Welcome New Members

As you might have noticed, there are quite a few new members at our club this season. Our newest DBSCers have quite interesting and diverse backgrounds. Here’s a bit about some of the new faces:

Gavin Blake – Gavin moved to Sydney (Bronte) about a year ago from the UK. He is a keen surfer and kitesurfs a lot too. He works for the Toll Rescue Helicopter as a pilot. Gain is married with a 2-year-old boy named Charles and is looking forward to being able to teach him how to sail! It’s been 15 years since he last sailed and when he heard about DBSC he knew he had to get involved. He explains, “I’ve been bowled over by how friendly and welcoming everyone has been and the standard of sailing is excellent. It truly is the best laser sailing club in the world!”

James Johnson – James grew up in the bush, but by a stroke of luck when he was in primary school his dad bought a home-made sailing dinghy from a neighbour and he taught himself to sail on annual holidays to the coast. He’s had a Soling for 25 years but gave it to a good home last year. Julian Van Aalst is a work colleague and friend. He persuaded James to come down and have a look at the club. It’s been about 35 years since James has sailed dinghies but he’s busting to get back into it. 

James Johnson

John Verco – After a short attempted retirement, long-time member, John Verco, has decided he missed us too much, and has returned to the club, with plans to get another boat and join us for racing in the new year.

Anthea Michael – Anthea was invited to the 2019 AGM by her friend Candice Cushway. She was so impressed by the good spirit, the presentations at the meeting, as well as the range of members that she decided to join. Importantly, she wanted to volunteer to contribute to a community organisation that had an excellent committee, a strong history of promoting health and fitness for both men and women, and a social and friendly vibe. Anthea has done more social sailing and got her boat licence in 2018. She is super keen to build her skills and experience on the RIBs while learning about sailing and race management. Anthea’s professional background is in risk with a strong background in health and safety, investigation and training. Plus, she is a carpenter by trade – a skill certain to come in handy during our annual Working Bee.

Anthea Michael

Quinn Pearson – Quinn recently purchased his first laser (and first boat of any kind), with the goal to become race ready.  DBSC was the no brainer, between the size of the fleet, the Learn to Race on Saturday mornings, and proximity to his place of residence (Surry Hills). 

David Foley – In the past Dave has owned motor and ski boats, and is still a keen SUPer and Kayaker. He’s a novice sailor who’s completed the competent crew course and bought an entry level cruising yacht to spend time on with his children and friends while he learns more about sailing, with the intention to upgrade in years to come. He joined DBSC for the networking, facilities and just to be a part of the club. He promises that as soon as soon and he gets more time on his hands we will all be seeing more of him. 

David Foley

Peter Heywood – Peter is a highly accomplished radial sailor and previous World Champion. He has joined us from VYC and is a welcome addition to our fleet.

Nick Alexander – Nick quips that he is “pretty standard for a Masters sailor.” He has waited 25 years to get back into sailing after career and family life took priority.  He is really enjoying Lasers in his third season but admits that he has a lot to learn and finds them very challenging. Nick joined DBSC to increase his racing as his Sunday’s are at MHASC. His goal is to keep improving and not stagnate, so with Brett coaching and the high quality of the fleet he hopes to be pushed and learn. He is really excited about the summer ahead.

Nick Alexander