Dollie management....

The club is aiming to fix the dollie situation.

If you have a dollie in the clubhouse, make sure it clearly identified (e.g. painted a special colour or labelled, etc, etc).  Better still, if you aren't on the ground floor, think about taking it home over the next few weeks and using one of the club's aluminium dollies as they are being commissioned.

The idea of the club dollies is that they will all have the same solid wheels and nest properly on the racking.  It also means the logistics of getting in and out of the water is easy - grab the closest clearly identifiable DBSC dollie.

While it is perfect to arrive at the club precisely at 1pm for the briefing, then rig your Laser and get changed, and be in the water by 1.30pm it doesn't leave a lot of time to properly deal with a dollie wheel that falls off or is flat.

If a wheel falls off a dollie, or has a flat tyre (we don't have all solid wheels yet), try to fix the problem rather than leaving it aside.  The Centre of Engineering Excellence has a supply of wheels and you can always find a split pin.  Additionally, make sure the axle fits the wheel and is not to large or problems develop.

PS: The last two weeks have seen wheel-less dollies on the beach and wheels floating in the water or left in the park.

This Saturday's BBQ - 8 November

The BBQ this Saturday will be at Vaucluse Yacht Club (cnr Robertson Place and Marine Parade, Watson's Bay) and not at DBSC as previously indicated in the calendar.

State Titles 22-23 Nov

Andrea writes.....

Fellow DBSC members,

The State Championship will take place on 22-23 November at the Belmont 16’s Sailing Club.

I for one am planning on attending the event and was wandering whether anyone else from DBSC is also planning on traveling to Lake Macquarie to fight it off for the State Titles.

I would be happy to run point for the event. Therefore, if you are planning on attending let me know! Also, to facilitate logistics please let me know whether you plan on driving (with your own car or carpooling) and/or whether you have any spare boat space on your trailer so that we can minimize the number of cars travelling up to Belmont, e.g. I know that a couple of guys from Woollahra would like to attend but have no way to get their boat up there…

You can contact me via email at olivieri80@hotmail.com or via mobile on 0428 406 670. Alternatively, there is a sign-up sheet on the DBSC clubhouse notice board (next to the sign-in sheet).  

FYI – This is the link to sign up for the State Titles à Enter States

Cheers,

Andrea Olivieri

E-mail: olivieri80@hotmail.com

Mobile (AUS): +61 (0)4 28406670

Mobile (ITA): +39 335 6931512

Dear Leader denies Radial preference....

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As you can see from Bureau of Metrology observations below, at approximately 4.10pm on Saturday 1 November 2012, the conditions on Sydney Harbour became more conducive for a Radial rig rather than a Standard rig.

Dear Leader denies that at that time his preference was for a Radial rig.  At the international press conference later in the day he clarified his on-water comments:

"I suggested to the on-water officials that, with respect to the Occupational Health and Safety ("OH&S") guidelines, it may only be appropriate for morbidly obese, say 120kg, sailors using 4.7 rigs to continue racing given the slightly heavier conditions.  There was no mention of it being my preference to be participating in a Radial rig at that particular time.  This scurrilous rumour was obviously put out by the Radial faction within ILCA, ISAF and the United Nations, who want impose their totalitarian ideals on all Laser sailors.  That is not to say there is something wrong with a Radial rig: even I tried one for 45 minutes after a certain birthday." 

RIB in club house

The Dene Bergman is in the club house on its dolly for repairs and to have tube covers installed (yea!), and should be left out of the water until Saturday PM.

So for those twilighting on Thursday, can you make sure that if the RIB is moved outside that it is returned back into the clubhouse beyond the Sydney High racks, please.

AMENDED ROSTER

An amended roster has been published which includes all the changes up to 25 October 2014.

Members can check the roster by viewing the PDF sheet under the COTD/PRO tab (Roster PDF) or looking at the calendar.

Any further changes can be emailed to Michael Osborne at vice.commodore@dbsc.com.au

What's on

1 November - Double Header: Club Championship heats 5&6, plus these races  will be scored for Point score 7&8.  ie position and elapsed time both count.

8 November - Double Bay / Vaucluse Challenge. DBSC to host sailing and a post race BBQ with our friends and foes from VYC. This is one of the best racing days of the series.  It is likely to be one longer race (Course TBA but probably more, longer laps).  Last year, we did great on the home leg and lost on the away, but all up we held the shield.  Just.  VYC are not happy and they are going to be hard to beat this year.  Scoring is based on the first 7 or so from each club, so we need to get as many sailors as we can ahead of their 7th.  ie its heavily biased to the club with the most midfleet sailors. If you've come in the top 10 in any individual club race, we need you to show up with your best form. DBSC NEEDS ALL ITS SAILORS SO NO LEAVE PASSES WILL BE GRANTED!!

Anyone know a PRO for the day?

15 November - Point Score heats 9&10

22 November - State Titles @ Belmont, Non point score sprints @ DBSC.   Sign up for Belmont car pooling, trailers etc old school style on the DBSC clubhouse noticeboard. 

2-4 December - Sail Sydney; Olympic Grade.  For those who spend more time sailing than working.

5-7 December  - Sail Sydney; Masters and open fleet.  Festivus the Rest of Us.  3 day regatta.  Sailing in waters between Shark island and Watsons Bay.

Thursday Twilight Training. weekly @ 5.30pm through to March

Learn To Race - 1 November

Hi All,

This Saturday, Nov 1st, we have Learn To Race (LTR). As most know,  it’s held on the first and third Saturday of the month (Sept to April). 

If you wish to attend on Saturday would you kindly let me know.    

If you need to hire a boat, please fill in the form on the DBSC website.

The usual plan will be in place  i.e. arrive at DBSC at 9am, aim to be on the water about 10am, on- water coaching until about 12 noon.

This week I want to move away from the short races as we’ve done these regularly lately. I’d like to focus on two areas:

1.    sailing as a group upwind, concentrating on keeping the boat/rig in balance i.e. boat flat and powered to suit the chop and wind strength. Includes how to absorb gusts.
2.    downwind – if winds are kind, learning to sail by the lee. This is so much faster than sailing directly downwind, gives more options and increases stability.

If the weather is poor, assume it’s still on as we can provide under cover discussions about racing a Laser.

Keep in mind  there is afternoon club racing at 2pm, if you’d like to race.  

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Cheers,
Martin White
DBSC LTR voluntary coach

04106 27743

Big boat Race Report from 26 October 2014

Jonathan reports......

This race was finally sailed on October 26, after the long weekend and an abortive start on October 12.

Five boats presented. We rigged for a predicted 10knot sou-easterly, and were hit with 15-25 knots. We were all over-powered upwind.

The first three legs, to Point Piper, Taylor's Bay and Sow'n Pigs were downwind, and the racing was close and fun. Corinna led around the Point Piper mark, Rockhopper around Taylor's Bay. At Taylor's Bay you could have thrown a blanket over the first four boats, and the racing was close.

The work to Shark Island was tough; the wind came in bullets and we all struggled to go be fast in the lulls and in control in the puffs. We clambered to the top mark as best we could, and eased away for a fast reach home.

Rockhopper  crossed first, and Umbakumba surged past Corinna close to the line. T&T and Capricorn followed some minutes behind.

Memorable moments included 4 boats, all goose-winged on a dead run and converging on the Taylor's Bay mark, learning to trust each other to 'round in seaman-like manner'; and - off Shark Island - holding course as the 18's zoomed through us; ferries and spectator boats and ......

Over the line:

Rockhopper (welcome back Mike)
Umbakumba
Corinna
Time & Tide
Capricorn.

A good day's racing.

J

Who is "Deposit"?

After checking the club's bank account we have discovered we have three new members: Marlena; Simon; and Deposit.

Marlena and Simon we know are enthusiastic sailors, but the only thing we know about Deposit is that they paid $400 into the DBSC bank account on 20 October 2014 and are unfamiliar with the protocols of making electronic funds transfers (usually referred to as "EFT").

Would Deposit contact either me ( secretary@dbsc.com.au ), or the Treasurer ( treasurer@dbsc.com.au ) so we can allocate a conventional name to the nickname, please?

I encourage all our members to make welcome this season's 96th, 97th and 98th regular members!

Cheers