Race Report - Saturday 28 February 2026

All photos by Van Allen

Sprint Racing (Sail GP Weekend)

Maxim Djura reports:

If Sail GP were a rock concert, the sprints were the opening act.

The race officers left early to assess the wind and stake out a suitable venue. There were two options: 1) take the main stage and warm up the early spectators before the F50s come, or 2) run our own rock concert in Rushcutters. After deliberations and many wind measurement measurements, we decided that conditions in Ruchcutters were just as good as between Clark and Shark Islands or in the Dardanelles. That and doubt that an F50 would hear a starboard call from a Laser motivated the race team to set a course between Garden and Clark Islands. The windward mark was between Clark Island and Darling Point, and the gates were farther west towards Garden Island.

Some sailors remarked that the wind was not stable, and indeed it wasn’t. It wildly oscillated between SE and NE, keeping both race officers and sailors on guard the entire time. The race team set the course to the average wind direction and started the first race sharply at 1 p.m. There was an equal number of boats rounding both ends of the gate in the first couple of races, but later the boat end of the gate gained in popularity.

The race committee called a couple of boats OCS in one race and many more in the next one. All the OCS boats were requested to do a penalty turn. Those who didn’t were DSQ and requested to leave that race. There were no more troubles with starts after we adjusted the gates and changed Blue Peter to a black flag.

There was a massive right shift later in the day that convinced the PRO to move the gates during a race, to the surprise of sailors, to say the least. Accidents happen.

It was impressive to see Jon Emmet chasing Healy Ryan at front of the fleet and finishing just behind him. Tim Heath finished second after Healy and first as a Master in another race. Guest sailor Neil Peters, Steve, and Hadrian got guns as first Masters, too.

The racing was run by Van Allen as CoCOTD, Mark Gray as COTD, Maxim Djura as LTRaR, and Alistair Sutherland as PRO.

What's Going On

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Thursday 5 March: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash
  (18 Footers start of the JJ’s Race Week - they will be weighing and measuring in the hallway, please be patient and allow time to get your boat out.)

• Saturday 7 March: No Club Racing (Vaucluse Regatta, Vaucluse YC)
  DBSC Members attending the Vaucluse Regatta need to Register HERE (Free)

• Thursday 12 March: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 14 March: No Club Racing (Metros, Manly YC)
  DBSC Members attending the Metros Regatta need to Register HERE (Entry Fee required)

• Thursday 19 March: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 21 March: No Club Racing (Harbour closed for RAN’s 125th Anniversary Fleet Review)

• Thursday 26 March: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 28 March: Point Score Races 9 & 10 / Championships Races 13 & 14 (combined)

  • 1pm Briefing, 2pm Warning

  • BBQ after racing

Events

• 7 March: Vaucluse Regatta

  • Vaucluse Yacht Club

  • 12:00 Briefing, 13:30 Warning for first of the ILCA classes

  • Registration (entry is free)

  • Sailing Instructions

• 14-15 March: NSW & ACT Metro Championships

  • Manly Yacht Club

  • Notice of Race

  • Registration

Note:

• JJ Giltinans 18-Footers World Championship takes place between Friday, March 6 and Sunday, March 15.

  • Club and foreshore will be busy during this period, please be patient and allow extra time.

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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 21 February 2026

All photos by Chris Tattersall

Autumn Point Score Races 7 & 8 / Club Championships Races 11 & 12

It was never going to be an easy day for sailors or for the Race Management team. We were faced with a northeasterly on arrival to the club, that turned to a flakey easterly around 1330 - with a 10-knot southeasterly forecast to hit us around 1400.

Luckily, the course was set for the breeze before us, and Race 1 got away on time - apart from a few general recalls in both fleets, and at least 7 Black Flags handed out to the ILCA6s who couldn’t keep their noses clean.

The northeasterly from further up the harbour encroached down onto our wing mark, essentially shutting down the easterly breeze on that part of the course. This led to some wild lead changes and large gaps appearing in the fleet. Those who best managed this critical section of the race were the eventual winners.

The course in Race 1 was shortened to the bottom mark before the final windward/leeward.

With a building and approaching storm cell coming in from the west, the Race Management flew the AP for nearly 40 minutes trying to find the next most stable breeze for Race 2. Eventually it settled to the predicted southeasterly and a top mark was laid just off Bethwaite Point. Thanks to Ben Byford who took out the Dene Bergman, the entire course reset was completed within 10 minutes.

Thank you to the Race Management team led by Martin Gill with Nick Pellow onboard as LTRAR - and captain and co-captain of the day: Chris Tattersall and Alban Delpey.

Final results in all races:

ICLA 6 Autumn Point Score

Race 7

1. Elouise Morgan

2. Ian Tudball

3. Pia Hattersley

Race 8

1. Jim Dounis

2. Zac Howell

3. Scott Finlayson

ICLA 6 Club Championships

Race 11

1. Zac Howell

2. Sara Bruce

3. Geoff Kirk

Race 12

1. Zac Howell

2. Martin White

3. Scott Finlayson

ICLA 7 Autumn Point Score

Race 7

1. Jack Restuccia

2. John Sweeny

3. David Newman

Race 8

1. Mark Gray

2. Alessandro Buzzatti

3. Stephen Reid

ICLA 7 Club Championships

Race 11

1. Jack Restuccia

2. John Sweeny

3. Healy Ryan

Race 12

1. Healy Ryan

2. David Newman

3. Alessandro Buzzatti

- Nick Pellow, LTRAR

Enter Now: Vaucluse Regatta - 7 March 2026

On Saturday 7 March 2026, instead of our usual club racing, DBSC members are invited to register and compete in the 94th Vaucluse Regatta, held each year in the waters just up the Harbour adjacent to Watsons Bay near Vaucluse Yacht Club. A contingent of members will sail up to the race area launching from DBSC, with a support RIB and volunteers assisting members.

The day will start earlier than normal for us. We’ll have a briefing at DBSC at 12 noon where we will review the format of the racing as published in their SI’s. It should be a good day on the water with Laser sailors from all around the Harbour joining in.

Please register (its Free) with the link below using their “SailSys” registration system (if you haven’t done this before - its not hard, but you need to create yourself and account and add your ILCA Boat, class and sail number into their system.

Registration Link is HERE

Then read the Regatta Sailing Instructions (which indicate a windward leeward course with offset mark 1a after the top mark rounding, and up to 3 Races on the day.) CLICK HERE for the PDF.

Registered SailSys competitors will receive an SMS sign on link, and this should be done before leaving DBSC clubhoise.

13:30 First Warning signal for ILCA4 & 6 is currently published in the SI’s
13:40 First Warning signal for ILCA7 is currently published in the SI’s

Launch from DBSC should be at least 60 minutes before your warning to give you plenty of time to get up the Harbour to the course area.

What's Going On

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Thursday 26 February: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 28 February: Sprints (Sydney Sail GP): NOTE early start: 12pm briefing, 1pm warning

• Thursday 5 March: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 7 March: No Club Racing (Vaucluse Regatta, Vaucluse YC)

• Thursday 12 March: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 14 March: No Club Racing (Metros, Manly YC)

Events

• 7 March: Vaucluse Regatta

  • Vaucluse Yacht Club

  • 12:00 Briefing, 13:30 Warning for first of the ILCA classes

  • Registration (entry is free)

  • Sailing Instructions

• 14-15 March: NSW & ACT Metro Championships

  • Manly Yacht Club

  • Notice of Race

  • Registration

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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 14 February 2026

Photos by Conor Roche & Geoffrey Boscoe

Autumn Point Score, Races 5 and 6

The original forecast for Valentines Day’s sailing was a light 5-8 knots from the east which would have made for a nice recovery for those returning from the ILCA Masters the previous weekend.

The Race Committee ventured out early with Jack Restuccia to lay marks in what turned out to be very shifty conditions. A course was laid in an 8-knot easterly, but the breeze then swung from northeast again and the racing was postponed.

Race 5 finally got underway at around 2.30pm on a northeast course. Further wind shifts heavily favoured the right-hand side of the beat, nearly a one-tack race for some, which caused some anxiety for those chasing breeze on the left (judging by the post-race chat on the deck). A standout performance by young-gun Zac Howell with line honours in the ILCA-6 and unofficial line honours by Campbell Patton who one-tacked the first beat in the ILCA-7.

Race results

Between races the course was quickly reset for an easterly breeze. Thanks to Brett Beyer who lent a helping hand to our COTDs with the shifting of marks.

Race 6 got underway in more solid breeze and thankfully with less drama throughout.

Thanks to all the competitors for great sportsmanship and thanks to all the officials on the day Murray Stone (PRO) and Conor Roche (LTRaR), Geoff Boscoe (COTD) and Jack Restuccia (CoCOTD), with Andrea Phillips and Ian Tudball hard-selling toasties and supporting Shirley & Paul in the canteen.

Have Boat, Must Travel

Pattaya, Thailand

The smiling Sweeny, John Sweeny, is never one to miss travel opportunity.

In January and February, John travelled to Pattaya, Thailand to compete in two ILA events at the Royal Varuna Yacht Club. This was the magnificent venue for the Masters Worlds back in 2023 that several of our members competed in. John finished a credible 11th in the Open ILCA 7 Thai Nationals, then the following week he finished 3rd in the Thai Masters Nationals. John (and others who have been there), will tell you it's one of the best sailboat racing venues in the world. This event is on again early next year.

- Martin White

Regatta Report - Australian ILCA Masters Championships

Photos by Steve London and Ian Tudball

6-9 February 2026, Port Stephens NSW

30 members from DBSC headed up the highway for the stunning regatta venue at Soldiers Point, Port Stephens. Crystal clear water, good breezes, a traffic-free harbour and user-friendly rigging areas adjacent to accommodation, made for a memorable regatta. Nighttime socialising was held at the “Cheeky Dog”, with an enthusiastic local band testing the ear drums of old Masters sailors.

The race management was faultless and the age groups of sailors were combined into three fleets of approximately 60 boats each. The full rigs of 60 entrants were all combined into one fleet.

The first 2 days had solid afternoon breezes of 15 knots plus, but Day 3 and 4 saw the wind fizzle to nothing, and on the last day it was a delayed start with a 3-knot breeze and a 2-knot tide. Seven races were completed out of a possible 8, with one drop race.

Somehow, the top guys do well in all wind conditions and at Double Bay we are lucky to have members who always perform well at National and World Masters events. Special mention to our Club members who were awarded highly sought after cubes:

• ILCA 7: 1st in the Apprentice division James Tudball

• ILCA 6: 5th in the GGM division Martin White

• ILCA 6: 1st in the Legend division Peter Heywood

Cubes are awarded based on the number of entrants in each division, so for example the GGM division had 37 entrants with 5 cubes awarded. The complete schedule of results can be viewed here. Results for DBSC members are as follows:

A highlight of the event was a function held at the local bowls club with over 200 sailors in attendance. Martin White hosted an interview session with Australian winners at the recent Italian World Masters. People interviewed were Brett Beyer, Rob Lowndes, Lyndall Patterson and Christine Bridge.

Our members who volunteered their time and energy for the event include:

• Sylvie Stannage crewing the start boat, and pre-regatta coaching.

• Zander Bijkerk for providing regatta coaching and on-water support using Martin White’s RIB.

• David Newman for organising logistics.

• Steve London who always ensures our club runs smoothly.

- Ian Tudball

What's Going On

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Thursday 19 February: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 21 February: Combined Autumn Point Score 7 & 8 / Club Championships 11 & 12:

  • 1pm briefing, 2 pm warning

  • BBQ after racing

• Thursday 26 February: Twilight Racing: 5pm splash

• Saturday 28 February: Sprints (Sydney Sail GP): NOTE: 12pm briefing, 1pm warning

Events

• 14-15 March: NSW & ACT Metro Championships

  • Manly Yacht Club

  • Notice of Race

  • Registration

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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 31 January 2026

Photo David Murphy

Club Championship Races 9 and 10

Championships 9-10 were held in lovely NE conditions- hopefully a great prequel to the Australian ILCA Masters this coming weekend, being held in Port Stephens. There was a little bit of light haze and cloud with some easterly shifts and a busy Harbour kept us on our toes when setting the course. 

Officiating were Martin Gill and Gay Rosen, with David Murphy as LTRAR, Patrick Black COTD, Robert Bruce CoCOTD and Ben Byford on RIB reserve. 

On water some scintillating sailing was seen, from Sylvia and Xander joining for a training session - both in radials!, and special guest member Jon Emmet also looking great on the water with a number of Open NSW and National squad visitors mixing it up with the club. Thanks so much to those who kindly stayed beyond the finish mark after the race to make the task aboard Jazzman easier. 

In the 6s DBSC honours went to Scott Hunter and Geoff Kirk, in 7s Max Williams and Campbell Patton, and in the 4s, with only 2 hardy souls in race 9, Zoe Allen got the win over Ben Phillips. 

Best of luck at the Masters!

- David Murphy

Thankyou Patrick Black for the Photos!