Australian Sailing Olympic webinar

Some members attended the post Olympic debrief hosted by Australian Sailing with Matt Wearn last night. The series continues next week with Mara Stransky at 7pm on 30 September.

Off the deck

Will no longer be on. Or off? Whatever. Given the gradual easing of COVID restrictions and low attendance in recent weeks we will no longer host “Off the Deck”.

60 seconds with Andrew Craker

How old were you when you first stepped on a boat?
About 6yrs, (motor craft) my father managed a marine store in Port Lincoln SA.

First sailed a Rainbow at age 15 with  my brother, we decided it was a lot cooler that than an asphalt tennis court.

If money (and sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy?
Would stick to a laser, I respect the safety of others, anything larger & faster could put the harbour at risk

What is your ultimate sailing goal?
To finish every race in a season

Tell us the story behind the name of your Laser?
I didn’t name my boat it was inherited when purchased from John Verco

If you could add any ingredient to DBSC's world’s best toasties – what would it be?
Smoked salmon

What are your second/third favourite hobbies (assuming sailing is #1)?
Music / concerts & Travel

Describe what you do for work in less than five words?

Encourage people to volunteer information

What is the first international destination you will travel to (once we're allowed) and why?
Antarctica, always wanted to return  after my first trip in 2010, advantage no ports to visit so less impact of COVID

What is your favourite TV show, movie, and/or book?
Not really a TV fan however YOUTUBE is the greatest for music and discovering new artists

Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know?
We had just purchased our property at Darling Point  & sailing was not on the radar  in Feb 2014. Thought we would take a quick holiday so flew to Hong Kong and was cruising back to Sydney when during a game of trivia in the pub on board Queen Elizabeth we met Peter & Deb Whitley (members of DBSC). They graciously offered a sailing opportunity with their son Marcus & generously offered me the use of their Laser. 4 months later I purchased “Pirate” from John Verco.

Andrew ready to race at DBSC

Updated COVID restrictions

With the recent changes to COVID restrictions double vaccinated members may now rig their boats five at a time in the boat park. There are no other changes to the restrictions.

If you are not fully vaccinated you must not rig your boat in the park unless, in doing so, there would be no more than two boats in the vicinity of the club at any time.

Please continue to get changed before getting your boat out in order to maximise the flow of boats in and out of the clubhouse.

Mark Laying Course

Members are reminded to undertake the online Mark Laying Course being conducted by Australian Sailing in lieu of the mandatory training ordinarily undertaken at the start of the season.

Australian Sailing Olympic webinars

Australian Sailing's Olympic webinar series continues on Thursday 16 September with the Men’s 470 team and their gold medal winning experience. Skipper Mat Belcher created history in Tokyo becoming Australia’s most successful Olympic sailor and is locked in to answer all your pressing questions.

Register for the webinars with Australian Sailing on the following links.

Netflix and chill

‘The Boat that Ian Built’ is a short film from 1974 featuring the amazing success story of the Laser, and of Performance Sailcraft, the company Ian formed to produce and market the boat.

“The movie has fantastic footage of one of the first ever big fleet Laser regattas held at Association Island, New York on Lake Ontario near Kingston (with Ian Bruce competing!). The movie has interviews with Ian, Bruce Kirby, and Laser sail designer Hans Fogh along with shots of Lasers being produced in Ian’s factory.

You’ll also see amazing footage (that I previously didn’t know existed) of Hans Fogh helming the prototype Laser in an October 1970 regatta held for boats under $1000 at the Playboy Club at Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. It was called ‘The America’s Teacup Regatta’. Ian and Hans decided to call the prototype the ‘Weekender’ with sail number TGIF, the abbreviation for ‘Thank God It’s Friday’.”

Follow the link to “The Boat that Ian Built”…

Many thanks to Peter Heywood who was kind in sharing this content.

Volunteer roster

The club is working on the basis that racing is unlikely until at least 16th October. There is therefore no volunteer roster until that time. Should, by some miracle, we be able to race before 23rd October, it will be a nice problem to have!

60 seconds with Alistair Sutherland

How old were you when you first stepped on a boat?
I must have been about 12 years old – sailing on a Topper in the Lake District in the North of England

If money (and sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy?
505 – so many strings to pull, so little time!

What is your ultimate sailing goal?
At the moment I aim for top 3 in any DBSC race I sail in.  Given the depth of the Radial fleet at the moment, that goal usually disappears over the horizon on the way down the first reach…………..

Tell us the story behind the name of your Laser?
Iron Buddha.  In Chinese it’s pronounced “Tie Guan Yin”, and if you order it you’d be presented with a cup of tea.

If you could add any ingredient to DBSC's world’s best toasties – what would it be?
I’ve never eaten anything that can’t be improved with the addition of Tabasco Sauce.

What are your second/third favourite hobbies (assuming sailing is #1)?
At the moment, hanging out with my young family takes up a wealth of my time, but is also one of my favourite things.

Describe what you do for work in less than five words?
Sell IT Systems to Insurance companies.

What is the first international destination you will travel to (once we're allowed) and why?
Japan for culture, food and skiing.

What is your favourite TV show, movie, and/or book?
TV Show – the Wire.  Movie – the fog of war (also name of long-time DBSC club laser), book – the hundred year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared (Jonas Jonasson)

Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know?
I was in the first ever Radial Fleet start.  Back then, everyone hung in on a full rig despite their weight, and a couple of us followed them around in Radials. There was a lady who sailed with us then and, after one particularly bad day on the water, she came ashore and unloaded on the Sailing Committee.  I can’t remember the exact nature of her complaint, but she was seriously fed up with an evil Full Rig sailor for getting in her way, and pretty much demanded that the handful of Radials get their own start.  I don’ think we ever saw her again, but the race committee promptly agreed to appease her, we got our own starts, a load of underweight full rigs saw how much fun we were having, and everything just sort of snowballed from there.  I can’t remember the lady’s name, but I’d really like to know which full rig sailor it was who upset her so badly that day;  it’s the best thing they could have done and I’d love to buy him a beer!

Al with his formidable crew

Get ready to rumble

We are asking all members to undertake the online Mark Laying Course being conducted by Australian Sailing in anticipation of a return to racing in the upcoming months and in light of our inability to conduct competency training at the beginning of the season.

Australian Sailing has developed an online Mark Laying Course. The course provides the correct procedures for laying marks and setting a race course. It is suitable for club volunteers looking to gain knowledge about mark laying at the grass roots level through to mark laying for regattas.

Both registration and enrolment to this course are free of charge. The club will be logging the completion of this training by members in lieu of the mandatory training ordinarily undertaken at the start of the season.