Purposes. The Association is a non-profit corporation which promotes the interests of the Wianno Senior One Design
Class. The Association develops one-design rules, assembles and maintains historical information about the Class, and publishes and
distributes information about the Class to its members and the public. The Association is qualified as a tax-exempt organization under
Section 510(c)(3) of the Iternal Revenue Code.
Membership. Membership in the Association is open to anyone interested in the Class upon the payment of annual dues
of $10. Voting at meetings of the Association is restricted to one vote for each Wianno Senior enrolled in the Association,
regardless of the number of owners or crew members associated with such yacht who are members of the Association. The affairs of the
Class Association are managed by a Board of Governors currently consisting of nine members. Governors serve three-year terms, with
one-third of the Governors being up for election each year. A more detailed description of membership and government matters is set
fourth in the Constitution and By-laws included in the handbook.
SMSA Wianno Senior Class Committee. The Board of Governors of the Class Association also comprises the Wianno Senior Class
Committee of the SOuthern Massachusetts Sailing Association. The Class Committee serves two important funstions: (1) to promote Wianno
Senior racing by approving one-design rules governing Wianno Senior hulls, rigs and sails: and (2) to determine the winners of
Class championship trophies based upon the results of interclub regattas sponsered by SMSA member Clubs. The Class Committee does not
sponser any races or participate in their management.
Subcommittee on Rules and Measurements. The Class Committee has established a Subcommittee on Rules and Measurements, which
meets regularly to discuss questions and issues regarding the Class measurements and the Scudder Cup Series Rules and makes
recommendations to the Class Committee for amendments to be adopted by the Class Committee. Meetings of the Subcommittee are open to any
member of the Class Association. To find out the date of the next meeting or to request that an item be placed on the agenda at the
next meeting, interested persons should contact the Chairman of the Subcommittee.
History of the Class Committee and the Asociation. The Wianno Senior Class Committee has existed under the auspices of
SMSA since 1946. The Class Committee was a self-perpetuating body which served the Class well for almost 40 years, seeing it through its
period of greatest growth during the years from 1962 to the mid-1970s. In 1985, members of the Committee felt that a more formal
organization which would provide for the election of the Class Committee by members of the fleet, would benefit the Class by
encouraging broader participation of owners and other interested persons in its affairs. The Class Association was formally organized
in response to this concern on July 12, 1985, and its first annual meeting of members has held on August 9, 1985, at the Wianno Yacht
Club. The Association now has over 130 members, including the owners of more than 60 Wianno Seniors. The Association was incorporated
as a non-profit corporation under Massachusetts law on March 9, 1989. The Class Association is a tax-exempt organization and
contributions are tax-deductible.
Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting of the Association is held each summer on a Friday evening following the conclusion
of the Scudder Cup Series. At the Annual Meeting, awards for interblub races are presented and plans for the coming season are
discussed. The meetings serve as the principal occasions for friends of the Class to meet each other off the race course and for those
interested in joinging the Class to meet owners and crew members.
Fiberglass Wianno Senior. David D. Steere, the late Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Association, spearheaded the effort from 1985 to 1987 to develop and finance a fiberglass version of the Wianno Senior Knockabout. The design and engineering of the new boat (by Sparkman & Stephens) and the manufacturing of the necessary tooling for its construction were financed by donations from more than 150 friends of the Wianno Senior Class to the Osterville Historical Society's Wianno Senior Preservation Fund. In 2003 the Historical Society sold to the Class Association the molds and design information necessary for the manufacture of fiberglass boats. The fiberglass boats have the same sailing characteristics and appearance as the wooden Wianno Seniors.
Class History. The Wianno Senior Knockabout has been racing on Nantucket Sound since the summer of 1914. The boat was
designed as a day sailor for summer residents of WIanno and has remained the principal one-design class of the Wianno Yacht Club since
the first summer. Additional fleets were subsequently organized at the Hyannis, Hyannis Port, Bass River and Stone Horse Yacht Clubs.
The Stone Horse Yacht Club fleet has been inactive in recent years. In addition to sponsering regular races during the summer months
for their members, the four active Clubs sponser interclub regattas held on two weekends each year which, together with the Edgartown
yacht Club Regatta, currently comprise the Scudder Cup Series of races.