About the Association
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 Internal 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 (SMSA). The Class Committee serves two important functions: (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 inter-club regattas response by SMSA member Clubs. The Class Committee does not sponsor 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 Association. 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 200 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 Saturday evening following the conclusion of the Scudder Cup Series. At the Annual Meeting, awards for inter-club 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 joining 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 sponsoring regular races during the summer months for their members, the four active Clubs sponsor inter-club regattas held on two weekends each year which, together with the Edgartown Yacht Club Regatta, currently comprise the Scudder Cup Series of races.
Board of Governors
| Name & Email Address | Term Expires |
| Timothy W. Fulham, Chairman tim@wiannosenior.org |
2024 |
| William G. Lawrence, Vice Chairman bill@wiannosenior.org |
2024 |
| Kevin C. Cain, Secretary & Treasurer kevin@wiannosenior.org |
2024 |
| Timothy W. Fulham | 2024 |
| Charles M. Lyons | 2024 |
| Gregory J. Dempsey | 2024 |
| Benjamin Blum | 2024 |
| Kevin C. Cain | 2025 |
| Mauro Piani | 2025 |
| Bradford Tracy | 2025 |
| Kelsey Wheeler | 2025 |
| Gordon Burnes | 2026 |
| Joseph Lotuff | 2026 |
| William G. Lawrence | 2026 |
| Andrew Pesek | 2026 |
| Advisory Members | |
| Alan A. Gilbert | |
| John C. Kiley, III | |
| John T. Fallon, Jr. |
Addresses
| General Correspondence: Wianno Senior Class Association Kevin Cain, Secretary P.O. Box 1242 South Yarmouth MA 02664 senior@wiannosenior.org |
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Subcommittee on Rules and Measurements: John C. Kiley, III, Chairman |