MutineerClass Association
Timeline 1974 Atthe 1974 Mutineer National Championship held in Wamplers Lake, MI, Al Smith waselected Commodore of the MCA. VernUmstead was elected Secretary. This isthe first MCA board that we have evidence of and probably is the first. 1976 RulesCommittee Chairman – Jerry Meach 1977 Commodore– Bob Levin, St. Louis, MO Vice-Commodore– Ron Miller, Charlotte, NC Secretary/Treasurer– Phil Holland, St. Louis, MO RulesCommittee Chairman – Al Smith, Livonia, MI RulesCommittee Member – Stacy Eagle, Ann Arbor, MI RulesCommittee Member – Jeff Gerwitz, Auburn Heights, MI 1978 Commodore– Phil Holland, St Louis, MO Vice-Commodore– Ernie French, Kearney, NE Secretary/Treasurer– Terry Berner, St. Louis, MO RulesCommittee Chairman – Al Smith, Livonia, MI RulesCommittee Member – Stacy Eagle, Ann Arbor, MI RulesCommittee Member – Jeff Gerwitz, Auburn Heights, MI TheCannonBall was selected as a temporary name for the class newsletter. Ideas for a permanant name were to be sent toErnie French. Thecost for a Fleet to join the MCA in 1978 – $2.00. 1979 Commodore– Ernie French, Ord, NE Vice-Commodore– Doane Baily, Sharpsville, PA Secretary/Treasurer– RulesCommittee Chairman – Bill French, Ord, NE
1980
Commodore– Doane Baily, Sharpsville, PA Vice-Commodore– Ed Lamb, Kearnney, NE Secretary/Treasurer– Ernie French, Ord, NE RulesCommittee Chairman – Bill French, Ord, NE 1981 MCA Constitution section pertainingto Class Officers – 1981: A. The affairs of the Association shall be mandated by aNational Committee of up to five Full Members of the Association. The Committeeshall have power to co-opt additional members as required. The Committee shallhave power to fill vacancies occurring among officers until the next GeneralMeeting. B. Officers of the Committee are to be elected at a GeneralMeeting of the Association and take office immediately upon election. The termof office is two years except for Racing Captain, which is for one year. - Commodore and Secretary are to be elected in odd-numbered years.
- Vice-Commodore and Treasurer to be elected in even-numbered years.
- The Vice-Commodore and Treasurer elected in 1980 will have their terms extended to 1983.
C. The Committee shall consist of the following officers: - Commodore to act as chairperson during the ensuing two years.
- Vice-Commodore and Publicity Director, who will substitute for the Commodore and be responsible for all Class publicity.
- Secretary, who will keep minutes etc. of all Committee and General Meetings, communicate the decisions of the Committee to membership and others, keep an accurate roster of Members, and perform other duties of Secretary as prescribed by the Committee.
- Treasurer, who shall have charge of any funds which may be existent, make disbursements of such funds as required hy the Committee, and present an annual financial statement.
- Racing Captain, who will organize Class Races and Activities.
- At meetings of the Committee, three shall form a quorum.
D. The Committee shall have the power to makerecommendations to the Members in General Meetings for alterations of, oradditions to, the Rules of the Class or the interpretations of such rules. 1982 The MCA expired. May have been related to Chrysler divesting its Marine Group. 1989 BobOlson, North Platte, Nebraska attempted to reconstitute the Class. 1992 Jack Mayer, Windermere, Florida attempted toreconstitute the Class. 1993 KevinKirkpatrick, York, Pennsylvania attempted to reconstitute the Class.
1994
AlWhitener, Chesapeake, Virginia attempted to reconstitute the Class. 1999 The Yahoo Group for Mutineer ownerswas initiated in April 1999. As of July 2011 it has 1167 members inconstant communication. Gib Charles’ first post was in July of2000. He asked about tuning specs: mast rake and rig tensions. Gibwent on to suggest a National Championship each year. Both subjectswere seeds for future events, the Tuning Guide and MNC’s. Bob DeRoeck’sfirst post was in September 2000, asking technical questions about rigging andline choices. Rey Garza’s first post was asking advice about his first(of many!) Mutineers in June 2001. 2002 The Buccaneer ClassAssociation invited any Mutineers to join them in Highland Park, Illinoisduring their Buccaneer North American Championship. With the samerace committee and race course on Lake Michigan but separate starts, the firstMutineer National Championship in 20 years was held. Five Mutineers tookpart including Rey Garza and Gib Charles, who met in person for the first time. Gib Charles and Rey Garza begandiscussing the potential for reviving the Mutineer Class Association.
2003
Rebirthof the MCA!!! President– Gib Charles Secretary/Treasurer– Rey Garza Clickhere to read the original announcement letter by Rey Garza. 2004 Co-Commodore– Gib Charles, Co-Commodore– Rey Garza Classmeasurer – Bob DeRoeck Gib Charles, an introduction – My name is Gib Charles. I live innorthern Colorado, and sail on a pond in our neighborhood, aptly named LongPond. It’s only 1/4 mile wide and 1 mile long. I keep 3 sailboats on the pond:a Laser and a Hobie 14 for the kids to play and learn on, and for me to sail onvery windy solo days. My favorite, naturally, is my Mutineer. There are 2 otherMutineers on the pond, and we have some good informal racing a few times eachsummer. For me, the Mutineer is a racing boat. I sail in regional regattas,mostly in Denver in a Portsmouth fleet, and have sailed in the Mutineer NorthAmerican Championship the past two summers. Like most Mutineer owners, I got my first Mutineer, a 1974Chrysler, almost for free, in 1994. I fixed it up, learned what I could aboutthe boat, and continued to make improvements on it. In 1997 I saw a 1983Wellcraft Mutineer for sale with many of the features I had become interestedin that my ’74 didn’t have, like a spinnaker launching snout, a wire-lufffurling jib, a stiff mast step, and a stiff hull that hadn’t been poorlypainted (like my ’74). I bought it, swapped the parts between the boats to keepthe new items I had bought for the ’74, then sold the older boat for about whatthe ’83 had cost me. Aren’t these boats great values! I joined the Mutineer and Buccaneer Yahoo groups in June of 2000and tried to learn everything I could about this great little boat. I continuedto make improvements to my Mutineer, and entered my first regional regatta in2001. In 2002 I was jazzed to attend the first Mutineer Nationals in 20 yearsin Highland Park, IL. It was a fabulous experience, and I started lookingforward to MNAC 2003 as soon as I got back home. That was a high point for mein my sailing season last year, and I’m already making plans for MNAC 2004 atthe Fort Walton Beach Yacht Club on the Florida Panhandle. 2007 Commodore– Rey Garza Secretary– Vince Jones Treasurer– Gordon Brookfield PublicityChairman– Jerry Thompson ClassMeasurer – Bob DeRoeck PastCommodore – Gib Charles The MCA updatedthe Class Constitution in 2007 The Executive Committee shall consist of a Commodore, ViceCommodore, Secretary, Treasurer, Publicity Chairman, and Racing Chairman. The Commodore, Vice Commodore, Secretary, Treasurer, andPublicity Chairman, of the Committee are to be elected at a General Meeting ofthe Association to serve a two (2) year term, taking office upon election. The Commodore and Vice Commodore will be elected in the sameyear. On alternate years the Secretary, Treasurer, and Publicity Chairman willbe elected. The Racing Chairman will be appointed by the Committee. 2008 Commodore– Rey Garza ViceCommodore – Ernie French Secretary– Vince Jones Treasurer– Gordon Brookfield PublicityChairman– Jerry Thompson ClassMeasurer – Bob DeRoeck PastCommodore – Gib Charles 2009 Commodore– Ernie French ViceCommodore – Bob DeRoeck Secretary– Rey Garza Treasurer– Gordon Brookfield PublicityChairman– Rich Tenze ClassMeasurer – Bob DeRoeck RacingChairman – Gib Charles 2010 Commodore– Ernie French ViceCommodore – Bob DeRoeck Secretary– Rey Garza Treasurer– Gordon Brookfield PublicityChairman– Rich Tenze ClassMeasurer – Bob DeRoeck RacingChairman – Gib Charles 2011 Commodore– Bob DeRoeck ViceCommodore – Jim Davis Secretary– Rey Garza Treasurer– Ginette Hughes PublicityChairman – Jerry Thompson ClassMeasurer – Bob DeRoeck RacingChairman – Gib Charles As ofJuly 2011 the MCA had 53 active members. A very successful Mutineer
National Championship was held in Grapevine,Texas. This special MNC
marked the 40th Anniversary of the Mutineer. The themefor the event was “Bring em’ Home to Texas” in recognition of the many years ofMutineer production by Chrysler and later Texas Marine Industries in Plano,Texas. | 
