The W-Class Yacht Company is the brainchild of Boston based sailing enthusiast Donald Tofias. In 1997, he approached his friend and fellow conspirator the designer Joel White of Brooklin Boat Yard, Maine and together they hatched the W-Class project. Joel White, who sadly died just prior to the launch of "Wild Horses", was widely regarded for his expertise in traditional yacht design and construction. As an MIT-trained naval architect, he had designed and built boats and yachts on the coast of Maine for nearly forty years.