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From Commodore, Steven London:Members of the Club and Committee would like to thank long time members Jason and Isabelle Wilkins for their generous donation of the ILCA Laser “Phinester” for use in the clubs Learn to Race program. The program allows prospective members to “try-out” racing with the club, and this helps us to keep an inflow of new active members out there on the start line every week!Phinester is a Laser with a history, having started life in the UK and making the journey to Australia with Jason when he immigrated here (hey, it’s what Laser sailors do!). It has served him very well over the years and was passed on to Isabel when she joined the club 5 years ago. To Isabelle’s relief, Jason recently upgraded to the famous ILCA 50th Anniversary “Golden Fleece”, allowing Isabelle to upgrade also, and so the club is now honoured to look

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From COTD, Kate McHugh…On Saturday 30 of our Double Bay racers sailed up the harbour to participate in the 91st Vaucluse Regatta in a fresh 15 knot North Easterly breeze. The race committee at Vaucluse conducted two (rather long) windward return races laid just to the south of Sow and Pigs. Following racing, the team at Vaucluse held a delicious barbecue and drinks in their clubhouse. The results:ILCA 71. Finn Alexander (DBSC)2. Campbell Patton (DBSC)3. Rod Barnes (DBSC)ILCA 61. Cote Poncell (DBSC)2. Ian Alexander (DBSC)3. Anthony Scali (VYC)ILCA 41. Healy Ryan (DBSC)2. Cormac Johnson (DBSC)3. Caroline Kemp (VYC)Thank you to Ben Byford who provided on water assistance, and Scott Hunter and David Huber for helping Paul and Shirley in the canteen.Many thanks also to Vaucluse Yacht Club who hosted a magnificent day on the water.

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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 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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This Saturday 25th of February is the Vaucluse Regatta. DBSC members are invited to the event which is free.You need to register here in order to sail in the regattaThe Sailing Instructions can be found here.DBSC members will need to be ready to splash at 12:10 to sail to the course for a 13:20 start.Some further salient points to note:Lasers will have the first warning signal class flag at 1320, with a combined radial and 4.7 fleet starting firstThere will be up to 3 races, with all races countingThe course will be 2 laps of windward-leeward legs with an offset mark at the top and rounding to port.Code flag “I” us likely to be used at the start – boats that are over in the last minute must round the ENDS of the line and come back through itBoats must keep at least 50m clear of the start line when not in sequence.

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There’s frequently “lively on water debate” (aka yelling) within our fleets at the top mark when port tackers try to navigate a parade of boats on starboard tack. Here is a very good video on rule 18.3 which concerns entering the 3 boat length zone from port at the top mark.  It’s worth a viewing. Summary: A boat that was on port as it entered the 3 boat length zone at a windward mark must always, including AFTER it tacks onto starboard, stay clear.  The port entry boat (no matter if it’s subsequently tacks to starboard) must not inconvenience any boat that was already on starboard when it entered the zone.

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Last week Double Bay Sailing Club members were invited to participate in a number of activities as part of the SailGP Adopt A Club program.  Our club was partnered with Team Canada, which saw nearly 30 members visit Team Canada’s base in the lead up to the regatta.  On Wednesday we were lucky to see the (safe!) launch of Team Canada’s brand new boat and we were taken on an in depth tour to see the boats and wings up close and learn about the physics of the F50s.  Phil Robertson, driver of Team Canada, also facilitated a Q&A with us and Alistair Sutherland asked the burning question of whether Phil would be as aggressive as always on the start line!  Phil didn’t really answer the question, but judging by his laughter we assumed the answer to be ‘yes’.

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Calling all volunteers who enjoy a clean environment! I’ve spent the past few weeks driving around the pristine Tasmanian Countryside enjoying the ‘freshest air’ on the planet, and so I’m inspired to clean up the environment surrounding our club. On Saturday 4th March from 10am to 12pm, members (and guests) of Double Bay Sailing Club will be conducting a clean-up of the foreshore, park lands and local roadways near our club in Double Bay. Trevor Potts (member) will be at the club house at 10am with all the CUAD materials, sign-on sheet, and a short safety briefing. Please arrive by 10am.  We are also asking volunteers to download the EyeSea app and use it to upload photos of rubbish on the day. It’s simple to use. Take a photo and upload it to the app.Download for android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mariapps.eyesea.eye_seaDownload for iOS: https://apps.apple.com/es/app/eyesea/id1667239428We recommend you wear sun protective clothing, and bring protective gloves

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DBSC was represented by Martin White, Pat Levy and Ian Tudball in the ‘Great Grand Master’ (65-75yo) category.The trio had all copped health issues just before departure, but Pat was king hit  the worst, with a bout of Aussie food poisoning, just hours before take off. Martin nursed him for the marathon journey, as Pat trimmed his 82kg down to a more competitive racing weight. It took Pat 3 days to purge his system and crack a few ‘plumber jokes’.The Royal Varuna Yacht Club was a stunning venue, and all 120 charter boats were brand new.  Conditions were perfect for racing with consistent 12-15 knot breezes and rolling waves for downhill rides. Race 1 was a disaster for the DBSC trio as they were all black flagged in a strong tide, along with 9 other boats in the fleet of 32. Race 2 was a big improvement with Martin coming back

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From our PRO Mark Lewkovitz:A very pleasant day for sprint racing with champagne sailing conditions, clear blue skies, a 15 knot nor’easter and an ultra-low tide. Sail GP in the afternoon meant an early start just before 1pm and the course was setup deep in Double Bay to avoid the exclusion zone which brought Point Piper into play.6 punchy races were completed by 2:15pm to allow the Sail GP viewers to get away by 3pm.Early races favoured a windward end start and a left turn at the gate, but a tweak to the course for the later races then favoured the pin end and drove boats to the left side of the beat.Some performances of note include Luke Parker with multiple wins in the Standard, Diana Chen leading the way with two 4.7s and multiple wins from Sylvie Stannage as well as Scott Hunter grabbing a win.Lots of smiles out

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From our PRO Geoff Kirk with Geoff BoscoeSailors were greeted by a hot day and a building North-Easterly breeze for Heats 5 & 6 of the 2023 Autumn point score.  The breeze lived up to the forecast by getting into the low 20 knot range.  There was chop from the wind, outgoing tide and boat traffic which made boat handling challenging.  It was busy in the boat park with competition for space from 18’ skiffs while room on the harbour was also at a premium.  The on-water race management team needed to fit the course into a compressed footprint because of the Etchells and 18’ skiff race courses.  A big fleet of 20+ ILCA6 sailors joined for the first race of the day.  This included a couple of defectors from the ILCA7 fleet and a couple of new visiting sailors who were warmly welcomed.  The first race was won on

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