A note on racing this weekend

The PRO is well aware of the Sydney Swan’s 4.45pm semi-final kick-off.  While sailors won’t make it to the SCG in time for the game (you probably don’t have tickets anyway), expect prompt starts so we can enjoy the game. In the circumstances, expect a bias towards individual recalls vs general recalls!

So don’t be a couch potato or skip sailing for the footy.  With a little support from Huey, everyone can enjoy 2 races, a hot shower and be settled in front of the 18 footer’s TV for the first bounce!

Not too late: Season Opening Dinner

We have been given some wiggle room to continue to accept RSVPs for the Season Opening Dinner. This really is your last chance (it’s this Friday)!

Please RSVP to the season opening dinner for sailors and volunteers.

Details:

7pm Friday 16th September
Bedouin 2/53 Cross Street Double Bay
$100 per guest (includes welcome drink, banquet dinner, beer/wine with dinner)
Dress Spectacular/Glam (Studio 54)

Registration is now open for The Women's Regatta

Registration is now open for the 2022 Women's Regatta, to be held on Saturday 3 December at Double Bay Sailing Club.

The one-day event will include races on Sydney Harbour, great food, entertainment, and activities aimed at women of all ages who currently sail an ILCA / Laser dinghy, or are looking to return to racing.

If you haven't been on the water for a while or just want to improve your skills, we have a series of women's training clinics leading up to the regatta.

Head over to thewomensregatta.com.au to get all the info and register now!

Upcoming events and more information

Friday 16 September: 7pm Season Opening Dinner for sailors and volunteers

Saturday 22 October 9am: PRO training

Saturday 29 October 9am: Safety and competency training

Saturday 3 December 2022: The Women’s Regatta. Sign up for more information here.

The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.

Thank you to the members who are sending through information for the newsletter. If you have content for the newsletter, please email it to newsletter@dbsc.com.au by midnight Monday.

Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

Race report 3 September 2022

From our PRO Ash Deacon:

Wet, windy, wild and a tad cold might best describe the opener to the 2022/23 season and Club Championships heats 1 & 2.  Thankfully the >25 knot forecast breeze didn't quite eventuate albeit many in the 25+ boat fleet assured me it felt like it, and we saw a lot of sailors capsizing to test the water temperature.

It was clear that the fleet of 'true believers' were keen to race as evident by the hotly contested starts resulting in a few general and individual recalls, black flags, and one OCS.  The team on the yacht Smitten, generously loaned Kirk Marcolina, David Murphy, Justin Davey and Simon Stone, had an excellent and elevated vantage point to view each start.  For future reference, anyone OCS is super easy to detect from Smitten !!

The SE course was set early in the day by Craig Sheers (COTD) with Scott Hunter & Quinn Pierson assisting on the water.  By race time the breeze had settled to around 16 knots punctuated with lots of bullets of 20+ knots fanning out across the course and swinging between SE & more S during races. Thanks to the teams in the ribs for adjusting the position of rounding marks during the day.  And a big thanks to 10-year old Joseph who took his dad Thomas Beregi on the rib for some rescue training (owing home one sailor with a broken mast).

Sylvie Stannage showed some great speed in the radial fleet, clearing out to win race 1, and leading the second.  James Tudball stepped out to take the win in the second race.  The standards delivered some very close racing in both races with David Newman taking the box of chocolates in the first race and Campbell Patton the second.  Campbell was overheard to say how happy he was back sailing in cold winds after having had to suffer racing in Bermuda in recent times!

The post race BBQ lifted everyone's core temperatures and a special thanks to Shirley, Paul, Kim Ketelbey, Geoff Kirk for toasties and the hearty BBQ as always. 

For anyone who wasn't able to race at the season opener, do make sure you adjust your life balance and find time to race in the Spring Point Score next weekend. 

Editor’s note: It was fantastic to see Ash back at the club again!

The club’s calendar can be subscribed to here (strongly recommended).

Volly of the week!

Double Bay Sailing Club is managed and run entirely by volunteers. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work. There is always work to be done in the upkeep of our shed and the ongoing running of dinghy racing.

This week we’d like to thank Jason Wilkins. Jason has recently been helping sailors at the end of a hard day of racing, bringing trolleys into the water and helping the weary up the ramp. He was sorely missed on the weekend.

The club is full of people making wonderful contributions around the place, and sometimes behind the scenes. Let us know who deserves a mention!

Membership survey update

From our club secretary, Tory Epworth:

A big thank you to the club members (almost half of you!) who filled in our survey as well as for your insightful comments. The committee is reviewing the findings now and looking at the areas we want to improve on and how to tackle them

The obvious positive feedback is there is 87% happiness with the club overall… and some great indications about what matters the most to us a group with fleet size and competitiveness, the social aspect of our club, and the important of our volunteer culture ranking highest in terms of what is most important to us as a group.

Stay tuned for more info in the coming newsletters, for more insights – plus as action plan for what we want to focus on, to continue to be ‘the best laser club in the world’.

Final Reminder: Season Opening Dinner

No joke. This is the absolute final reminder!

Please RSVP to the season opening dinner for sailors and volunteers.

Details:

7pm Friday 16th September
Bedouin 2/53 Cross Street Double Bay
$100 per guest (includes welcome drink, banquet dinner, beer/wine with dinner)
Dress Spectacular/Glam (Studio 54)

Used gear for Learn to Race

Our Learn to Race program needs booties and wetsuits for prospective members to use when they attend LTR. Our club boats, used mainly for LTR, could do with more mast top sections.

If anyone has excess gear and is willing to donate any of these used items, please contact Martin White by email or on 04106 27743.

Training! Save the dates.

The club will be holding training before racing over 2 weekends in October.

On 22 October Hugh Leicester will be joining us to provide tips and training for our PROs. Hugh is a former laser competitor and officiated one of the courses at the Tokyo Olympics. The training will be lecture style inside the club. Hugh will cover practical skills and insights from his many years of experience as a PRO, including running international events (mainly for the ILCA class) including the Olympic Games. The topics will include line length and skew, allowing for the current, predicting an unfair start, when to re-start a race, recalls, use of black flag Vs U flag, adjusting course marks for wind shifts, etc. A sign up form for this event will be available in the upcoming weeks.

On 29 October the club will hold our annual safety and competency training. David Murphy will be leading the format of this day and it will include on and off water safety, compliance, and competency. This is a compulsory event for club members and volunteers. More details will follow, closer to the date.