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.

Annual Membership Subscription Renewals

As another Sailing Year comes to an end, another one is about to begin! From this week we will be sending out invoices via email to all members for the next sailing year: 1 May 2024 - 30 April 2025

We do our best to get this right, but please contact secretary@dbsc.com.au if you have any questions about your membership renewal.

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.

Please Note: as was approved at the last AGM in 2023, our membership fee and storage fee have increased (mainly due to dramatic increases in insurance costs). Thank you for your understanding.

Adult Membership $300
ILCA/Laser Racing $250
ILCA/Laser Rack Storage $450
Dinghy Tender Storage $300

Student Membership $150
Student ILCA/Laser Racing $125
ILCA/Laser Rack Storage $450

Regards Steven London

WHAT'S GOING ON

From the Club Calendar

Wednesday 03 April: Twilight Sailing (5PM splash)

Thursday 04 April: Twilight Racing (5PM splash) Last Twilight of the season as daylight savings ends

Saturday 06 April:

• ***CANCELLED*** Learn-to-Race (9AM - 12PM)

• Club Championship Races 15 & 16 (1PM Briefing, 2PM Warning) — Last Club Championship races of the season.

• BBQ after racing (parents and partners welcome, but please let us know for catering 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 23 March 2024

Club Championship, Races 13 & 14

Blue Skies with Marshmallow Clouds! - Another ESE breeze had our fleet on a relatively short course in The Dardanelles with the weather mark midway between Point Piper and Shark Island. There were plenty of “snakes and ladders” to be negotiated but the breeze held for the afternoon.

In Race 13, clean starts were achieved by the two fleets, and the race was completed without much angst. As expected, the wind direction fluctuated quite a bit at the weather mark, with sailors struggling to get around it cleanly. Locating and staying in the breeze was the key on the downwind legs.

In Race 14, the 4.7’s got their own start — Great to see seven starters in their fleet. Again, all fleets started cleanly and the racing was completed in record time, ready for the post-racing BBQ on the deck. Big thankyou to Paul and Shirley for putting together a feast, and thankyou to the Race team, Craig Sheers, Daryl Lawrence, John Chesterman and Jeremy Vives, and to Tim Heath and Jason Wilkins for BBQ cleanup.

Kudos to Grant Lovelady who pulled off a port start in race 14 — clear ahead of the rest of the standards fleet from the pin end!

Winners on the day were as follows:

Race 13
ILCA 4 (4.7): Miles Greenwood
ILCA 6 (Radial): Healy Ryan
ILCA 7 (Standard): Luke Parker

Race 14
ILCA 4 (4.7): Benjamin Costandi
ILCA 6 (Radial): Healy Ryan
ILCA 7 (Standard): David Newman

Photos from John Chesterman