2024 ILCA National Masters Regatta

Team DBSC - all photos by Ian Tudball

A strong contingent of DBSC sailors headed to the National Masters regatta at RQYS this past four-day weekend, enjoying competitive racing and the usual team camaraderie. It was an excellent regatta all round, with a broad range of wind conditions to test skill levels across the spectrum. Races were held in as little as 6-8kts and as much as 15-18kts, with the median at around 10-13kts - perfect regatta conditions, most would say. Moreton Bay dished up clear skies, warm water, and nice waves. Some competitors learned that the water was too shallow to turtle the boat should a capsize make that relevant, as evidenced by a couple of quality choc-tops. DBSC members reported dolphins, rays, turtles, and jumping fish guiding them around the course. 

Creditable performances were recorded by all Team DBSC members, particularly John Sweeny – the new National Apprentice Masters Champion, finishing 3rd overall in the ILCA 7s! RQYS provided an excellent venue, with great hospitality, copious lawns for rigging, expansive launching ramp, easy access to F&B, and accommodation right next door. And a well-run regatta thanks to the QILCA team, PRO Louise Davis, and great volunteers on- and off-water. Team DBSC enjoyed a night in "Venice", carb-loading on the fine Italian fare offered by Lido Italia in downtown Manly (Qld), and then another night with all our ILCA rivals and mates from around the country at the regatta dinner. 

A big thanks to Dave Newman for coordinating the team, and an extra-special thanks to Patrick Black, who generously agreed to tow several of the DBSC boats.

Finally, a quick plug to the home team - get back on the regatta bandwagon with us. Not only is it a bucket-load of good old-fashioned fun, but 10 races in quick succession is great for your sailing, whatever the venue or the expected conditions. We missed you here. Go Team DBSC!

- Andrew Cox

ANNUAL GENERAL PARTY 24 May 2024

Who needs an AGM when you can have an AGP ?

That’s right, our Annual General Party and Prizegiving has been scheduled for Friday 24 May. Sure, there will be some necessary formalities (AGM) at the start of the evening, but they’ll be over in no time and the bulk of the night will be all about having fun. So bring along your partners (or parents) for dinner followed by singing, dancing and a night of entertainment. All Members will receive an official invite, so look out for it in your email, and please RSVP!

VOLUNTEERS: If you can help, with Setup (Friday 24 May 5pm-7pm) or Cleanup (Saturday 25 May 8am-9am) please email marketing@dbsc.com.au

WHAT'S GOING ON

From the Club Calendar

Saturday 20 April:

• Learn To Race (9am-12pm)

• Autumn Point Score Races 13 & 14 (1PM Briefing, 2PM Warning) - final Point Score races of the year.

• BBQ on the deck after racing (including Duck Fat Potatoes - thank you, Paul Adam!)

Saturday 27 April:

• Sprint Racing (1PM Briefing, 2PM Warning flag)

• Note: this is the last racing of the season. Winter series races will commence on Sunday, 12 May at 08:15

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Upcoming Events to look forward to

• Saturday & Sunday 4-5 May: Work-on-your-Boat Weekend

• Friday 24 May: Save the Date - DBSC’s Annual General Party (Meeting)

  • NOTE: Calling for volunteers to help with this. If you able to, please contact Diana Chen

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FUND-RAISING FOR NEW RIBS

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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 6 April 2024

Club Championships - Races 15 & 16

PRO Peter Collie reports:

Although we went to bed on Friday night during a raging storm and with a rainy day predicted for Saturday, we woke up to sunshine for the last championship races of the season. While only a few sailors could look forward to winning the season we all hoped for a nice day on the water followed by the last BBQ of the season on the last evening of daylight savings.

There was a short delay at the start tweaking the course as it clocked around from the morning’s westerly to a reasonable northwest course for the first start. A few more quick adjustments were made for the second start. It was a busy day for the on water crew, especially Mark Grey and Tory Epworth who were on the RIB moving marks. 

The new scoring system was proclaimed as brilliant by Yves Stenning who was on the committee boat with Peter Collie. We were able to have the full results in time for the magnificent BBQ with dessert laid on by Paul and Shirley.

May the comraderie and cooperative spirit of the club live on with many more happy days on the water and the deck to come for all, and congratulations to the winners:

Race 15
ILCA 7 - Conor Kellett
ILCA 6 - Ian Alexander
ILCA 4 - Theo McGonigle

Race 16
ILCA 7 - Conor Kellett
ILCA 6 - James Tudball
ILCA 4 - Zoe Allen

Overall 2023-24 Club Championship Winners:

ILCA 7
1. Luke Parker
2. David Newman
3. Rod Barnes

ILCA 6
1. Healy Ryan
2. Martin White
3. Charlie Byford

ILCA 4
1. Miles Greenwood
2. Ben Costandi
3. Charlotte Jenkins

Photos (including above) by Pete Collie

This Saturday's Sprint Racing 13 April

Sprint Racing is scheduled this Saturday due to the Masters Nationals being held in Queensland.  But rather than normal sprint racing, we thought it might be good to give sailors a chance to test the winter series format, albeit at a 2pm start time.  

 You’ll find the Sailing instructions for the winter series at the very bottom of DBSC’s sailing instructions,
but to summarise:

• Simple windward / leeward course.  Two complete laps around top and bottom buoys (no gate). Finish by sailing upwind through start line. 

• 3-minute rolling start sequence. 

• Separate start for Radials/4.7s followed by the Standard rigs, HOWEVER if there’s a General Recall, the clock keeps rolling and the infringing fleet goes to back of the queue.  For example, if Radials/4.7s are recalled, the Standards will start next at 3 minutes, and Radials try again 3 minutes after that.

• 30-minute target race duration, so leg length will be similar to a normal Saturday race

• We’ll aim for 3 races. 

Twilight Racing has ended for this season

We have had a great Thursday Twilight Racing season through 2023-24, with record attendance of 10-18 members each week over 24 weeks during daylight savings. The Coaches have done a stellar job keeping us on our toes with on course feedback, as well as a weekly summary and videos with tips and observations. Twilight Coaches include Daniel Costandi, Brooke Wilson, Paige Caldecoat, Campbell Patton, Finn Alexander and Mina Ferguson - Thank you all, and a Big thankyou to James Tudball who organised it all and also provided on water support each week with the coaches.

We dined up at the Royal Oak afterward - photo by Diana Chen.

WHAT'S GOING ON

From the Club Calendar

Saturday 13 April:
Sprint Racing (2PM start) - please see previous article for important details on this.

Saturday 20 April:
Autumn Point Score Races 13 & 14 (1PM Briefing, 2PM Warning) - final Point Score races of the year.
***Update*** BBQ on the Deck after racing (including Duck Fat Potatoes - Thankyou Paul Adam!)

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Upcoming Events to look forward to

• Saturday & Sunday 4-5 May: Work-on-your-Boat Weekend

• Sunday 12 May: Start of Winter Racing (08:15 First Warning signal!!!)

• Friday 24 May: Save the Date - DBSC’s Annual General Party (Meeting)

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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 30 March 2024

Easter Race-Around-the-Harbour

Photo by Tim Heath

PRO David Huber reports:

Saturday was our handicap start “Round-the-Harbour Race” for Easter. The plan was a race from the usual starting location off Point Piper up the harbour to Shark Island then to Obelisk Bay, Lady Martin, Wedding Cake to Bradley’s Head then around Shark Island again and then run back to the start/finish line. In previous events there was an extra leg to include the mark off Clark Island, but given the light wind, that leg was scratched. A couple of competitors decided to shorten the race even further… but, hey, that’s what Easter is all about: individual rule-making!

The day started with glassy water, but the wind slowly built to 8 kts by start time and then up to 10-12 kts during the race. Boats started precisely at 2.00PM with those boats with the lowest handicap starting first and then the others starting at a time as determined by the club’s honorary handicapper. By twenty minutes from the first gun minutes, all boats were off and racing. Consistent 10-12kt wind with little swell or waves and not a lot of boats on the harbour… a perfect day.

In general, the race was “follow the leader”, but there were a few intra-race competitions, with Grant and Craig fighting it out as well as Connor and Hamish trying to outdo each other. The final winner was David Airey with a close second to Patrick Black and Scott Finlayson third. First Lady was Pia Hattersley.

Memorising the course seemed to cause some problems for several of the competitors with one assuming that the course went as far as Manly. Hmmm.

Big thanks to the on-water team of Tim Heath, Mark Dagworthy and Quinn Pearson.

Photos (including above) by Tim Heath

Photos of prize winners by Pete Collie

EASTER YOUTH CAMP 2024

We launched our Easter Camp with an incredible splash! The sailors were brimming with laughter, learning, and leaps forward on the water. It was thrilling to watch everyone progress throughout the camp, challenging each other with their roll tacks and gybes. On Sunday, we had a delightful surprise as a couple of special guests — bunnies — hopped their way onto each of the boats. Our sailors did a fantastic job finding new homes for them.

Our final day took us offshore to surf the waves back to the club, rounding off the camp and setting the stage for the final week of school. This was just a taste of the amazing year ahead. Looking forward to our youth sailors rejoining us at the ANZAC Camp in a few weeks!

Hope everyone at the club has had an outstanding start to the year. Excited to see all our members out on the water! ⛵️✨ #EasterCampAdventures #MakingWaves

- Joshua Beker

Upcoming Work-on-your-Boat Weekend: 4-5 May

Maxim Djura is once again running a boat hull maintenance session on the weekend of the 5th and 6th of May, in the break between the summer and the winter seasons. This is a perfect time to give some love to your boat and get her ready for the next season! The plan is to have enough people there to help with getting boats from their racks and to share materials (flow coat, epoxy glue and other stuff — Maxim will bring these on the day).

The timing is still to be determined — please email Maxim your preferred time if you would like to come.

This weekend is for repairs like:

• Fixing chips, scratches or cracks in the gelcoat

• Replacing deck fittings

• Cleaning hull

• Rope upgrades

He will bring to share:

• Neutral flow coat and white pigment

• Epoxy glue

• Ronstan gelcoat restorer

• White spirit

• Sandpaper

• Silicone

• Gloves, masking tape, etc.

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Disclaimer: Please note most of the items listed above are poison. It is your sole responsibility to handle them safely and you use them at your own risk. No professional advice will be available or provided.