Easom Endowment Fund
Hank Easom Endowment Fund
The Hank Easom Endowment Fund enables students and young adults of high-school and early college age to learn the crafts of boat building, repair, and maintenance. The Fund is open to students of all backgrounds, educational abilities, or financial needs.
The marine industry in the Bay Area has a shortage of qualified talent to meet the demand, due to a lack of technical education, scholarship availability, and work experience. The Fund will provide scholarship recipients with an opportunity to attend an accredited apprenticeship program in order to gain employment in the marine industry.
Scholarships may also be granted to young people who are interested in learning the sport of sailing or racing—or in simply being on or around the water—but who may not have had the opportunity to do so. Learning to sail has been difficult for those without the means to own a boat or to have access to one through a yacht club.
Harry “Hank” Easom, in whose honor the Fund is established, was a sailing legend in the Bay Area. As a teenager, Easom bought a kit for a 20’ plywood boat designed by Myron Spaulding, founder of Spaulding Marine Center in Sausalito. Racing soon became Easom’s lifelong passion.
When Hank started Easom Boat Works, Myron was an invaluable mentor to him, at the start of the business, and over the years of their lifelong friendship. Hank admired Myron’s accomplishments as a boat builder, designer and racer. Myron was truly Hank’s North Star.
Hank Easom sailed his last race in February 2023, 10 days before his death at age 88, finishing first in class, division, and overall.
Spaulding Marine Center’s programs preserve and celebrate the traditions that Hank Easom and Myron Spaulding practiced. The Hank Easom Scholarship Fund is a way to pass their passion forward.
To learn more and make a gift to the endowment, contact our Executive Director at matt@spauldingcenter.org
*The Boatworks 101™ Hank Easom Endowment Fund is a permanently invested fund of Spaulding Marine Center designed to provide stable, long-term financial support for the organization’s mission while preserving purchasing power for future generations.
Governed by a Board-approved Investment Policy Statement and managed in accordance with California’s Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA), the endowment follows a disciplined investment and spending approach that balances growth, income, and risk. Assets are broadly diversified across equities, fixed income, real assets, and cash, with a long-term return objective sufficient to support annual distributions, inflation, and expenses. Annual spending is generally targeted at 4–5% of a rolling multi-year average market value and may be adjusted during periods of market stress.
The Board and its committees provide ongoing oversight to ensure prudent management, compliance with donor intent, and alignment with Spaulding Marine Center’s charitable mission.