The Back Bay Skippers will long remember Ellen Koehler. They’ll never forget her willingness to volunteer – nor the bark of her reprimand as scorekeeper when a sailor crossed the starting line too soon. With her keen eyes focused on that invisible alignment, her gentle voice transformed to one of authority when skippers jockeying for position at the start failed to round the offset mark. That same verbal clout cleared the finish line of dawdling yachts so those in their wake had room to complete the course. Victims acknowledged with a chuckle, however, her gift of banter. Born in the Philadelphia area on May 4, 1946, it certainly was a coincidence and perhaps a sign of things to come that Ellen’s first occupation was sail maker.