Page 40 - 2024-eca-yearbook-final

rail and a chunk also taken out of the deck. One of the hazards with
being mixed in with the bigger boats.

Storm Petrel decided to finish the season out, racing with the J22 boats
in order to compete in a spinnaker class again and was able to pull out a
2nd place finish. She also had one memorable evening on the course as
well.

Here’s Jameson’s description of a great evening on the water.

“On the night we had a severe front come through at the start. The rain
was so hard we could barely see the line, and finding the upwind mark
was a guess as we approached Fox Island. Big boat by big boat retired
but we pressed on, just two of us with the #2, but those Ensigns stand up
really well in a blow. Helm never felt overpowered. Race committee
called off the race before we rounded the windward mark (sort of funny,
they just came and picked it up and motored for the harbor ….no word
over the radio that we heard). By that time the front had passed, we
could see again, and our entire class had retired. I’ll take that as an
unofficial victory, points or no points.”

I would like to acknowledge the passing of John Coppa who spent many
years sailing in Narraganset Bay on Special Delivery #1337, with his
family. A nice light blue hull with a Stork on each side of the bow. A
fixture in Wickford Harbor for decades and I’m sure many more to come.

Fleet member request: Would anyone like to take over the role of fleet
captain going forward? I believe it may be time for a change. Someone
to keep the fleet active outside of just racing. As we have no affiliation
with a particular yacht club, I think it would be nice to have someone new
carry the interaction with Ensign owners forward, as our members and
owners are spread throughout the bay in different harbors and towns.
Please get in touch with me on any thoughts.

Thoughts for next year continue on. Go Easy and enjoy your sailing
season.

Roster:
551 MISS JENN Gary Smith
631 LUNA-C Joe Connelly
668 Doug Stevenson
830 Paul Plunkett
838 TRIO Stephen L. Largess
1041 OZONE Gary Viera
38