Race Report 13 November 2021

On Saturday, Shirley and Paul were down on the toastie trade, as many members elected to sit the day out.

The day turned out to be a little wild on the water for the third and fourth heats of the club pointscore. While the weather forecast did not predict the wind to build after 12pm, it continued to kick in for a bit, and those who braved the west north-westerly wind had their work cut out for them. The wind continued to build until 14:40 topping out at 28 knots with 35 knot gusts before “calming down” to 23 knots with 32 knot gusts by the end of racing for the day.

Of the 15-20 boats braving the conditions, our pointscore race winners were Zander Bijkerk and Craig Sheers in the full rig, and in the radial rig, James Tudball won both races. It was a brutal day on the water with many capsizes and sore bodies, yet fortunately no (major) damage to equipment.

PRO for the day, Luke Parker lamented not sailing for the downwind rides while Kate McHugh (LTRAR) was secretly relieved for being on duty for the day. The rest of the on-water team led by Tim Heath (COTD) and Julian Van Aalst (co-COTD) were assisted by Daryl Lawrence and Richard George on the water, ensuring no boat was left behind (or upside down for too long). Thanks also go to Quinn Pierson (CSO) who was on hand to assist.

After racing members enjoyed a few much needed beverages in the clubhouse before limping off to tend to their weary bodies.

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Photo of Evie by Tristan Brown, other photos taken by Tim Heath. Tim took more photos on the day and has uploaded them to the DBSC members group, “Top Mark” on FB.

This weekend

This weekend is the first leg of our annual “local derby” with Vaucluse Yacht Club and DBSC is delighted to be hosting our friends from “up the harbour”. As is the “new tradition” individual perpetual trophies are determined as the standard rig sailor and radial rig sailor who was the lowest position score across both legs of the DBSC/VYC Challenge races.

To make the day more enjoyable for our visitors, we will be setting the race course in Rose Bay if we have a southerly breeze on Saturday. This means that DBSC members will need to launch 15 minutes earlier to get to the course in time for the first race.

UPDATE: DBSC will host a BBQ at the club for Vaucluse and Double Bay sailors after racing.

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Learn to Race is also on this weekend and if you are able to help Martin with this important program that helps onboard new members to our club, please contact him. 

If you wish to participate in Learn to Race, please also let Martin know by Friday.

Volunteer of the week

Double Bay Sailing Club is managed and run entirely by volunteers. As the saying goes, many hands make light work.

This week we are featuring our recently anointed life member, John Vasey for his contribution to keeping the fuel tanks full outside of operating hours. John also mans a RIB most weekends for the 18’ skiff racing, and he had his work cut out for him on Sunday with wild winds, breakages and an accident requiring ambulance assistance.

Thank you John for your ongoing contribution!

The club is full of people making wonderful contributions around the place, and sometimes behind the scenes. Do you know of someone who deserves a mention? If so, email us and tell us why they should be club member of the week.

This is what twilight sailing looks like!

Exactly a year ago, Diana recorded a twilight session, which can only be described as magical.

You can watch and share it on YouTube.

Twilight sailing is on tonight and the Brett Beyer Training Program is confirmed. This means a top mark will be laid for sprint racing, with a start determined on the water. A two minute starting sequence will apply unless otherwise advised on the water.

The forecast (at the time of writing) is for a glorious 9-12 knots ENE-NE. You’d be mad to miss this!

Christmas Party RSVP

The club Christmas Party will be held on Saturday 11 December from 5:30pm, after the Tyrrell and Rousso racing. While more details will follow, please RSVP , in order to help with catering and preparations.

Change to Apprentice Masters

ILCA has just announced that from 2022 the Apprentice Masters age range will be extended from 35-44 to 30-44.

ILCA believes being more inclusive and “broadening the tent” will allow more adult sailors to enjoy the unique atmosphere of masters’ events and will attract more interest from grass roots and former competitive ILCA sailors looking to get back into our great sport.

The new age range will apply for all ILCA District, Regional and World events including the upcoming 2022 Australian Masters at Westernport and the 2022 Masters World Championships in Mexico.

All other masters age categories will remain unchanged.

Upcoming regattas

Regattas are a great way to travel, bond with other club members, and even make new friends. There are a couple of upcoming regattas that the club anticipates members will participate in and it’s time to start thinking about regatta planning.

If you are planning to attend any of the following, please email Rod Barnes and let him know which events you are interested in.

(Open) State Championships | 4-5 December 2021 – will be held at Georges River Sailing Club.

State Masters Championships | 5-6 February 2022 – will be held at Bay Sailing Centre, Port Stephens. This event is a supportive yet competitive weekend away with your mates from DBSC. Rod Barnes is organising accommodation and transport of boats; please let him know if you would like to come. 

Australian Laser Masters | 25-28 February 2022 – will be held at Westernport Yacht Club on Balnarring Beach, Victoria (approximately 70 kilometres from Melbourne). The event will be run from 25-28 February 2022 and will be preceded by a two day coaching clinic 22-23 February. The Notice of Race is here. We will be seeking interest for coordination in the upcoming weeks.

And for those who like Margaritas…

Who doesn’t like margaritas?

The ILCA Masters World Championships will be held in Nuevo Vallarta, Riviera Nayarit, Mexico at the Vallarta Yacht Club on 30 May – 7 June 2022 for the standard rig and 9 -17 June for the radial rig. More details are available here.

Coming up next...

Wednesday 17 November - Twilight sprints | BBTP

Saturday 20 November – Learn to Race (am) | Spring Pointscore 5 & 6 || VYC Invitational

Wednesday 24 November - Twilight sprints | BBTP

Saturday 27 November – Club Championships 3 & 4 | BBQ

Wednesday 1 December - Twilight sprints

Saturday 4 December – Sprints / State Championships @ Georges River

Wednesday 8 December - Twilight sprints

Saturday 11 December – Tyrell and Rousso Races | Christmas Party

Wednesday 15 December - Twilight sprints

Saturday 18 December – Sprints (Sail GP)   

Wednesday 22 December - Twilight sprints  

The club calendar can be viewed (and subscribed to) here.

Race Report 6 November 2021

The club held its first club championship races for the season on Saturday in near perfect conditions. Pat Levy’s prayers were answered with a north-easterly wind blowing 18-22 knots with the occasional 25 knot gusts, and the air temperature was a summery 26 degrees.        

The volunteer team led by Peter Collie (PRO) with David Murphy (LTRAR), Jason Wilkins (COTD), Derek Hand (Co-COTD) and Andrew Dixson (CSO) seamlessly set a fair course and started racing bang on 1400. Brett Beyer and Evie Saunders showed everyone how it’s done in both races for the standard and radial rigs respectively.

After racing members enjoyed a BBQ on the deck with plenty of competition for post-race fatigue and war wounds. Special thanks go to Paul and Shirley for their efforts in the canteen, preparing toasties pre-racing and organising the BBQ.

Our grill chefs, Ian and Richo | Photo credit: Andrew Cox

Volunteer of the week

Double Bay Sailing Club is managed and run entirely by volunteers. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work”.

This week we are featuring club member, Ross Ramsay who has, following the massive tidy-up effort at the working bee, restored a level of order to the workshop not seen since Dene Bergman took care of it.

Thank you, Ross!

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