Race Report - Sunday 18 May 2025

Winter Championship & Point Score

Week 2 of the Winter Series delivered a classic dose of winter weather.  It was cold, wet and dreary!  But despite the inclement weather, 25 boats fronted up for racing, which was a solid effort. The race team (Kirk Marcolina, Chris Berg, Tory Epworth and James Tudball) had their torches and wet weather gear on at 6:00am as they prepared for racing, and the big decision for the team was whether we would lay a westerly or southerly course.

The forecast was for a 20 knot southerly, but when we surveyed the conditions on-water at 7am, the winter westerly was established at a consistent 8 knots.  So, Race 1 was started under our typical westerly course, and it was looking okay until the fleet approached the top mark for the first time.  Suddenly the wind abated and we experienced 90-degree shifts on the course with the wind bouncing rapidly between the southerly and westerly directions. In the lead up to Race 1 we could see from live readings that Botany Bay was enjoying the 20-knot southerly, but it kept struggling to announce itself properly in Double Bay, due to the heavy rain and cloud cover that engulfed our course from the west.

We powered on with Race 1 but the last half turned into a bit of a soldier’s course.  So, we opted to reset the course in Double Bay and prepare for the southerly wind direction.  Despite our best efforts, Race 2 still experienced sizeable right-hand shifts from the west, which meant 70% of the upwind was on starboard tack. However, we cannot discredit Race 2 and say it was "flukey conditions", because the PRO's father, Ian Tudball (aka 'Captain Tugwash'), happened to achieve his first ever DBSC line honours victory in this race!  The win had the faintest tinge of a Steven Bradbury moment, as Alistair Sutherland and Rob Blum (who were first and second over the line) were OCS in the Radial fleet.  But the rules are the rules, and we can assure you that no bribes were passed from Captain Tugwash to the PRO.

After the completion of Race 2, we decided to postpone the start of Race 3 until the southerly filled in consistently.  Fortunately the rain and clouds cleared and by 10am the wind finally arrived.  Race 3 was then sailed in a lovely SSW breeze of approximately 15 knots.  In this race, another big first win came for Stephen Reid, who sailed brilliantly to win the Standards.  A fantastic effort, Stephen!!!

Other notable Championship performances:
- In the 4.7s Raph McLachlan won Race 1 and Zoe Allen won Races 2 and 3 with some excellent sailing.
- In the Radials Scott Hunter won Race 1 and Andrew Cox won Race 3.  Special mention to Daryl Lawrence for jagging a 2nd place in Race 2.
- In the Standards Hadrien Bourely and Quentin Burns won Races 1 and 2, respectively.

Point Score performances:
- In the 4.7s wins went to Charlotte Jenkins (Race 1) and Zoe Allen (Races 2 and 3)
- In the Radials wins went to Brendan Pollard (Race 1), Daryl Lawrence (Race 2) and Ian Tudball (Race 3)
- In the Standards, David Da Costa Enes won Race 1 and Tim Heath won Races 2 and 3.

Full results for the Championship and Point Score can be viewed here: https://www.dbsc.com.au/sailor-app-results

Photos by Tory and Kirk

James Tudball, PRO

WHAT'S GOING ON

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Friday evening 23 May:

  • DBSC Annual General Party and AGM

• Sunday 25 May:

  • SUNDAY MORNING Racing - Winter Championship and Point Score series
    7:20am Race Briefing, new Start time: 8:00am First Warning

  • DBSC Reach Youth Training Term 2 (for those who have signed up):
    7:20am rigged and ready

• Sunday 1 June:

  • SUNDAY MORNING Racing - Winter Championship and Point Score series
    7:20am Race Briefing, new Start time: 8:00am First Warning

  • DBSC Reach Youth Training Term 2 (for those who have signed up):
    7:20am rigged and ready

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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 - Sunday 11 May 2025

Winter Championship & Point Score

25 signed on and several unsigned on sailors greeted the starters for the Mother’s Day opening to the winter series. A light but fairly consistent westerly-ish breeze allowed us to get racing underway a little after out new scheduled start time. 

We held three tightly contested windward/leeward races.  Nobody was over at any of the eight starts. It was great to see eight ILCA4’s racing and they had their own starts for Races 2 and 3.  Several failed to get to the start area early enough for the first race to earn their own start.  Please see below.

Congratulations to the series leaders after Round One.  In the Winter Championships the current series leaders are Harper Spacey in ICLA 4, Roberto Blum in ILCA6 and Quentin Burns in ILCA7.  In the Winter Point Score the current series leaders are Harper Spacey in ILCA4, Brendan Pollard in ILCA6 and Sam Slattery in ILCA7.  Remarkably, each of those sailors won 2/3 races held this week.

Thanks to all the race crew for a successful day on the water.

Few takeaways for remainder of the winter series:

1. The start is at 8:00. Winter racing MUST start on time because 

• Winter winds often fade by 10am

• It’s fair to those that make the effort to wake up, and 

• It’s good practice for serious racing that always starts on time

2. Further, as Westerlies are always fickle in Double Bay, budget on 30-40 minutes to get to the starting area. So, if you want to make the first start at 8.00, you need to be rigged and dressed prior to 7.30 and launch IMMEDIATELY after the briefing.  This week it was opening day and only because each sailor assured us they made their mum a cuppa in bed for her special day, the starter was lenient and delayed the first race by 10 minutes. But it’s only Mother’s Day once a year. You snooze, you lose. 

3. 4.7’s will have their own start only when there’s 6 or more in the starting area (not rigging lawn!) prior to the sequence. 

4. Don’t go wandering between races.  There shouldn’t be a delay between starts.  

5. No sign on, or no sail # = no results.  Plus, two boats had no numbers at all. Obviously, it’s impossible to score a boat without a number.

Luke Parker - PRO

WHAT'S GOING ON

2025-26 Annual Membership Subscription Invoices have been sent

Each year in April invoices are sent out to all members, which are due for the next DBSC Sailing Year which begins on 1 May 2025. If you have any questions about your invoice, need help, or still can’t find it please contact secretary@dbsc.com.au
(Note: Payment via credit card in RevSport attracts a service charge. Direct Bank Transfer BSB to the DBSC account does not)

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Sunday 18 May:

  • SUNDAY MORNING Racing - Winter Championship and Point Score series
    7:30am Race Briefing, new Start time: 8:00am First Warning

  • DBSC Reach Youth Training Term 2 (for those who have signed up):
    7:35am rigged and ready

• Friday evening 23 May:

  • DBSC Annual General Party and AGM — save the date -- this is not-to-be-missed.
    All Members have been emailed the RSVP link - Please RSVP so that we can have numbers for catering.

• Sunday 25 May:

  • SUNDAY MORNING Racing - Winter Championship and Point Score series
    7:30am Race Briefing, new Start time: 8:00am First Warning

  • DBSC Reach Youth Training Term 2 (for those who have signed up):
    7:35am rigged and ready

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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.

Work-on-your-boat Day last weekend

The break between our consecutive sailing seasons is perfect for preparing boats and getting fitter. The length of the break varies: In one cold country it is half a year. In Australia at DBSC its one week !

Our club ran a boat maintenance day for the second time, as there was no racing planned on Sunday. More than 10 sailors of all ages came to fix the consequences of past accidents in a relaxed atmosphere of comradeship. Thanks also to Paige for joining with the Reach Youth squad, and Daryl for his bottomless stash of stories and everyone else who came and got involved. It was a nice surprise to see Life Member and former commodore Jonatan Stone, who dropped by the club for a chat.

The workshop has now been restocked with gelcoat, sand papers and everything you need for boat repair.

- Maxim Djura

AGP (AGM) Friday 23 May 2024 Don't Forget to RSVP

Our Annual General Party and Prizegiving has been scheduled for Friday 23 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 and dancing. All Members should have already received an official email invite with the RSVP link.

VOLUNTEERS: If you can help, with Setup: (Friday 23 May 5pm-7pm) or Cleanup: (Saturday 24 May 8am-9am) please email marketing@dbsc.com.au

WHAT'S GOING ON

2025-26 Annual Membership Subscription Invoices have been sent

Each year in April invoices are sent out to all members, which are due for the next DBSC Sailing Year which begins on 1 May 2025. If you have any questions about your invoice, need help, or still can’t find it please contact secretary@dbsc.com.au
(Note: Payment via credit card in RevSport attracts a service charge. Direct Bank Transfer BSB to the DBSC account does not)

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Sunday 11 May:

  • SUNDAY MORNING Racing - Winter Championship and Point Score series
    7:30am Race Briefing, new Start time: 8:00am First Warning

  • DBSC Reach Youth Training Term 2 (for those who have signed up):
    7:35am rigged and ready

• Friday evening 23 May:

  • DBSC Annual General Party and AGM — save the date -- this is not-to-be-missed.
    All Members have been emailed the RSVP link - Please RSVP so that we can have numbers for catering.

---

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 26 April 2025

Anzac Weekend Sprints

The predicted rain held off and produced a fine final racing day of the season with a stable 8-12 knot north-easterly breeze kicking in just in time for the first start.  22 Lasers participated in five 25-minute races with a slowly building incoming tide.  We made two changes to help with congestion: ILCA 7's starting one minute ahead of 6's and 4's and an extended offset at the top mark which provided a short reach before the run.  All races were close affairs with tactical challenges of selecting the best upwind routes, balancing pressure, shifts and which end of the gate to round.  Ten starts and no general recalls (maybe the slight tide helped?).  In the ILCA 7's, Zander Bijkerk chalked up most of the wins, challenged closely by Healy Ryan and Rod Barnes.  Sara Bruce had a great day in the ILCA 6's with various close challengers including Charlie Byford, Katie Hugh and Peter Heywood.  Charlotte Jenkins and Raphael McLachlan in the LICA 4s had a sensational photo-finish in one race (we think Charlotte pipped it), before opting to sail off into the distance for a while.

All sailors safely ashore by 4:20pm with no capsizes, plenty of smiles and a few final beverages.  A short break now before the Winter series commences!

The team in the RIBs were Jason Wilkins and Ben Byford in the Bergman and Max Djura and Patrick Black in the new Paul Adam.  Thanks to the canteen team of Shirley, Paul assisted by Kerryn Smith and Tim Heath. 

-by Jason Wilkins PRO

2025 DBSC Winter Series Updated Start Time 8:00am

As one season ends another one begins at Double Bay Sailing Club!

After evaluating feedback from members, we have decided to tweak the winter racing schedule
Please read these important updates to the format:

• Sunday 11 May 2025 - The first race of the Winter Championship combined Point Score
  (No Club racing on 4 May)

• 8:00 am is the new start time and first warning signal (instead of 8.15)

• The new scheduled target racing time will be 25 minutes per race (instead of 30 minutes)

• The Sailing Instructions have been amended to reflect these changes.

Set your alarms 15 minutes earlier, and to make sure you are looking ship shape for Sunday lunch, iron your clothes the night before .
Winter race dates are updated on the DBSC Racing Calendar

Visitors (racing laser sailors that are not members) are welcome to join us on the course in winter, please notify the start boat before the start sequence, visitors should dip the finish line to avoid interfering with our Club Winter Championship scoring - Thank you.

-Rod Barnes
Vice-Commodore

Work-on-your-boat Day Sunday 4 May from 10am

Maxim Djura has organised another Work-on-your-boat day at the club this Sunday 4 May 2025 starting at 10am till whenever you finish

Typical repairs include:

• Repair gelcoat chips or gunnel cracks

• Restore hull color

• Polish your boat

• Reapply boat fittings

How long will it take? Below some are rough estimates:

• About 1 hour to prepare and apply gelcoat.

• 4 hours for the gel to cure.

• 2 hours to polish and finish off.

• 1 hour and half to polish the boat.

• 45 minutes to apply the gelcoat restorer.

• Time to repair gunnel cracks varies significantly.

Personal and environmental safety:
Gelcoat, hardener, acetone, Ronstan’s gelcoat restorer are dangerous substances.

Please, wear long-sleeve shirts. It’s a good idea to have a change of clothes for the day. There will be masks, safety glasses and PVC gloves.

There will be single use containers and a separate bin for the dangerous substances. Please, do not throw them into the general bin.