State Championships – Big Fleet Races

DBSC hosted the NSW & ACT State Open and Masters Championships last weekend, with 130+ boats attending from all over Sydney, NSW, Australia and overseas, including members of the Australian women’s and men’s sailing teams.

The Competitors Gather for Pre-Race Briefing.

The event was a huge success, with over 40 volunteers contributing on the weekend, and many more in the lead up.  Thank you to you all for making this event possible!  The event contributed ~$1,000 to our canteen and $600 to Double Bay Primary School, which they are going to use to fund a new drinking fountain for the kids!

Our PRO, Col Chidgey, had to pull out at the last minute due to a sudden medical emergency that saw his wife, Kay, in surgery over the weekend.  Kay is now in a stable condition, and our thoughts are with them both.  Adam South was very generous in stepping in at short notice, and did an outstanding job, proving that it is possible, with deft placement of marks, to run trapezoid courses on Sydney Harbour.  Thank you, Adam.

The weather was kind to us, with a welcome break from the recent string of southerlies.  On Saturday, we had a NE gradient breeze of ~17-21kts and, on Sunday, we had a 9-14kt easterly.  With the breeze shifting to the right both days, it was the port tacks that made the difference.

Competition was intense throughout.  We raced in three fleets – standards, radials and 4.7s, with the opens and masters racing together.  And this is where it got exciting, with the old lion and the young lion facing off at the front of the standards.  Two of our world champions, Finn Alexander and Brett Beyer, went toe to toe on pretty much every leg, both having some outstanding beats, but it was ultimately a slight difference in boat speed that saw Finn take the championship.

And so the results.  DBSC featured strongly, taking 48% of the 40 winners’ “cubes” on offer, including 1st and 2nd in the standards, 1st and 3rd in the standard masters, 1st and 5th in the radials, 1st in the U19 radials, 1st in the U17 radials, 1st in the radial apprentice masters, 1st in the radial masters, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the 4.7s and 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the U16 4.7s.  Well done, team DBSC! You can check out all of the results here. 

Thank you to Kevin Phillips and the NSW & ACT Laser Association for choosing to hold the event at DBSC.  And thank you to all the volunteers from the Laser Association and other clubs who contributed to the event’s success.  You all did a great job as usual!

Below are some great shots of the weekend thanks to Ashley Deacon, Clare Alexander and others. Check out more of the photos and videos on DBSC’s Member’s only Facebook page, The Top Mark, here.