Race Report Saturday 12 September 2026

Report by Luke Parker:

Sydney Harbour put on a great show for the opening heats of the 2026-27 Spring Point score.  Perfect early season weather for the 50-something racers.  It was sunny, warm, 8-12 knots  of wind.  The great conditions bought out good vibes in the fleet and plenty of fun was to be had.  Those with glasses only half full might have commented that was the wind was a little east of a true nor-easterly, but the upside was it opened up some different strategies which paid off.  It was a day for keeping eyes out of the boat and sailing the actual conditions, rather than relying on old habits and banging Point Piper.

Seven (i.e., 6 or more) 4.7’s racing meant we were able to offer them their own start and then subsequent starts were in a rolling sequence, so one fleet’s starting signal was the 5-minute warning for the next. It worked well and saved time.  Across the 6 starts, 4 Standards were OCS transgressors, 2 of them returning to restart. For future reference, in a rolling sequence, a general recall shouldn’t stop the sequence but should result in the infringing fleet being relegated to the last start. So keep an eye on the flags.

Scott Hunter’s videos of the first three starts:

Results:

4.7 Race 1

1. Benjamin Phillips

2. Hiro Jacobsen

3. Charlie Wait

 4.7 Race 2

1. Charlie Wait

2. Hiro Jacobsen

3. Benjamin Phillips

Radial Race 1

1. Christopher Fellas

2. Michael Morris

3. Daryl Lawrence

 Radial Race 2

1. Christopher Fellas

2. Charlotte Jenkins

3. Martin White

 Standard Race 1

1. Tim Heath

2. Andrew Foote

3. Steven London 

 Standard Race 2

1. Jason Wilkins

2. Andrew Foote

3. Grant Lovelady

If you want to check how you went in any particular race, go to the results page on the DBSC website. On the Series Summary page, if you click on the blue coloured race number ( e.g., R2) you’ll then be able to see the elapsed times and handicap calculations for each boat.

As always, thanks to this week’s volunteers including Paul and Shirley, Patrick Black, Scott Hunter, Richard McLachlan, Robert Bruce, Sara Bruce & Daryl Lawrence

Thursday Twilight Racing Returns 8 October 2026

On Thursday 8 October we will kick off our Thursday Twilight Racing with on-water coaching support for the 2026/27 season. The coaching and race management will be provided by one of our Reach coaches.

• We will aim for our usual splash time of 5PM.

• The coach and course will be ready for racing by 5:30PM

• The course will be typically windward - leeward (like our sprint racing), however the coach may communicate variations out on the water... to keep us on our toes.

• Racing will run until sundown, ~7:30PM

• Regular Thursday night dinner and drinks at the Royal Oak Hotel (“the Oak”) following sailing for anyone who fancies a social outing.

The Cost is $145.85 per sailor for the 10-week program. This covers the overhead of paying the coach each week to set the course and provide the coaching, as well as a private WhatsApp group with coach notes and videos from the coach. Note: dinner is not included!

Proposed Dates: October 8, 15, 22, 29; November 5, 12, 19, 26; December 3, 10.
Proposed Coaches: Daniel Costandi, Paige Caldecoat, Campbell Patton

We hope that Members who plan to race regularly on Thursdays will support the program by signing up.
(Members who sail occasionally are still very welcome to join us for Thursday Racing free of charge.)

Members wishing to sign-up for the Thursday on water coaching please click the button below:

Learn-to-Race Starts Up

Report and photos by Ian Tudball:

A cracker of a day was ordered for the first 9am Spring session of Learn-to-Race (LTR) run by Martin White and his helpers. Unfortunately, the wind was in short supply and only two races could be completed within the morning timeslot. After lunching on Shirley and Paul’s toasties, 3 of the sailors participated in the afternoon fleet racing, making for an impressive 48 Lasers on the start line. 

The LTR sessions are open to the public as well as any DBSC members who would like to get tips on how to make a Laser perform in the fast lane. 

DBSC Point Score: Lucky Draw Glassware!

You have to be in it to win it!

This weeks winner: Megan Ross

• Each Point Score race day this season we will be presenting a lucky draw prize on the deck after the racing,

• Random selection of a Member that raced or volunteered on the day,

• You have to be there On the Deck when it’s drawn after racing to claim your prize,

• … but if you’re not there, another random selection is made until the prize is awarded: a stemless glass with etched DBSC burgee, quality glassware from:

What's Going On

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Saturday 19 September: Club Championships 3 & 4

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

  • BBQ on the deck after racing (~5:00pm)

• Saturday 26 September: Spring Point Score 3 & 4

  • Learn to Race, 9:00am

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

• Saturday 3 October: Sprint Racing (Oct. Long Weekend)

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

• Thursday 8 October: Twilight Racing

  • 5:00 Splash

• Saturday 10 October: Spring Point Score 5 & 6

  • Learn to Race, 9:00am

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

Spring & Autumn Fixtures Calendar

The calendar for next year is here. Please use this to plan your campaigns!

Highlights:

• 30 Sep - 5 Oct: 2026 Australian Sailing’s Zhik NSW Youth Sail

  • Toronto ASC

  • Website

  • Registration

• 24-25 Oct: 2026 NSW & ACT Coast Championships

  • Speers Point ASC

  • NOR

• 14-15 Nov: 2026 NSW & ACT Open, Youth & Masters State Championships

  • Double Bay Sailing Club

  • NOR

• 1-8 Jan: 2027 Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships

  • Sandringham YC (VIC)

  • NOR. Entries open 01-Sep.

• 10-17 Jan: 2027 Under 21 World Championships

  • Sandringham YC (VIC)

• 5-8 Feb: 2027 Australian Masters

  • RQYS (QLD)

• 20-21 Feb: 2027 NSW & ACT Metro Championships

  • Yarra Bay SC

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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 5 September 2026

All photos by Murray Stone

Report by Murray Stone:

To (mis)quote George Costanza: The breeze was angry on Saturday my friends. Like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli!

The first day of the summer sailing season started with a gradient northerly that shifted to the north north-east just before midday, holding around 15-18 knots.  Pat Levy was sporting a grin so wide, if he had been wearing lipstick, he would have gotten it on his ears! By the time the start was in sequence just after 2pm, the breeze clocked 19kts and was not far from true north. It was looking magnificent.

Pleasingly, all radial sailors held their nerve and it was a clear start.

Then it all went to custard! The breeze shifted to the northwest while the Standards were in sequence. A port hand start for all and a reach to the first mark.  The start crew scurried into the Jazzman to retrieve the 'N' flag to abandon the race and, to their horror it was nowhere to be found. To make things really interesting, shortly after the start, a J70 literally sailed over the top of the start mark, hooking it on their rudder and dragged it 150m south. The crew on Paul Adam raced over and managed to untangle the disaster without losing the anchor or destroying the mark.  While this was going on, the crew on the Dene Bergman dashed ashore, found the 'N' flag and the race was abandoned just after most of the radials had completed a lap.  By that stage, there had been a 70-degree shift in the wind direction!

Long story short, the course was reset with the wing mark becoming the top mark, the bottom mark being adjusted slightly, and a new wing mark set just south of Clark Island. We were ready for a restart by 3pm with the breeze 17kts from the WNW, gusting to 26kts.

Both the radials and standards got away cleanly and there looked to be some good racing and some downwind rides.

More custard!  About halfway into the race, a storm front showed on the Sydney radar and gusts of 37kts had just been recorded at Camden (30 km to the west) ahead of the front. To make it more interesting, the breeze veered a further 60 degrees on the course and was nearly out of the southwest by the time the fleet was finishing.

Race 1 Podiums:

4.7s: 1st Benjamin Phillips; 2nd: Clifford Gates

Radials: 1st Roberto Blum; 2nd Scott Hunter; 3rd Scott Finlayson

Standards: 1st Healy Ryan; 2nd Charlie Byford; 3rd Luke Parker

Realising that the course would have to be re-laid to get another race in, and that there was a storm front coming, an executive decision was made to abandon Race 2.  That decision turned out to be one of the best of the day.  The storm front hit Sydney Harbour shortly before 4:30pm and recorded gusts of 55kts (102km/h). All competitors were safely off the water and largely derigged by that time.

A big thanks to the race crew of Martin Gill, Murray Stone and Gaye Rosen on the Jazzman, John Sweeny and Michael Morris on the Paul Adam, and Kerryn Smith, Daryl Lawrence and David Murphy on the Dene Bergman (RIB reserve), who were kept busy throughout the day. A big thank you to the canteen crew of Paul, Shirley, Mark Dagworthy and Tory Epworth.

Celebration of Dene Bergman

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Berman extended family on the deck watch as sailors return to the club, all carrying a black ribbon in recognition of Dean Bergman. Pics supplied by Simon Stone.

Note from Andrea

“The Family of Dene Bergman extend our heartfelt thanks for the wonderful celebration and tribute that was shown for Dene on Saturday. We were overwhelmed by the love, sincerity and friendship that was shown and that is why Dene called the DBSC ‘The Club of His Dreams’.
Thank you one and all. Good luck to you all and happy sailing.”

- Andrea Bergman and Family

What's Going On

Club Look-ahead Schedule

• Saturday 12 September: Spring Point Score 1 & 2

  • Learn to Race, 9:00am

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

• Saturday 19 September: Club Championships 3 & 4

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

  • BBQ on the deck after racing (~5:00pm)

• Saturday 26 September: Spring Point Score 3 & 4

  • Learn to Race, 9:00am

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

• Saturday 3 October: Sprint Racing (Oct. Long Weekend)

  • 1:00pm briefing, 2:00pm first warning

Spring & Autumn Fixtures Calendar

The calendar for next year is here. Please use this to plan your campaigns!

Highlights:

• 30 Sep - 5 Oct: 2026 Australian Sailing’s Zhik NSW Youth Sail

  • Toronto ASC

  • Website

  • Registration

• 24-25 Oct: 2026 NSW & ACT Coast Championships

  • Speers Point ASC

  • NOR

• 14-15 Nov: 2026 NSW & ACT Open, Youth & Masters State Championships

  • Double Bay Sailing Club

  • NOR

• 1-8 Jan: 2027 Oceania & Australian Open & Youth Championships

  • Sandringham YC (VIC)

  • NOR. Entries open 01-Sep.

• 10-17 Jan: 2027 Under 21 World Championships

  • Sandringham YC (VIC)

• 5-8 Feb: 2027 Australian Masters

  • RQYS (QLD)

• 20-21 Feb: 2027 NSW & ACT Metro Championships

  • Yarra Bay SC

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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 29 August 2026

All photos by Justine Scott

SPRINT RACING

Report by Alistair Sutherland, results from Justine Scott:

The last day of winter sprints went ahead on Saturday 29th with a decent turn out of over 30 boats, split across a fleet of ILCA 7s and a combined ILCA 4&6 fleet.  With a large high parked off the southeast of Australia, conditions were a little light on with an 8 knot south-easterly materialising an hour or so before start time.  Conditions seemed no better in Rose Bay, which would have been a long commute, so we settled for a windward leeward in Double Bay.  The breeze tried to pull left all day, especially in the bottom half of the course where there was notable Rose Bay lefty, but the wind funneling between the hill on Point Piper and Bellevue Hill meant there were several large righties to be found on the approach to the windward mark. 

All of which meant that with the exception of Hiro Jacobsen, who dominated in ILCA4, there was a varied bunch sitting on the podium for each of the 5 races, as captured below.  The wind kept shifting left all day, and the race team did a great job of re-positioning the windward mark and start line to keep things as square as possible.  With the serious racing kicking off next week, it was good to see the fleets lining up right across the start line and pulling the trigger bang on time.  A couple of eager starters did the right thing and went back when called upon, with the Black flag making a brief appearance when both fleets got a little too enthusiastic. This ensured that we managed to get 5 races, and a bonus start on the way back home, all completed in two hours. 

Thanks to the team for running such a successful day:
PRO/Instructor: Alistair Sutherland
LTRaR: Justine Scott
COTD: Jack Restuccia
CoCOTD: Andrea Phillips

Canteen Duty : Max Williams

Results:

Race 1

ILCA 7:  Healy Ryan, Charles Byford, Tim Heath

ILCA 6:  Patrick McLachlan, 7921, Geoff Kirk

ILCA 4:  Hiro Jacobsen, Charlie Wait, Clifford Gates

Race 2

ILCA 7.  Laszlo Horvath, Grant Lovelady, Geoffrey Boscoe

ILCA 6.  Scott Hunter, Geoff Kirk, Patrick McLachlan

ILCA 4.  Hiro Jacobsen, Charlie Wait, Gosia Dziedzic

Race 3

ILCA 7.  Laszlo Horvath, Yves Stening, David Newman

ILCA 6.  Scott Hunter, Vaimo'oi'a Ripley, Patrick McLachlan

ILCA 4.  Hiro Jacobsen, Charlie Wait, Clifford Gates

Race 4

ILCA 7.  Healy Ryan, Laszlo Horvath, Rodney Barnes

ILCA 6.  Patrick McLachlan, Martin White, Vaimo'oi'a Ripley

ILCA 4.  Hiro Jacobsen, Clifford Gates

Race 5

ILCA 7.  Laszlo Horvath, Healy Ryan, Rodney Barnes

ILCA 6.  Vaimo'oi'a Ripley, Patrick McLachlan 

ILCA 4.  Hiro Jacobsen, Charlie Wait, Clifford Gates

Important Announcement

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Important Announcement: Celebration of Dene Bergman this Saturday

As reported in June of this year, our wonderful Life Member, Dene Bergman, passed away. Dene contributed to our club extensively through his four decades of membership.

We want everyone to be at the Club BBQ this Saturday, soon after sailing.  Andrea Bergman and other members of the Bergman family will attend. If you can’t stay for long, please at least be there for the early part so you can show Andrea and her family our appreciation for Dene’s significant contribution to DBSC.

Cheers,

— Martin White