Big Boat Race Report

Five boats presented on summer afternoon, with a fresh sou-easterly blowing.And Peter Collie gave us a start. (Remember flags rule in the starting sequence, and as PRO Peter used the answering pennant to delay until he felt the fleet were all there). The start was just 5 min delayed. The right place to start was at the green pole, but the first leg was a beam reach and the advantage was small. Umbakumba, Chenonceau  and Smitten were all there; one was OCS (Chenonceau) and she went back – and was last to start instead of first. Still, she worked her way through the fleet for a strong finish. G-Force started late but fully powered up and was soon amongst the leaders. Umbakumba was the first to the Point Piper mark and threatened to lead all the way, as she did in December. But boat size does count, and with all boats powered to their intrinsic boat speed, the 30 footers

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Boat Licence Course – Sunday January 20th (8am-4pm)

There is ONE spot left in the one-day boat licence course we will be running at DBSC on January 20th provided by ABC Boating and supported by the club. Members will need to pay $125 to do the course and the club will subsidise the other 50%. All members should have this licence if you perform PRO or COTD duties. It is also good for anyone who just enjoys being on the Harbour in a boat. To make payment and secure the last spot please click on this link: http://www.dbsc.com.au/shop/boat-license-course-jan20 The weather policy on the day is go unless it’s dangerous (e.g. lightning).  If you can’t attend, it will be your obligation to find an alternate (we will help as long as not at the last minute). If you don’t attend without covering your spot, you will be expected to cover the club’s contribution on your behalf (e.g. make up the difference that the club

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Official 2019 Sailing Kicks off Saturday

We hope you all had an excellent holiday, and that 2019 is off to a great start. We’re planning a great year of events, and are looking forward to seeing you all back at the club this Saturday, 12 January, for the first two heats of the 2019 Autumn Point Score. The big-boat are also planning their January race this weekend on Sunday, 13 January. In the meantime, there will be Twilight Sailing on tonight, and if you’re off from work and looking for a sailing partner, pop a note on our Top Mark Facebook page. It’s been great to see so many members using the Top Mark to plan informal sailing together over the holidays. 

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Important – Competency Training Signups

Please read this — it is important. We will be scheduling our first ever competency training seminar at 9am on Saturday, 2 February. We are asking ALL members to attend, no matter how competent you think you are.This is a new initiative to ensure continuous improvement in the skills of all members in relation to race management and safety. The training will ensure we offer the high standards of racing and safety that a club of our stature and fleet size demands. This has not been the case every week, which is unsurprising given that we have many new members and that each member, whether old or new, is only rostered once a year.To put this in perspective, in preparing the PRO / COTD roster, we are constantly short of people who we know are competent in setting courses, running races, recording results, launching and driving the Jazzman and the RIBs,

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Post-Christmas Sailing Report

Written by Luke ParkerEight hearty souls went sailing on December 29th. It was champagne racing. We enjoyed a building nor’easter, not a cloud in the sky, and very very few boats on the harbour. As I write, a couple of blokes in the cheap seats are telling me it was the best sailing of the year. Multiple sprint races were held. Ashley Deacon won the ironman award. On arrival at the club, Dean Bergman was caught installing what go down in history as the greatest improvement to the club yet. Photo below:

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Masters Weekend Away to Break Record

It’s great to see that 20 members have already signed up to join our contingent headed North for the State Masters at Lake Macquarie over the weekend of 2-3 March. It’s set to be a record number of traveling DBSC sailors and is sure to be a great weekend away. If you haven’t done so already, please let us know here if you can join in the fun as we need to lock down numbers and start planning transport and accommodation. 

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DBSC Represents at Nationals

Fifteen of our amazing sailors headed south to Devonport, Tasmania for the Australian and Oceania Laser National Championships from 1st to 8th January 2019. The weather was strong early — up to 30+ knots and 3m waves. It’s been a tough field as expected at the open nationals, including extensive representation from the Australian Sailing Team. The final results have DBSC’s top performers as: 4.7s — Brooke Wilson, a stellar result with 3rd overall, and 1st female youth, followed by Daniel Costandi in 5th overall and 2nd male youth – bringing home 2nd and 1st in the final race between them; Radials — Otto Henry in 5th and 2nd male youth, Sylvie Stannage 26th overall and 2nd Youth Female, our first master, Pat Levy, in 45th overall and 4th Grand Master; Standards — Finn Alexander in 5th, with our first master, Brett Beyer, in 7th overall and 1st Master.You can check out the results here.

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Brett Beyer Programs

We will be running another instalment of the BBSP and BBTP, commencing shortly. If you are interested in these programs, can you please click on the following links and purchase tickets ASAP. Closing date for purchase is in one week — Tuesday, 29 January.For BBSP, click HERE. For BBTP, click HERE. BBSP details:The Brett Beyer Saturday Program (BBSP) will run for 7 sessions as follows: 2 Feb, 9 Feb, 23 Feb, 9 Mar, 23 Mar, 30 Mar, 27 Apr.*  You can sign up for the BBSP HERE.  There will be two categories: B = $315, A = $630 (plus merchant fees).* Everyone is invited to join the post-race briefing on the deck.“B” participants receive (a) a video of the start with voice-over commentary, (b) a video of the “real time” GPS tracks of the fleet, (c) a leg by leg analysis of the performance of the fleet including individual speed and angle statistics vs the fleet,

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Laser State Masters South Lake Macquarie March 2nd & 3rd

The block buster State Masters Championship is coming up 2nd and 3rd March. This one will be at South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club at Sunshine – always a great venue. We have 20 DBSC members signed up to participate… if you haven’t done so already, and want to join us, please let us know HERE. This is your last chance to join our armada headed North. The Notice of Race for the event is HERE and you can enter online HERE. SLMASC have arranged with the Lake Macquarie Council to allow us to camp (tent only – no caravans) on Friday and Saturday nights on Sunshine Park at the club. Camping fee is $30 per night (with funds going to the Council). The clubhouse toilets and showers will be available 24 hours. Please contact Diana Charlton by email at treasurer@slmasc.org if you want to book a camping spot. On Saturday night the club is putting

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Race Report

A challenging shifty Southerly greeted a fleet of 35 boats for Autumn Pointsocre Heats 3 and 4. Sailors had to keep an eye on the ever-changing wind to make sure they picked the correct side of the course and took advantage of the lifts. First over the line after handicap were: Standards: Ashley Deacon (heat 3) and Thomas Beregi (heat 4); Radials / 4.7s: James Tudball (heat 3) and Ashton Scott (heat 4).Despite the windy conditions, the race committee provided a challenging and fun day of sailing (and even managed to save a unicorn along the way). Thanks to Christine Patton and Michael Osborne on the Jazzman, Tim Patton, Sara Brooks and Steve London on the RIBs, and Emily Ball who joined Paul, Andrea and Shirley in the canteen. Steve also took some great photos and videos of the day, a few are below… many more on The Top Mark.

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