Written by Jonathan StoneAt last, a perfect afternoon for sailing – warm but not oppressively, a fresh, steady but not wild north easterly, a (relatively) empty Harbour, though the 18s were out later. And five well-prepared boats, with experienced skippersThe start was prompt on 2.00pm, thanks to the PRO Peter (Collie). There were 5 boats in from 23-34ft in length. At these lengths, a few feet in lengths matter. And when skippers are experienced, stealth and cunning come into play.In a nor-easter, the pin end of our line (just south of Clarke Is) is heavily favoured, but it is a bit tricky, for this end of the line is only just free of the lee of the Island. Maybe because the smaller boats are more manoeuvrable their skippers find it easier to avoid the lee, avoid being early and start at speed. In the event, Corinna (an Endeavour 24) won the start,
Category: Latest from Double Bay Sailing Club
The Week Ahead
Wednesday 6 February, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. Saturday 9 February, 12pm Briefing – Vaucluse Regatta. See important details above.
Early Start This Saturday for Vaucluse Regatta
Instead of our usual club racing, this Saturday we’ll be participating in The Vaucluse Regatta. It’s the 87th running of this grand regatta, and is a great opportunity for racing in a big fleet, and to get tuned up for the part two of the VYC/DBSC challenge which in scheduled for the following Saturday. Racing starts at Vaucluse at 1.45pm which means they day will start earlier than normal for us. We’ll have a briefing at DBSC at 12 noon where we will review the format of the racing (it is still being finalised). It should be a good day on the water with Laser sailors from around the harbour. There is no cost to participate and all are encouraged to attend – think of it as a normal Saturday on the water for us, just at the other end of the harbour.
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,
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:
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.
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.
2019 Brett Beyer Programs
We’re still working on the exact details of the BBSP and BBTP for 2019… costs and timings will be announced soon. Please stay tuned!
Coming Up
Wednesday 16 January, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. Looks like it will be a wonderful 16-knot NE breeze under warm, sunny skies… so join us!Saturday 19 January, 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 at mwhite@universalmagazines.com.au if you are planning on attending. Saturday 19 January, 2pm Start – Spring Pointscore Heats 3 & 4.Sunday 20 January, 8am Start – Boat Licence Course (for those members who have pre-registered for the course).Wednesday 23 January, 5pm – Twilight Sailing.Saturday 26 January– Australia Day. No Racing.Monday 28 January, 2pm Splash – Sprint Racing (see below).Wednesday 30 January, 5pm – Twilight Sailing.Saturday 2 February, 9am – Mandatory Competency Training for all members.Saturday 2 February, 2pm Start – Club Championship Heats 9 & 10 followed by a BBQ on the deck after racing.
Australia Day Weekend
There will be no sailing on Australia Day, Saturday 26th. Our harbour will be chookas with ferries and various other flotillas, so we’re staying away. We recommend you BBQ some juicy lamb chops and enjoy a cold one with loved ones. But… on Monday 28th there is a Public Holiday and we’re planning some informal sprints. There might be a course set, probably no RIBs, definitely no canteen service. 1.30ish briefing for a 2pm splash. Hope to see you there.