It’s the mid-week sailing fix you’ve been waiting for all winter long… Wednesday Twilight Sailing. It’s back this evening. Splash is at 5pm (or whenever you can make it). Hope to see you there for some beautiful golden hour sailing.
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Coast Championships this Weekend
The East Coast Laser Championships are on this weekend at Gosford Sailing Club. This is the first of the Laser regattas for the 2019/20 season and a perfect opportunity to blow out the cobwebs after the winter and a chance to practise your fleet racing at an away club! The NoR for this event is HERE and entries are open HERE.If you’re planning on attending the Coasts, please fill in this FORM if you require support for Laser transport AND if you can help with Laser/ Trailer transport as well. For those NOT attending the regatta and have a spare trailer please complete the form also. Ian Alexander will be in touch to confirm logistics.
Top Tip – How to Dry Wet Boots
Last week Wet Foot Freddie asked how to dry his boots after a day on the water. DBSC members have come to the rescue with these suggestions:Fill with scrunched up newspaper (or other absorbent paper) works with wet work boots & actual trekking/hiking boots. Leave in dry shaded area not full sun as get over heated & sweat. — Mick ForbesI just hand them to Dad and hey presto next time I need them, they are dry! — Sylvie StannageOpen them up, rinse them out, drying racks are useful, accept they are a consumable and let the sun and breeze do the work! — Chris Stannage Stuff your booties with newspaper! — Katie McHughMy solution is 12min spin cycle in the washing machine for everything except the life jacket. Then hang everything on the clothes rack inside. Boots upside down as shown in the photo. Everything is dry by the next day. —Andrew
Rules, Rules, Rules
By Andrew CoxWe are going to run a series of articles by Brett Beyer over the coming months, covering starting, top mark, bottom mark and port / starboard. This is part of an effort to increase understanding of the rules by our sailors. But not just the rules — we are focused on understanding how to apply the rules sensibly in practice. Importantly, there are many situations where the RIGHT answer is NOT to be aggressive in enforcing your rights. This is counter-intuitive to most sailors. As Brett says, “The smart way to approach any rule is to do what is right for you. Giving a boatlength away at times could be the smartest long term approach. You usually can’t win a race as a result of an individual incident, but you can certainly lose one!”This season, we are very focused on improving the quality of our racing. Please know
Rule of the Month — Starting
By Brett BeyerThe pre-start period is probably where the most protests occur, most often as a result of windward / leeward situations. Most of these protests end with leeward boats being disqualified.The main things to note are:* Rule 11 applies — on the same tack and overlapped, the windward boat must KEEP CLEAR.* There is no “PROPER COURSE” before the start, so the windward boat must keep clear all the way up to head to wind.* But Rule 15 is a limitation imposed on the leeward boat when she has acquired the right of way — “she shall initially give the other boat ROOM TO KEEP CLEAR”. This means a leeward boat cannot sail into the hole and immediately ask / expect the windward boat to be able to keep clear. * Rule 22.3 is an exception — “a boat moving astern, or sideways to windward, through the water by backing
Top Tip
This week we have a member looking for advice. Wet Foot Freddie writes, “I want to know how people successfully dry their hiking boots. Or does everyone’s boots take days to dry as well?!?!” If you have the answer, email the Newsletter Editor HERE. Responses will be published in next week’s edition.
Up Next at DBSC
Saturday, 5 October, 9am – Learn to Race. Come along if you want to learn more about Laser boat handling, balance, boat posture, trim, starts, tacks, gybes, boat set-up and any other race management fundamentals. Please email Martin White HERE if you are planning on attending.Saturday, 5 October, 2pm Start – Sprints (due to the October Long Weekend)Wednesday, 9 October, 5pm Splash – Twilight SailingSaturday, 12 October, 2pm Start – Sprints (due to Oceania and Coasts)Sunday, 13 October, 2pm Start – Big Boat RaceWednesday, 16 October, 5pm Splash – Twilight SailingSaturday, 19 October, 9am – Learn to Race. Saturday, 19 October, 2pm Start – Club Championship, Heats 3 & 4 AND Spring Pointscore, Heats 5 & 6. Followed by a BBQ
Twilights and BBTP Need You
Twilight sailing starts next Wednesday, 9 October with a 5pm splash, and will continue every Wednesday until the end of daylight savings (except for a few weeks over the holidays). Twilights are a great way to hone your skills, have some mid-week fun and enjoy one of the best sailing sunsets in the world. So, we hope to see you there!Along with Twilights we’re hoping to run another instalment of the fantastic Brett Beyer Twilight Program (BBTP). This program is set to begin on Wednesday, 16 October and gives participants direct on-water coaching from Brett during the Twilights, and access to ask follow-up questions during the week. However, we need 10 participants to make the program a reality, and currently only three members have signed up. To ensure the program moves forward, please check out the details and sign up HERE before this Friday.
Second Women’s Laser Regatta an Unmitigated Success
Written by Di PearsonLast weekend’s Women’s Laser Regatta, hosted by Double Bay Sailing Club, was an unmitigated success, attended and coached by some of Australia’s highest profile sailors, mixed in with keen young sailors on their way up.
Photo by @darciecollington.
The Hon. Gabrielle Upton MP, Member for Vaucluse, and Andrew Cox, Commodore of Double Bay Sailing Club officially opened the regatta, while Mayor of Woollahra Municipal Council, Susan Wynne, presided over the prize presentation. Run, coached and competed in by women and girls on Sydney Harbour, the intention of the regatta is to encourage greater female participation in the Laser class. DBSC’s ethos is based on volunteering, and this came through with many members involved in supporting the event.In only its second year, co-organisers, Clare Alexander, Christine Patton, and Christine Linhart were thrilled by
PRO Training from a Pro
Those who volunteered at the Women’s Laser Regatta were very privileged to receive a PRO training session on Saturday afternoon from renowned International Race Officer, Louise Davis.Thanks to Louise for running the session and to Kirk Marcolina for filming it. You can check out her presentation HERE (password DBSC2019).This is a fantastic resource for us as we continue with our major strategic priority of improving the quality of our racing.We strongly encourage every member to watch this – it will benefit you immensely, both as a sailor and as an aspiring PRO.There were a few points during the session where there was confusion among the people present –highlighting how important it is that everyone watches the video. The points of confusion were:1. There was some debate about when to use the AP to postpone during a start sequence – the club’s position is that, if any error is made in a start