Page 81 - ECA Yearbook 2023

For the weekend spinnaker series racing Robin Durrschmidt in Magic got off to a
good start but Rick Conley in Friendly Spirit got stronger and stronger as the
season progressed. Rick was able to pull out a comfortable win on the season
nd
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with Magic 2 just ahead of Ken Shlugar in Summer Breeze in 3 . I believe this
was the first podium finish for Ken in the spinnaker series. The improvement
appears to have had something to do with dialing in the mast tune and
continually working on sail trim.

Speaking of Summer Breeze, Ken was able to repeat winning the Wednesday
night non-spinnaker series with, I believe, perfect attendance at each and every
nd
race held. Robin Durrschmidt in Magic was able to hang onto 2 place courtesy
of a tie breaker against Dick Hall in one of the club boats.

The club boats have been a welcome addition to the Wednesday night scene for
a number of years. Great to see club members taking out a ready-to-go Ensign
to participate in the evening racing and dinner and socializing afterward. Non-
spinnaker Wednesday night racing with dinner after is a simple pleasure to do
and be a part of.

Mike Macina provided a great write up of the Ensign Region II and III Regional
Championship held in Newport on the weekend after July 4 . Mike’s write up is
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in the Fall 2022 ECA newsletter on pages 21 – 24. If you have not gone to the
website to check out the newsletters, you should – lots of great stories and
pictures of families and teams adventuring and racing in Ensigns.

At the Regional Championship event the Niantic Bay Fleet had good
representation with David Hall and young family and sister aboard Nightwind,
which did great; Mike Macina and family and team in Firebird and Robin
rd
nd
Durrschmidt in Magic participated as well. Dave placed 2 and Robin in 3 .

A postscript to the Reginal Championship was that the team from Mattapoisett
won the regatta however, the trophy, awarded since 1974, was consumed in the
spectacular and devastating Mattapoisett boat yard fire in August. Denis
McLaughlin, Rick Warren and Mike Macina have been collaborating to replace
the trophy. The Ensign Class Association is fully funding the restoration. Many,
many thanks to all involved in fully restoring the Region II/III Championship
Trophy!

Looking forward to 2023, past commodore and a tough competitor Ward
Woodruff is restoring Ensign 1253, Smoke. Mike Moulthrop, who has been
racing the NBSA club boat Sea Foam for several years, is actively looking for an
Ensign to race as well. We hope to see them both out on the water soon!

Roster:
363 MAGIC Robin Durrschmidt
458 NIGHTWIND David Hall
496 TAILGUNNER Gary Woodruff
590 FOUR WINDS Steve Brinkman

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