RACE REPORT - SUNDAY 19 MAY 2024

…by the dawn’s early light

Winter Championship and Pointscore - heats 4, 5 & 6

The flotilla struck gold on just the second Sunday of the Winter Season - with a sparkling clear harbour, clear wintery skies and a lovely 8-12 knot West South Westerly breeze treating both fleets to some very tight racing, and extremely close finishes which kept the Race Team on their toes at all times.

We had at least 30 boats on the water, 3 great races, and were all done and dusted, with hot showers and tracky dacks back on by 1030.

It was great to see quite a few visiting boats making the trek to our lovely corner of the harbour for some of the best racing Sydney has to offer.

A particularly close finish happened in Race 2 for the ILCA7s - some of the action captured below in this photo sequence. This is a good reminder of the pressure the committee boat has at times!

3 boats approaching the line….

Leward skipper reaching out an arm in some attempt at crossing first…

Almost too close to call…

Race Report - Sunday 12 May, 2024

Winter Championship & Pointscore (Races 1, 2 & 3)

Report by PRO Luke Parker:

Twenty brave (desperate?) souls left their mother figures for a sleep-in and fronted up for the first day of the 2024 Winter series. So did the rain. So did some wind, albeit fickle and shifty. On the upside, we had the harbour to ourselves.

Pre briefing the course was set for the prevailing westerly. Post briefing the wind shifted to southwest and so the course was quickly adjusted. Then a rainstorm moved on, and the wind shifted to a westerly-ish at 5-8 knots and the course was reset for Races 2 and 3. If you’re confused, be thankful you weren’t with Jim Dounis and Josh Dorey who were tasked with moving the buoys.

We got our 3 races off efficiently without further incident. The simple course layout and rolling starts worked well.

A critical request/reminder from the start boat: can all sailors ensure they sign on via the Sailor App with the correct sail number. Incorrect number means you won’t be scored.

Final comment: while early morning winter racing competes with a warm bed, it is truly a blessing to be able to sail on an empty Sydney Harbour.  Just do it.

WHAT'S GOING ON

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, 19 May: Winter Championship & Pointscore series racing (Races 4, 5 & 6). 07:30 Briefing / 08:15 Warning

Friday 24 May: DBSC’s Annual General Party (Meeting followed by dinner, drinks and dancing) 6:30PM

Sunday, 26 May: Winter Championship & Pointscore series racing (Races 7, 8 & 9) 07:30 Briefing / 08:15 Warning

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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.

Weekend Report

Work-on-your-Boat Weekend

All photos by Maxim Dzhura

Saturday and Sunday turned out to be a very fun weekend despite the rainy weather thanks to good company and camaraderie. The work itself was hard, as sore muscles will attest. A big thanks to Maxim Dzhura for organising the whole thing, and for shouting the group with a huge supply of materials and consumables. Thanks also to everyone else who brought items to contribute to the group, and to Steven London for his generous loan of various power tools. Plus a special thankyou goes out to Craig Sheers who spent much time on both Saturday and Sunday lending his ILCA expertise assisting people with their boat repair needs.

Warm up your vocal CORDS... because the DBSC Karaoke Band is ready to rock the AGP!!

Following the formal proceedings of the AGP, the DBSC Band will once again be entertaining us. This year, we are turning into the DBSC Karaoke Band... and we need YOU! Our professional (and semi-professional) musicians will be there as the backing band for DBSC members who are ready to step from the shower to the onstage mic.

That's right, you have the opportunity to sing a song with the band! Our musicians and lead singer will be there to support you onstage. And if you would like to sing with a DBSC friend (or friends plural!) then that is perfectly fine.

If you are interested in signing up then please CLICK HERE to fill out the application form and to select your song. We welcome all ages and ALL levels of talent...from the brilliant...to the far-from-brilliant.

Please note the DBSC Band will also be singing a number of songs to balance the spread of talent ;)

 - James Tudball

WHAT'S GOING ON

UPCOMING EVENTS

Sunday, 12 May: Winter Championship series racing commences

• 07:30 Briefing / 08:15 Warning

Sunday, 19 May: Winter Champs (07:30 Briefing / 08:15 Warning)

Friday 24 May: DBSC’s Annual General Party (Meeting)

• Please check your email for invitation and RSVP

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

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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 27 April, 2024

CLUB Sprint RacING

All photos by Diana Chen

Report by PRO Geoff Kirk:

Last Saturday was the last race of the summer season, finishing up with some casual sprint races. The weather wasn't looking great in the morning, but it turned out to be a beautiful day, and a light easterly breeze. 

The race crew was myself, Robert Bruce (LTRaR), Diana Chen (COTD), and Jeff Loosemore (CoOTD). Rob and Jeff did a great job running the racing, while Diana and I puttered around laying a few marks, having a lovely afternoon.  Many thanks for all their efforts. The breeze was light so we kept the course short. Start wise in a reversal of fortunes, with the radial fleet being perfectly behaved, while the standard fleet were terrible with most the fleet being over the line in a few races. Eventually, they wore us down and we had to let them go.  

We also welcomed back to the club one of our favourite sons Hadrien Bourely. Hadrien has been living in Monaco for the last couple of years, but the draw of Sydney Harbour was too much for him, so he is now back home at DBSC. We don't care the reason, it's just great to have you in back. The starting pin has been very lonely without you. 

A few of us had drinks on the deck after racing, with the former commodore giving us pronunciation lessons (Maxim and Hadrien's names). His next impromptu lesson on the deck will be how to wear a pair of white slacks, and eat a piping hot toastie, and still look a  million bucks. We are all looking forward to that. 

Thanks to Paul for the after race snacks. 

Allegra Spender - MP for Wentworth visits DBSC

Last week we welcomed our local Federal Member for Wentworth - Allegra Spender to one of our weekly Race Briefings.

As a volunteer organisation, we are very appreciative of funding grants from the government that enable us to provide a quality and safe race environment for our membership and the community. In the last year the Federal Government awarded a grant of $5000 to DBSC that helped us to provide training programs for members including: 

• Australian Sailing Coach Training, 

• St Johns First Aid certification, and 

• Boat Driving Licence courses.

Thankyou Allegra and the Federal Government for your continued support.
Training and Safety are a priority at DBSC, and are part of our volunteer culture.

 - Steven London (Commodore)

Annual Membership Subscription Now Due

Thank you to the 51% of members who have already paid their 2024-25 Membership Subs.  For the other 49%, can you please pay now.

You will have received an emailed invoice from Double Bay Sailing Club Revolutionise Sport (no-reply@revolutionise.com.au). Please check your spam folder if you have not received it. If you still have not received your invoice, please contact our club Secretary

If you are having difficulty paying your membership for any reason, please email the Commodore to discuss a suitable solution.

The Club relies on these membership subscriptions to keep the club going, and most of our costs are incurred through the winter months, so please make an effort to pay by the due date of 1 May 2024 (today!).

Payment can be made via bank transfer BSB, or online through the links provided in the invoice email. (Please note that online payment through RevSport has a surcharge fee, Bank Transfer does not)

 - Steven London (Commodore)

Work-on-your-Boat Weekend: 4-5 May 2024

Maxim Djura is once again running a boat hull maintenance session on the weekend of the 5th and 6th of May. 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).

Maxim will be at the club from 10 am on both days .

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.

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.

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Editor’s note: I, too, will be there. I’ll be bringing a 180 mm power polisher and some polishing compound. This won’t make you any faster, but it will make you shinier!

- Chris Tattersall