Sates in Just 10 Days

Laser sailors from around NSW will be descending on DBSC in a little over a week. On 18 – 19 November we’re hosting the NSW Laser State Championship. We’re hoping for 150 boats out on the harbour and we want to make sure as many DBSC members participate as possible. You need to register to race, so please sign up here as soon as you can.

This is also our chance to show visiting sailors the unique community that is DBSC. But we need your help to make that happen by lending a hand:

• Club Clean-up – 11am on Saturday, November 11th.
• Race Day Organising – 9am on Saturday, November 18th.  There are heaps of jobs to be done on the Saturday morning of the Championships. Please help us organise and manage the day and the 100+ sailors who will be coming to DBSC as our guests. This is not voluntary; we need everyone to be there. But don’t worry you’ll still have time to race!

Boat Repair Clinic Part 2

Craig Sheers and Ian Alexander will be running the second part of their boat repair clinic this Saturday, 11 November, at 8am. If you’re signed up to attend, please show up with the necessary supplies.

Christmas and New Members' Drinks – a Perfect Combination

Our New Members’ Drinks Evening is being rescheduled as many of our Youth Sailors will be away at Sail Melbourne on 25 Nov. We are instead going to combine the drinks with our annual Christmas Party on Saturday 16 December at 7pm. More details to come, but get ready for an extra special night of fun. 

Sign On Procedures

There have been several sailors who are not signing on prior to our Saturday races. If you do not sign on your race result may not be recorded. If you are at DBSC, please use the handy paper sign on sheets located in the club. If you are sailing in from another club - please sail past the start boat and tell them your sail number and that you are signing on.

Brett Beyer Lecture Series

Last Wednesday we had over 40 people show up for Brett’s presentation on sail shape and trim. It was a well-received lecture, and more are in store in the months to come. The next topic will be starts and the first beat, and will be held on Wednesday, December 6th at 8pm. Sign up info coming soon.     

Finn Wins Youth Sailor of the Year

Congrats to our very own Finn Alexander who won Australian Youth Sailor of the Year last week. It’s a well-earned award which Finn is very excited about. He explains, “It feels great to have won the Youth Sailor of the Year. It was an honour to win it against such tough competition and I am so grateful to have a club like DBSC supporting me from the beginning.” 

Finn and Andrew with Finn's Youth Sailor of the Year Trophy

Nov 1 Snapshot

Here’s what’s in store for this week's newsletter:

• Point Score 9 – 10 Recap – winners revealed and pictures galore
• Vaucluse Challenge is on this Saturday at DBSC – find out how we’ll defend our honour
• Wednesday Twilights – on this evening, if you’re coming sign up here
• Brett Beyer Lecture Tonight – pizza, sail shape & trim – sign up here
• State Championships – how we’re getting ready for the big day, and how you can help  
• Big Boat Race – on this Sunday at 2pm
• Meet Our Newest Member – Hans Baecker
• Season Opening Dinner – a recap of the frivolities
• New Members’ Welcome Drinks – looking forward to even more frivolities on 25 Nov

Spring Pointscore 9 – 10 Recap

We had nearly 50 boats turn up last Saturday for heats 9 and 10 of the Spring Pointscore. It was a great steady 15-18 knot NE breeze that gave us some perfect Sydney Harbour sailing. The winners (after handicapping) were: Full Rigs: Hadrien Bourely (race 9), Jason Wilkins (race 10); Radials: Justin Davey (race 9), Otto Henry (race 10); 4.7s: Boston Cortis (both races 9 and 10). Thanks to last week’s volunteers for putting on a great day of racing: PRO Ian Alexander, assisted by Clare Alexander, COTD John Vasey, CoCOTD Steven London, and Canteen Assistant Pia Hattersley. A special thanks to Steven London for capturing many great shots of the action on the harbour. Steven has posted some great shots of us here, check them out to see if you can spot yourself in action.

Vaucluse Challenge – this Saturday at DBSC

The first heat of our annual Vaucluse Challenge (VC) will be held this Saturday. For those who are new to the club, this is a hard-fought and longstanding tradition, where we battle it out against our well-heeled rivals from the French enclave for the glory of holding the perpetual trophy at our club for the following year. Both trophies (standard and radial) currently reside at DBSC and we intend to keep it that way. 

This heat of the VC is being hosted at Double Bay. The second heat in the new year will be at Vaucluse. The race starts at 2pm as usual, but the format is different. 

The format is a single long race of ~90min length comprising triangle, sausage, triangle, sausage, sausage, with the usual upwind finish. Note, the Standards will go first, followed by the Radials and 4.7s together. We will set the course in Rose Bay (possibly to the east of Shark Island) if it is a southerly as predicted. So, rig early and allow 30min to get out there. 

The scoring system for this year is yet to be confirmed (and will be explained at the briefing at 1pm), but suffice to say you want to get yourself in front of as many Vaucluse boats as possible. And, unless ridiculous, don’t call starboard on DBSC boats, but instead do a courtesy duck, which, for those who haven’t worked it out yet, is the right tactical decision anyway against any boat on any day!  Read that last sentence again. 

At the end of racing, we all head over to Vaucluse to enjoy their post-race entertainment. In past years, the turnout has been very poor and this is embarrassing for us. Please plan to join us at Vaucluse — we will have plenty of cars to carpool and take you there and back. 

And if that is not enough incentive, Saturday is still a Brett Beyer Saturday Program day. Brett will be doing the post-race debrief on the front deck of VYC and all are welcome to attend it (not just program subscribers). So please join us!

Wednesday Twilights

Twilights are on again tonight with organised racing hosted by Brett Beyer.  There will be at least 10 boats – and more boats mean more fun, so tell the boss you have an important appointment and come join us.  Racing starts at 5.30 with a splash at 5.10 (or whenever you can get there).  All welcome, whether part of the program or not.  Fill in the Doodle Poll here and let us know if you can make it.