Revised July 19, 2008

 

 

In the United States a SeaWind Class Owners Association (US-SCOA) has been established and has satisfied the criteria for recognition by the AMYA, (see paragraphs 7.16 to 7.21 of the AMYA Bylaws). Founding Class Secretary, Jay Barnes, began the process of registration of owners and their SeaWind boats and invited representatives from AMYA regions where significant registrations had occurred to become Region Directors. Additional Region Directors will be added as registration grows. The US-SCOA was formed in Q1 2003 with an initial group of 30 owners, 26 of whom are AMYA members. Five years later the class has reached over 200 members of whom over 140 are AMYA members. We are adding new fleets and members steadily.

 

The US-SCOA was formed around the concept of the SeaWind as a strict one design class. The Board agreed that the class objective is to promote competition where the skill of the skipper in sailing and adjusting his/her boat will determine ability to win races.

 

In drafting the initial class rules, the Board listened to their local skippers and to the comments of skippers using this web site. Inevitably some degree of compromise was necessary but the final draft, which the AMYA recognized, was agreed to by all. An important factor, which guided the Board, was the agreed intent that new skippers, who build a boat according to kit instructions, should not feel obliged to immediately rebuild the boat or purchase additional equipment in order to be competitive. Thus permitted modifications are restricted to those which improve robustness and ease of adjustment rather than change the performance of the boats. The Class rules are updated every 2 years from the date of inception by Ballot of the members. The latest revised Class Rules can be downloaded from this web page or from the AMYA web site’s SeaWind Class page.

 

The full constitution and bylaws of the US-SCOA can be found and downloaded from this web page.

 

Who may join the US-SCOA? Any owner of a SeaWind may join the SCOA by registering his/her boat with the Class Secretary and payment of a one-time $7 registration fee. The fee is to provide some funds for the Class Secretary to offset administration expenses for membership cards, mailings, stationery etc. It is not necessary to be a member of AMYA to join the SCOA although we encourage AMYA membership; the magazine, “Model Yachting”, itself is worth the membership cost many times over. It should be noted however that only AMYA members may serve as Region Directors or Class Secretary and vote on changes in Class specifications.

 

Who may compete in US-SCOA sanctioned events? Any member of the US-SCOA whose boat meets the current Class Rules may compete in SCOA sanctioned events below Regional level. In AMYA sanctioned Regional or National Regattas, competitors must be both members of AMYA and registered in the Class. SCOA members whose boats do not meet the Class Rules may be able to compete in local or club events or classes (such as 1-Meter Sport or unrestricted 1-Meter, where available). Each yacht class evolves its own “culture”. SeaWind class regattas tend to emphasize inclusiveness for skippers of all levels of ability and a friendly competitive atmosphere, somewhat more relaxed than some of the intensely competitive classes.

 

US-SCOA communications. The SeaWind Resource Center Webmaster has kindly agreed to assist the US-SCOA by providing this web page, on which the Class Secretary and Board of Directors posts items of news and Class information, plus a section within the Forums where US-SCOA topics and questions can be discussed. All SeaWind skippers worldwide are invited to participate in dialog on the future development of this exciting class. The SCOA newsletter “SeaWind Express” is published twice-yearly, copies are available for download from the US-SCOA page.

 

You can also find class information posted on the AMYA SeaWind Class page: http://www.modelyacht.org/seawind.html and Class Reports and Regatta Reports are also published in AMYA’s quarterly magazine “Model Yachting”. Issue # 140 of Model Yachting featured the SeaWind with a number of interesting articles. Back copies can be purchased by AMYA members.