METROS CHAMPIONSHIP - 9 & 10 March 2024 @ Vaucluse

This year the Metropolitan Championship Regatta will be hosted by Vaucluse Yacht Club on the 9th and 10th of March 2024, the Notice of Race is HERE and entries should be done in advance online HERE or on Saturday 9th before 1130 in person at VYC in Watsons Bay. Entry is $60 for sailors over 21 or $30 for sailors under 21.

This will be a great Regatta, and we would love for Double Bay to be well represented in supporting this ILCA NSW & ACT event. DBSC Members should pre-register before 9 March, and can launch from our club with time to sail up the Harbour to Watsons Bay.

Saturday 9 March - 1130 Race Briefing
Saturday 9 March - 1330 First Warning
Sunday 10 March - 1100 First Warning
Sunday 10 March - Presentations after racing at VYC

WHAT'S GOING ON

From the Club Calendar

Wednesday 28 Feb: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)

Thursday 29 Feb: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)

Saturday 2 March: - Vaucluse Regatta - EARLIER START TIME (No LTR Today)
- Allow time to sail up the Harbour (refer to NOR and SIs)
11:00 Registration Closes at VYC,
12:00 Briefing at VYC (streamed in Instagram),
13:00 Race Start off Watsons Bay (3 Races - refer to NOR and SIs))
Presentation Ceremony at Vaucluse Yacht Club after racing
Notice Of Race HERE
Registration is Free but Required HERE - Register online NOW

Friday 1 March - 11 March : 18 footers JJ Giltinan's Racing most days

Wednesday 6 March: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)

Thursday 7 March: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)

Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March: - NSW/ACT Laser Metropolitan Championship Regatta
Hosted by Vaucluse Yacht Club - EARLIER START TIME
- also allow time to sail up the Harbour (refer to NOR and SIs)
Sat 0930-1130 Registration Beach entries at VYC
Sat 11:30 - Briefing at VYC
Sat 13:30 - First Warning Signal day 1
Sun 1100 - First Warning Signal day 2
Notice Of Race CLICK HERE
Registration is $60 over 21 and $30 Under 21 CLICK HERE - Register online Now, before 9 March

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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 Monday evening.

View all racing results here.
The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.
Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

RACE REPORT Saturday 17 February 2024

Club Championship Series Races 11 & 12
Autumn Point Score Series Races 9 & 10

by PRO, Ashley Deacon

Unlike the sunny hot and very windy days that Rod Barnes described in his summary of the sailing conditions at the Master’s Worlds in Adelaide (well done all DBSC sailors) we were met with a very muggy day (Sydharb water temp was 25°C) and an insipid ENE breeze that drifted soft 10 knots N and ENE wind lanes down the course during the afternoon for Championships 11 & 12, and Point Scores 9 & 10.

A very impressive combined fleet of about 53 boats, plus Brett Beyer’s squad, had to deal with our usual friendly fleet of Echells parked on ‘our’ course, but were also entertained by way too many doof doof party boats.

The on-water race team had some hand wringing late morning as to where best to lay the course – in ‘The Dardanelles’ so the fleet could all enjoy the snakes & ladders of that water – or a standard NE course. Thanks to Michelle Power and John Sweeny for helping lay the proper course; a Nor’easter with the weather mark biased to the east to make life a little more interesting.

Both fleets behaved and got away clean in the first race, which gave Mark Crowhurst a great opportunity to brief me on features of the digital race scoring software. We were soon distracted by the return of the ILCA 6 fleet with some impressive margins and speed shown by the youngins after the 1st lap. However we were again distracted, this time by the pretty rapid formation of some large thunderstorms to the SW of Sydney. The storm’s thunderhead broke down and quickly drifted north over Sydharb, and the storm influenced the wind on the Harbour by sucking up the hot humid air into its vortex. This caused the first race to slow and take over an hour to finish – apologies from the on-water race management.

Brett respected the threat of the storm and concerned for lightning, took his squad home – safety first.

Between races Craig Sheers and John were able to shorten the windward leg and adjust the bottom mark but the ILCA 4 & 6 fleet were clearly keen to get the race done, avoid any lightning, and to get to Shirley and Paul’s BBQ, and almost the whole fleet crossed early so the General Recall flag got a nice airing. The ILCA fleet were well behaved and respectful, as always!

Some observations from a skipper’s viewpoint: “My main impression from a sailor's perspective it was a pseudo NEaster with more east and variability than usual. It was tricky deciding which side of the course to take, with shifts sometimes favouring shoreside and pressure sometimes favouring the channel side, varying between legs.

You could be punished for taking the wrong side which I did regularly. Quite a lot of cross chop despite incoming tide.”

And a few observations from this infrequent PRO:

• The digital scoring system is great until trying to finish boats whose skippers haven’t signed on. Simple solution……. sign on folks.

• Videoing the race finish is a great backup. I used my iPad, but accidentally hit slow-mo, so I had hours of video to enjoy that night!

• Safety is the number one priority for the PRO and on-water race team, and the threat posed by the storm and our concern for lightning on the day did put the second race at risk of being abandoned

• Boat bungs: Installing bungs on the RHIBs is important (ask Pat Levy…..whose naughty book is full), but its equally important on our ILCAs. Please ensure and check that your bung is in when rigging and if you need to borrow a bung ask someone – I’m sure our members will gladly assist. One of the ILCA 7 fleet sailed without a bung – very very slow – and it cruelly impacted his overall club championship results, i.e. podium.

Thanks to Shirley and Paul for a slap-up BBQ and their on-time start to the feast, and to Rod Barnes and Quentin Burns for their help on the ‘Toasties’, and Grant Lovelady for the post BBQ clean-up.

WHAT'S GOING ON

From the Club Calendar

Wednesday 21 Feb: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)

Thursday 22 Feb: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)

Saturday 24 Feb: Sprints Racing - EARLIER START TIME due to SailGP
- 12PM briefing, 1PM first warning

Sunday 25 Feb: 18 footers racing

Saturday 2 March: - Vaucluse Regatta - EARLIER START TIME - allow time to sail up the Harbour
11:00AM Registration Closes,
12:00PM Briefing (streamed in Instagram),
1:00PM Race Start off Watsons Bay (approx. see NOR) (3 Races)
Presentation Ceremony at Vaucluse Yacht Club after racing

Notice Of Race HERE

Registration is Free but Required HERE

Friday 1 March - 11 March : 18 footers JJ Giltinan's Racing

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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 Monday evening.

View all racing results here.
The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.
Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

RACE REPORT Saturday 10 February 2024

Autumn Point Score Series Races 7 & 8

by PRO, Alistair Sutherland

Having spent the week watching our fellow club members battle big waves and breeze in Adelaide at the Master's Worlds, about 35 sailors turned up to see what Double Bay could offer.  No massive waves, no trips to a vineyard, but 18 knots of stiff breeze was just what everyone needed for some great fun.  The race committee turned up to find a South / South Easter and, after some contemplation, decided there was enough breeze rolling down Bellevue hill and out of the Eastern side of Double Bay, so no need to move the whole operation around to the South East course in Rose Bay.  This decision saw a surprisingly steady breeze in the middle of the course, with a massive Rose Bay shift on the left hand side, and shifts off of Clarke Island on the right hand side.

The ILCA 4 class continues to grow at DBSC, and a decision was quickly made to give the 6 entrants their own start.  This decision led to rolling starts with the first gun at 14:00 sharp, and a total of 6 fleet races completed across 2 hours.  The ILCA 4 had some great battles with Jasper Kinsman and Miles Greenwood battling it out neck and neck at the front, with the pack very tightly congested.  Jasper took both wins on corrected time and is chasing Charlotte Jenkins hard at the top of the series leader board.

The Radial's sported the largest fleet of the day with 20 plus starters and countless battles throughout.  At the front James Tudball and Healy Ryan had a royal battle and shared the honors with a gun each.  Michael Morris and Jack Restuccia hung in there with excellent boat handling to take wins on handicap.

The Full Rigs came close to testing the race officers patience on the final start of the day, but the surprisingly compliant 10 boats in the fleet managed to sort themselves out just in time for the gun, and proceeded to have some great racing.  Luke Parker had a great first race, but performance of the day was reserved for race two where Yves Stening proved that a commitment to mid week training results in taking the gun at the weekend.  Check out his moment of glory here :

Massive thanks to the race team of Craig Ryan, Gerard Cafe, Alban Delpey, Nick Pellow and Dave Evenden for making sure races were high quality, on time, and safe.  Thanks are also due to the entire fleet for making such a great effort to sign on - the finishing system is so much easier when we all do the right thing here.

Photos from Alistair, Nick, Craig and David

DBSC at the ILCA 2024 Masters World Championship in Adelaide

The Adelaide Worlds were spectacular.

Some of us did some training in the week leading up to the event under the guidance of Mark Bethwaite.  As well as preparing us, we got to meet some great people from Italy, the US and UK.

After keeping an eye on the open worlds, we were expecting windy and challenging conditions. It took one look at the forecast at the start of the week to confirm we were in for a windy regatta.

The first day was around 10 knots and shifty but a great start to the event. There was no better sound than hearing the 5 min signal and knowing it was game on.

From then on it was like Groundhog Day. Beautiful clear water, sunny skies, waves and wind ranging from 20-29 knots at times.

It was quite brutal, but we loved it. You only had to listen to the chatter in the change rooms after each day’s sailing. 

Personally, I have never been so fast in a laser, screaming down the faces of waves heading back the beach on completion of the days sailing.  It was exhilarating.

The DBSC crew caught up most nights. Special thanks to Roberto Blum and his wife Laura who hosted some of us for a BBQ on the lay day.

On the final day of sailing, I was so impressed that among the elderly at the event, there were a couple of 86-year-olds battling around the track each day.  Astonishing.

These events tend to attract the cream of the crop and there were plenty of previous world champions and ex Olympians on show. 

Colin Beashel dusted off the sailing gear and was prominent in the Radial fleet and, on presentation night, he sat next to Martin and shared a few stories.

If you haven’t been to a world’s, get into it.  It’s about meeting likeminded people and sharing a great experience. For most it’s not all about winning but about challenging yourself. 

The worlds are on in Italy in September next year, then rumour has it, maybe the Greek Islands in 2026 and Martinique in the Caribbean in 2027.  Can’t wait.

 by Rod Barnes

Results were as follows:

ILCA 6

Apprentice                          Roberto  Blum  6th

Masters                               Andrew Cox 10th

Grand Masters                   Jacqueline Winship 45th

Great Grand Masters        Jeff Loosemore 4th
Martin White 7th
Pat Levy 15th
Ian Tudball 23rd
David Airey 30th 

Legends                                Peter Heywood 7th

ILCA 7

Apprentice John Sweeney 7th
Max Djura 12th

Masters                              Rod Barnes 6th

Grand Masters                  Johan Hedberg 16th

Andrew Cox practicing a new form of speed Gybe

Franco from Argentina Sending it in practice

Photos from Rod and other members attending

Video From Ian Tudball, windy conditions

Other Official on water Photos by Smugmug are at this LINK
Official Results

2024 Vaucluse Regatta, Saturday 2 March

The Vaucluse Regatta returns for its 92nd edition.

A staple of the Sydney Harbour racing calendar, this iconic regatta celebrates its 92nd year and welcomes a range of Yachts, Historic Dinghies, Lasers, OK Dinghies, Cherubs, VS’ and VJs.

Date: Saturday 2nd March 2024
Location: Vaucluse Yacht Club

SAILING INSTRUCTIONS AVAILABLE HERE

All participants are welcome to attend the presentation bbq at the Vaucluse Yacht Club after racing.

Cost: Free via registration via Sailsys (click here)

Please contact us here if you have any questions or issues entering

Or go the the website HERE for more information

sdfg

60 Seconds with Grant Lovelady

This week new member Grant Lovelady gets grilled by Tory Epsworth:

How old were you when you first stepped on a boat?

Sailing since 7 yrs old, Pelicans in Perth. Family all been into sailing.

If money (& sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy?

Another Laser, maybe a new Etchells. A TP52 would be cool.

What is your sailing goal?

To continuously learn and improve.

Tell us the back story to your Laser's name?

Grunt ‘n Groan [sounds rather self-explanatory to me —Ed.]

If you could add any ingredient to our already world’s best toasties – what would it be?

I hear they are already pretty good.

What are your second/ third favourite hobbies (obviously assuming sailing holds the #1 spot)?

Ocean swimming, being outdoors.

Describe what you do for work in less than 5 words?

Management Consultant / Advisor / Program Director.

What's the dream destination for your next trip? And why?

Italy, anywhere sailing.

What’s your favourite TV show, movie, and or book?

“Breaking Bad”. Books: reading “Second Fleet”, “1788”, and “Batavia”

Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know?

I was a long-time DBSC member in the 2000s. I moved back to Perth with the family but still worked east based out of Melbourne and now Sydney again. Nice to be back at the world’s best Laser club.

Grant grunting and groaning

WHAT'S GOING ON

From the Club Calendar

Wednesday 14 Feb: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)

Thursday 15 Feb: Twilight Racing (5PM splash)

Saturday 17 Feb:
Learn To Race 9AM-12PM
Combined Autumn Point Score Races 9 & 10 with Club Championship Races 11 & 12
- 1PM briefing, 2PM first warning
- 5PM BBQ on the Deck after Racing - Partners and Parents welcome (let us know for numbers)

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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 Monday evening.

View all racing results here.
The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.
Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

RACE REPORT Saturday 3 February 2024

Local Photographer: Tim Stuparich

Autumn Point Score Series: Races 5 & 6 Recap

by PRO, Kirk Marcolina

The Double Bay Sailing Club's Autumn Point Score series continued with its fifth and sixth races under exceptional conditions, marking another memorable weekend of sailing. The afternoon started promisingly with a gentle 12-knot northeast breeze, ideal for a smooth sail. However, the wind had its own agenda, escalating to over 20 knots by the second race. This sudden increase led to a few memorable capsizes, providing a stern test of skill and a quick dip for some.

Credit goes to COTD John Vasey for his early start. John initially helped lay out a perfect course. However, the best-laid plans of sailors and race committees often go awry, as evidenced when the Etchells fleet placed their start line inconveniently close to our top mark. Cue the rapid response team: John, alongside CoCOTD Otto Henry and RIB Reserve Ben Byford, who probably set a new speed record for course adjustment. Thanks to them, we managed a 2 pm start on a slightly shorter course.

For race 6, with the Etchells fleet having moved on, the race committee took the opportunity to extend the course back to its planned glory, much to the satisfaction of all sailors involved.

Despite the day's unpredictable elements, our sailors showed exceptional skill, particularly the handicapped winners of both races:

Race 5 Winners:
ILCA 4: Charlotte Jenkins.
ILCA 6: Scott Hunter
ILCA 7: Geoffrey Boscoe

Race 6 Winners:
ILCA 4: Charlotte Jenkins again, showcasing her consistency and skill.
ILCA 6: Cormac Johnston
ILCA 7: Connor Kellett

A round of applause for John Vasey, Otto Henry, Ben Byford, and the entire team of volunteers who managed the day's curveballs with professionalism and a calm demeanour.

Photos by Craig Ryan and Kirk Marcolina:

Photos below by Tim Stuparich a local photographer that was on the water saturday (Here is a web link to his other work)