Historical
In 1913, governed by Fritz P. Day, fourteen members of the Wianno Yacht Club, in Osterville, Massachusetts, commissioned the Crosby Yacht Yard to design and build a small fast yacht capable of sailing and racing in the choppy-shoal-ridden sailing grounds of Cape Cod’s South Shore.
Fourteen Wianno Seniors were built and delivered in the spring of 1914. Of the initial 14, three have survived and their specifications and whereabouts are as follows:
Wianno Senior 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) – First Built: 1914 – Contract Cost: $600.00
Original 14:
1. “Fiddler”, 2. “Wendy”, 3. “Telemark”, 4. “A.P.H.”A.P. Halliday, 5. “Commy”, 6. “Snookums”, 7. “Patsy”, 8. “Sea Dog”, 9. “Marie”, 10. “Qui Vive”, 11. “Fantasy” James G. Hinkle, 12. “Whistle Wing”, 13. “Maxixe”, and 14. “Ethyl”
Existing 3:
Number 7 “Tirza” – Richard A & Mary Lotuff Feeney (Half Centerboard) Osterville Massachusetts.
Number 10 “Sea Wings” – M. Christopher Mattoon & Ed Stockman (Half Centerboard) Dalton, Massachusetts.
Number 11 “Fantasy” – is in the collections of Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut.
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.
Hull Number 94:
In 1932 Hull number 94, was purchased by Joe and Rose Kennedy as a present for their son Jack’s fifteenth birthday. The “Victura” 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 two and a half minutes into the video)
Legacy:
Osterville Historical Museum’s executive director Jennifer Williams commented during the Wianno classes 100th anniversary. The Wiannos were commissioned by some of the pillars of industry that made Osterville their summer home. The boat “leveled the playing field for sailing” and “changed the face of racing” on Nantucket Sound.
Victura, the beloved sailboat that taught the Kennedy’s about life, family, leadership and winning.
James W. Graham’s new book — Victura: the Kennedys, a Sailboat, and the Sea — offers new insights into the dynamics and magic of the Kennedy family and their intense relationship with sailing and the sea. Many families sail together, but the Kennedys’ relationship with Victura, the 25-foot sloop purchased in 1932 shortly after the family’s move to Hyannis Port, stands apart.
In Victura, James W. Graham charts the progress of America’s signature twentieth century family dynasty, in a narrative both stunningly original and deeply gripping. This true tale of one small sailboat is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the impressive story of the Kennedy’s.
References:
James W. Graham – Website – 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
