterial
El NinoLiteBoatLiteRace 1xCoastal 1xCarbon Fiber
La NinaLiteBoatLiteRace 1xCoastal 1xCarbon Fiber
TempestLiteBoatLiteSport 2xCoastal 2xCarbon Fiber
StormLiteBoatLiteQuattroCoastal Gig BoatCarbon Fiber
CootMaas Boat CompanyMaas 24Open Water ShellFiberglass
FlickaMaas Boat CompanyMaas 24Open Water ShellFiberglass
GullMaas Boat CompanyMaas 24Open Water ShellFiberglass
Surf ScooterMaas Boat CompanyMaas 24Open Water ShellFiberglass
PelicanMaas Boat CompanyMaas Carbon 24Open Water ShellCarbon Fiber
MurreMaas Boat CompanyMaas FlyweightOpen Water ShellFiberglass
TernMaas Boat CompanyMaas AeroOpen Water ShellFiberglass
BananaMaas Boat CompanyMaas AeroOpen Water ShellFiberglass
OspreyMaas Boat CompanyMaas DoubleOpen Water ShellCarbon Fiber
TroneumMaas Boat CompanyMaas DragonflyOpen Water ShellFiberglass