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.
Based on the whitehall design from the East Coast, 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.
| Name | Build Year | Type | Weight lbs. |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Wieland | 1887 | Six-Oared Barge | 588 |
| Viking | 1916 | Cable Car Gig | 270 |
| Farrell | 1917 | Dolphin Club Double | 350 |
| Cronin | 1938 | Dolphin Club Double | 376 |
| Hughes | 1938 | Dolphin Club Double | 380 |
| Baggiani | 1948 | Dolphin Club Single | 207 |
| Foster | 1948 | Dolphin Club Single | 198 |
| Landucci | 1948 | Dolphin Club Single | 209 |
| Herman Zahler | 1960 | Herreschoff Double-Paddle Canoe | 78 |
| Spectre | 1973 | Single Whitehall | 261 |
| Good Luck | 1976 | Stillwater River Boat | 187 |
| Lifthrasir | 1985 | Cable Car Gig | 270 |
| Austin | 1987 | Single Modified Whitehall | 205 |
| Cecco | 1988 | Dolphin Club Single | 219 |
| Joe Bruno | 1989 | Dolphin Club Single | 212 |
| Ring | 2000 | Dory, Flat-Bottomed | 193 |
| Haake | 2006 | Dolphin Club Single | 218 |
| Kupuna | 2006 | Dolphin Club Single | 167 |
| Kohlenberg | 2006 | Single Cable Car Gig | 189 |
| Commodore | 2016 | Dolphin Club Single | 170 |
| Semper Fi | 2016 | Dolphin Club Single | 165 |
| Name | Builder | Model | Class | Material |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Nino | LiteBoat | LiteRace 1x | Coastal 1x | Carbon Fiber |
| La Nina | LiteBoat | LiteRace 1x | Coastal 1x | Carbon Fiber |
| Tempest | LiteBoat | LiteSport 2x | Coastal 2x | Carbon Fiber |
| Storm | LiteBoat | LiteQuattro | Coastal Gig Boat | Carbon Fiber |
| Coot | Maas Boat Company | Maas 24 | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Flicka | Maas Boat Company | Maas 24 | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Gull | Maas Boat Company | Maas 24 | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Surf Scooter | Maas Boat Company | Maas 24 | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Pelican | Maas Boat Company | Maas Carbon 24 | Open Water Shell | Carbon Fiber |
| Murre | Maas Boat Company | Maas Flyweight | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Tern | Maas Boat Company | Maas Aero | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Banana | Maas Boat Company | Maas Aero | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |
| Osprey | Maas Boat Company | Maas Double | Open Water Shell | Carbon Fiber |
| Troneum | Maas Boat Company | Maas Dragonfly | Open Water Shell | Fiberglass |