Sail Number: 94
Type: Wianno Senior
Victura Specifications:
LOA: 25′ / 7.62m – LWL: 17.6′ / 5.36m – Beam: 8′ / 2.44m – Sail Area: 366 sq ft / 34 m2 – Draft Board Up: 5.5′ / 1.68m – Draft Board Down: 2.5′ / .76m – Displacement: 4,100 lbs / 1,860 kgs – Ballast: 1,200 lbs / 544 kgs – Designer: H. Manley Crosby – Builder: Crosby Yacht Building and Storage Co. (USA) Crosby Yacht Yard, Inc: https://crosbyyacht.com/ – Hull Number: 94 – Year Built: 1932 – Wianno Senior Class Association: http://www.wiannosenior.org/
Historical:
In 1932 Hull number 94, was purchased by Joe and Rose Kennedy as a present for their son Jack’s fifteenth birthday. The “Victura,” latin for “about to conquer,” would become the Kennedy Family’s favorite boat. With a draft of 2.5 feet, with the centerboard up, the Wiannos could easily sail over most shoats, but still had to be sailed with caution around Nantucket Sounds shallowest spot Horseshoe Shoals at 6″
With a graceful low shear the Wianno Seniors were very “wet” boats. Racing the Wianno meant never finishing a race in dry clothes. Former Iowa Sen. John Culver, Harvard classmate of Wianno sailor Ted Kennedy, so eloquently and humorously describes his first sail over to Nantucket on “Victura” (discussion on Wianno experience starts one minute and eight seconds into the video)
The Victura was a lucky boat having been struck by lightning in 1936, rescued from ruin by John F. Kennedy as he dragged it onto a beach during the 1944 Great Atlantic hurricane, and escaped ruin in December 2003 when a fire swept through the Crosby Yacht Yard in Osterville, Massachusetts, destroying an estimated 50 yachts, but sparing the wooden sloop once owned by the 35th President of the United States. Victura now resides safely ensconced at the John F. Kennedy Library Museum from May to November, and at the Crosby Yacht Yard during New England’s long winters.
Two boat yards are still building Wianno Seniors. Crosby Yacht Yard, Inc. in Osterville, Massachusetts, and Shaw Yacht, Inc, in Thomaston, Maine. About 200 Wianno Seniors have been built. Hull numbers through 173 were wooden boats; subsequent boats are being built of fiberglass. Hull number 222 was launched in 2011 by Crosby Yacht. Several hull numbers were omitted in the sequence.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner/Guardian: (1932) Joseph P. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald Kennedy
Owner/Guardian: Edward M. Kennedy Family
References:
The Founding 14 – The Legacy of the Wianno Senior – Website
James W. Graham – Author of Victura: the Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea. – A communications and public affairs professional for a major-brand retailer, was a senior adviser to former Illinois Governor Jim Edgar and the Illinois House of Representatives. He races and cruises his sailboat Venturous out of Wilmette Harbor, north of Chicago.
Osterville Historical Museum – Executive Director Jennifer Williams
The Barnstable Patriot – Reporter Susan Vaughn
Photo Credit: Bob Schutz, July 30, 1961.
Photo/Video Credit: JFK Presidential Library and Museum