Race Report 20 November 2021
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Double Bay Sailing Club was delighted to host our friends from Vaucluse Yacht Club (VYC) on Saturday for the first leg of the annual Vaucluse Challenge, a traditional rivalry between the two clubs since 1959.
Two races were held in Rose Bay, with a 14 knot gusty and shifty south, south-easterly breeze that kept racers on their toes amongst the yachts and Etchells, some of which weren’t too happy about sharing the bay. The on water racing was managed by Daryl Lawrence (PRO) and John Verco (LTRAR) with on water assistance from Justin Davey (COTD), Christine Patton (co-COTD) and Derek Hand (CSO).
After racing sailors retreated to the Double Bay clubhouse with guests from VYC where they enjoyed tall tales with a sausage sizzle and some drinks. Many thanks to Shirley and Paul for preparing the post-race refreshments as well as the toasties before racing, with the assistance of Diana Chen and John Chesterman.
Byron Georgouras, VYC’s Commodore has sent the following note to DBSC members.
““A fantastic round one of the Vaucluse x Double Bay Friendly Series! A well laid course in Rose Bay saw some challenging and enjoyable racing in both fleets with a high-level of competition from both clubs.
A huge thanks to the race committee of Double Bay for setting up such excellent racing in the shifting southerly conditions. Further to this, thanks to all the Double Bay sailors for the friendly spirit on the course, it was great to see everyone out there and to be welcomed to your end of the harbour with open arms.
Finally, a big thank you to the club for hosting us on the balcony after racing for a delicious BBQ and cold beers. Great to spend time at your beautiful club and reconnect with some of the DBSC members after such a long break between drinks.
We are looking forward to returning the enjoyable racing and fine hospitality on 19 February 2022 for the 90th Anniversary of the Vaucluse Regatta and Round 2 of the VYC/DBSC Friendly.” ”
The races were also heats 5 and 6 for the DBSC pointscore series. Zander Bijkerk cleaned up in both races in the standard rig fleet, as did Alistair Sutherland in the radial fleet.