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A very respectable 18 Laser sailors rocked up to the start line for an afternoon of Sprint Racing, including a couple of overseas masters taking advantage of our lovely harbour to hone their racing skills in advance of next month’s Worlds in Adelaide. The weather gods were kind, turning a light and fickle easterly into a decent 16-knot nor-easter over the course of the afternoon. It was also nice to have the Clark-to-Shark racecourse area mostly uncontested and the harbour relatively traffic-free.Our American visitor showed some impressive speed (once he sorted out the start timing), finishing three of the five short races with 100+ metre leads. The racing was close, with

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by James Tudball, Youth EngagementA large contingent of DBSC members headed south down the Hume Highway last week for the VIC State Titles, held at Port Melbourne Yacht Club on November 25 + 26. There were some impressive trailer set ups to go along with very impressive on-water results, too!

The highly competitive fleets encountered varying conditions across the weekend, with patchy oscillations and generally choppy seas with 15 knot wind strengths. Congratulations to all members for a job well done, and a thank you to our Youth Coach, Josh Becker, who helped facilitate some tricky regatta logistics.DBSC member results:ILCA 47th Ben Costandi16th Charlotte Jenkins23rd Elouise MorganILCA 63rd Sylvie Stannage4th Brooke Wilson14th Healy Ryan23rd Cormac JohnsonILCA

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Spring Point Score 9 & 10PRO Luke Parker’s report:Drizzly weather and gradient NNE of 10-16 knots greeted the fleet on Saturday. Numbers were a little down with the gun younger sailors away in Victoria and some softer older sailors scared off by the rain. With the wind to the left of a traditional Nor-Easter, and a run-in tide, and no ferries, we elected to set the course deeper in Double Bay than usual. The bonus was much less traffic for the fleet to contend with.Starts were well- behaved, although the full rigs did test their luck in the second start. They got lucky.A number of sailors took the opportunity of gusts and some great waves to rehearse capsizing and righting their boats. On the basis that “practice makes perfect”, some members should be getting rather good at it.From the vantage of the start boat, it seemed upwind tactics were about

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Reminder from ILCA NSW & ACT (Kevin Phillips):Regular price entries for the Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships 1-8 January close on 30-Nov. Entries after that date will incur an additional $75 charge. Enter here. The Notice of Race is here. Organisers are expecting about 200 boats.The ILCA 6 Women’s Worlds 3-10 January in Mar del Plata, Argentina, has a few places unfilled. Six Australian sailors are entered. Late entry here is closing on 12-Dec.There are also a few places available in the ILCA 7 Men’s Worlds 24-31 January in Adelaide where a record 26 Australians are entered. The late entry closing date is 27-Dec. Application can be placed here.The ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 World Masters 2-10 February in Adelaide has 134 Australians entered so far and 220 total. Late entry closing date is 27-Dec. Entry applications can be placed here.Upcoming DBSC activities:Wednesday 29-Nov: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)Thursday

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As a new feature in this newsletter, we are going to introduce new members to the club by asking them a few questions. This week, DBSC’s secretary Tory Epsworth caught up with new member John Sweeney:How old were you when you first stepped on a boat? I think I was seven, crewing on a Sabot called Nitro. If money (& sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy?oneAustraliaWhat is your sailing goal?Have fun, be part of the community and enjoy this great sport. Tell us the back story to your Laser’s name?I’m still boat-less, but when it arrives, I’m thinking Rage Against the Machine – I love the band from the 90’s and it plays on the simplicity of the ILCA’s set up that I’m sure we all love. If you could add any ingredient to our already world’s best toasties – what would it be?Even more cheese

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Photo by Quinn Pierson

SPRINT RACINGPRO David Airey reports:Saturday was another glorious day to be out on Sydney harbour although the conditions were at times challenging for the approximately 25 sailors and race management team. Before the briefing, the buoys were set out for a nice 10 knot Westerly. However, by the time racing got under way at 2pm the wind was dying, and the first sprint race took longer than planned. The marks were moved to shorten the course and Race 2 proceeded smoothly, albeit with big variations in wind speed and direction across the course. Then, while the crew on the Jazzman were focused on flags and timing for Race 3, it was pointed

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VAUCLUSE OPEN REGATTA

Photo by Ashley Deacon

PRO Daryl Lawrence reports:A filling Nor’easter, the first “big day” of the season, greeted 60+ Lasers (not all signed in) including a dozen or so from Vaucluse Yacht Club and a contingent of ten elite women sailors to lead the fleets around the course. The Etchell’s start line featured in the centre of the triangle, and some twelve-foot skiffs joined the fun on one of their legs. It was a day to pay attention to traffic.Race 1 saw David Newman then Otto Henry and Quentin Burns take the Standard Rig honours. In Radials it was Sylvie Stannage, Healy Ryan and Sara Bruce. In

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Our annual competency training day is coming this Saturday 28 October, commencing 0930. Attendance is expected for all members on the volunteer roster, and strongly encouraged for anyone who may be providing ancillary on-water support (e.g., coaches or parents from outside DBSC who are involved in club race days).This is an annual activity which we regard as a core part of safe and efficient club management and culture. All members are expected and, given the significant growth we’ve experienced as a club, as well as the residual rustiness some of us still have from the COVID disruptions, it is important that we refresh and develop our skills and knowledge for the new season.The 3 sessions are:How to run a race. Andrew Cox, our ex-commodore, will share his experience in planning and managing race days, running briefing and managing sign-on, setting a course, running safe and efficient races in a range

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Wednesday 25-Oct: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)Thursday 26-Oct: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)Saturday 28-Oct: DBSC Competency Training (9:30AM) ALL MEMBERSSpring Point Score 5 & 6 (2PM warning flag)Brett Beyer Saturday Program

Tuesday 31-Oct: Reach Youth Training (4:30PM ready)Wednesday 01-Nov: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)Thursday 02-Nov: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)

Saturday 04-Nov: Learn-to-Race (9AM start)Club Championships 7 & 8 (2PM warning flag)Brett Beyer Saturday ProgramBBQ following racing

Thank you to the members who are sending through information for the newsletter. If you have content for the newsletter, please email it to newsletter@dbsc.com.au by Monday evening.View all racing results here.The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

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Wednesday 15-Nov: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)Thursday 16-Nov: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)Saturday 18-Nov:ACT & NSW State Champs (Canberra YC)Club Sprints at DBSC (2PM start)

Tuesday 21-Nov: Reach Youth Training (4:30PM ready)

Wednesday 22-Nov: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)Thursday 23-Nov: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)Saturday 25-Nov: Spring Point Score 9 & 10 (2PM warning flag)

Thank you to the members who are sending through information for the newsletter. If you have content for the newsletter, please email it to newsletter@dbsc.com.au by Monday evening.View all racing results here.The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

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