Fleet building in the Ensign Class can best be understood in light of some background information.The class was launched in 1962 by Pearson Yachts, the sole builder of the Carl Alberg designed 22.5 foot sloop. Pearson built the boat every year through 1983, constructing a total of 1,775 making Ensigns the largest class, by far, of full-keel one-design sailboats in the U.S.

In the same year, a group of owners in Western Long Island Sound formed the Ensign Class Association (ECA) with two objectives:

1.To promote and develop Ensign Class racing under uniform rules and maintain rigidly the one-design features of the Ensign.

2. To promote the use of the Ensign as a family boat for recreational sailing.

Today, there are over 60 active Ensign fleets in the US. Fleet locations in the Northeast, Great Lakes area, Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Colorado. Fleets conduct various local regattas and championship series. The class annually conducts one national and five regional regattas strictly regulated by ECA rules. The class publishes a yearbook each May, and thrice yearly (April, September, December) newsletter, and holds an annual meeting, usually in the winter.

Six officers run the class, governed by a reasonably detailed set of rules only the membership can amend. An Executive Secretary, usually an Ensign enthusiast, is paid a nominal sum, plus expenses to maintain computer records, track receipt of dues and handle miscellaneous administrative chores. The editors of the yearbook and the newsletter work voluntarily, but receive reimbursement for expenses. The 1988 ECA budget was about $17,000.

There are about 550 Regular Members (owners of Ensigns) and about 80 Associate Members (non Owners), with annual dues at $25.00 and $10.00 respectively. Fleets detemine their own dues. Class membership peaked at nearly 700 in the mid-1970s then went on a down trend, then turned back up for each of the past years.

Ensign class officers have tried form the beginning to uphold the two objectives of the association: "to promote and develop Ensign Class racing and maintain rigidly the one-Design feature of the Ensign; to promote the use of the Ensign as a family boat for recreational sailing. "Efforts have, however, really focused almost exclusively on racing, and mostly on one-design considerations. Changes form the original Alberg design have crept in, but only very, very slowly, often after years of debate. Mainsheet travelers, not in the original design, were allowed. Removing heads, which were part of the original mandatory equipment, and fairing the hull outlets was finally permitted. Fairing the rudder post brackets was approved after it was discovered that many owners did it anyway. The same response was made when the class discovered that many Great Lakes sailors, particularly on Lake Erie, were dealing with "square waves" problem of shallow water by installing electric bilge pumps.

Basic Building Block

Fleets are the basic building blocks of the Ensign Class, and their success seems to hinge on the leadership of a few local enthusiastic Ensign lovers-filling a need of one segment in the kaleidoscope of yachting.