Just because we’re heading into winter doesn’t mean that sailing is coming to a close. Our popular Winter Championship series is back starting on 5 May. It will run every second Sunday morning from May through July. Splash is at 8 for an 8.30 start. There will be three races each week (weather permitting), in a triangle sausage format with upwind finish (usual DBSC format, minus one leg). Details are in the SIs available on the website. We will be calling on race participants to volunteer as COTD and PRO. Brett Beyer will be running the Brett Beyer Winter Program (BBWP) again in conjunction with the Championship. The cost of this is $300 for five consecutive race days through May and June. The program involves on-water coaching during the races and fleet level GPS analysis with individual statistics. Please let us know if you’re planning on racing in the series,
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Annual General Party (and meeting)
On Friday 24 May, the clubhouse will be rocking for our Annual General Party (and Meeting). We’ll get the formal meeting out of the way first up at 7pm. Then, after a warm hearty meal, we’ll dance the night away with a reprise by popular demand of the DBSC band, guest starring Pat Levy and Martin White on air mike and air guitar respectively. And some surprise special guest cameos from actual musicians too. Please RSVP HERE.
Last Year’s AGP fun.
Annual Dues Due
You should have received your invoice for 2019/20 dues last week. (Sorry for the date mix-up on the invoice, rest assured it’s for the upcoming season.) We’re aiming to have everyone pay up by the end of this month. Thanks to all those gold star members who have already paid. If you haven’t done your part yet, we’d appreciate it if you could do it today!
Community and Family Weekend a Huge Success
Well done and thank you to the 30+ volunteers who made our Community Fete such a success on Sunday. Well over 500 people came to enjoy the sparkling day. Steyne Park was at its festive best, with a massive jumping castle, an array of favourite carnival games, flapping sails advertising laser sailboat rides on the lawn, remote controlled sailboats in the harbour, fairy floss and sausages to enjoy, and power boat rides from the front deck of the club. We served over 600 sausages and made over $700 for Clean Up Australia Day. We had numerous enquiries about teaching kids to sail (which we referred to Woollahra Sailing Club) and about 8 serious enquiries about LTR and membership.Special thanks to Kirk Marcolina, who led the initiative, and Justin Davey, who worked closely with him, both spending countless hours enabling this to happen. And thanks to the NSW Government for the funding
Big Boat Race Report
It was an absolutely sparkling afternoon; warm without being hot, a 10-15 knot sea breeze; an almost empty harbour (the 18s are finished for the season, the summers championships are done). But the DBSC big boats were racing!On shore, it was DBSC’s Community Day, with sausages and jumping castles and families; the wharf was crowded with young things headed for ’The Island’. Word was it was that strange site’s last day for the season. And this morning was the end of daylight saving, the turn of the seasons.6 boats presented, all competitive; what would happen today? John Vasey kindly provided the start – from the Paul Adam – starting the start sequence punctually at 1.00pm; and he provided also a well-placed mark at Point Piper.Corinna won the start, but proved uncharacteristically restrained upwind, rounding the first mark fourth behind Sanity, Chenonceau and T&T. She had to fight to stay in touch on the shy reach to Taylor’s
The Week Ahead
Saturday 13 April, 2pm Start – Autumn Pointscore Heats 13 & 14.This is the last Pointscore of the season, and the competition is tight. This is especially true in the Standard Fleet, where only 6 points separate leaders Hadrien, Max and Steve London. So, make sure you come out and make the most of it.
The Week Ahead
Wednesday 3 April, 5pm – Final Twilight Sailing this season. It’s the last chance until October to enjoy a warm sunset sail on the best harbour in the world. In addition to the beautiful scenery, Brett Beyer will there to run us though our paces. Thanks to Brett for an outstanding twilight series that has seen large and regular fleets, as well as an excellent mix of drills and racing. As usual, everyone is welcome to join the racing, whether part of the program or not. Saturday 6 April, 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 if you are planning on attending.Saturday 6 April, 2pm Start – Autumn Pointscore Heats 10 & 11. Saturday 6 April, 4:30pm – Family Day BBQ. See details above.Saturday 7 April, 10am
Drastic solution to a simple, but intractable, problem
A special essay, by special invitation from our former Commodore, from our special former club secretary, Mr Peter P. Dobrijevic BE MBA DipLaw. Release the hound….PROBLEM:It is impossible to maintain DBSC’s position as the leading Laser club in the world when our National Trust recognised premises have the appearance, presentation and odour of a third rate Portuguese bordello. Unfortunately, a small but growing number of members treat the clubhouse like their girlfriend’s/boyfriend’s/non-binary partner’s flat in the week before they ditch them via a text message. Comrades, as of today, IT STOPS!SOLUTIONS CONSIDERED AND DISCARDEDThe number of solutions considered and evaluated by your club’s progressive politburo included:Scheduling regular 2 hour individual interviews with Dear Leader who will likely repeatedly stress over the time that you will not win even one world championship without committing to organisation norms of behaviour; and/orLaunching a reality TV show where a weekly viewer vote would see
Family and Community Weekend is Here
This weekend it’s time to share a bit of DBSC. On Saturday, after sailing, please invite your family and loved ones to join us for a special kid-friendly BBQ starting around 4:30pm. There will be a jumping castle in the park as well as family laser races and RIB rides. So please join us for this special evening that will allow us to introduce our families to one another and show them why we love spending so much time at the club. On Sunday, it’s Community Day from 10am to 2pm (remember Daylight Savings ends early on Sunday morning) – a fete complete with carnival games, a jumping castle, fairy floss, a sausage sizzle and much more. Share our Facebook event and invite everyone to come down to see what we’re all about. Thanks to all those who volunteered to help on the day. If you haven’t signed up and would
Wild Winds
A wild, windy afternoon was more than a challenge for the nearly 40 sailors who braved the tough conditions for Autumn Pointscore heats 9 and 10. The BOM issued a strong wind warning, but at 2pm there was a gentle 10 knot breeze blowing from the West, and the fleet sailed the first part of heat 9 in light to moderate conditions. But towards the end of the race the conditions changed abruptly; the BOM prediction proved correct with gusts of up to 40 knots blowing through the harbour. Several times more than half the fleet seemed to be capsized when a bullet shot out of the West. In a testament to the harsh conditions 15 sailors chose to retire from heat 9, and the race committee cancelled heat 10 due to the dangerous winds. Congratulations to the hardy competitors who came out on top after handicapping: Full Rigs: Nick Pellow,