Why Elon wants to sail at DBSC......

After after becoming teary recently, Elon has reached out to the club:

"I've decided I can become more effective during the week by taking up Laser sailing on Saturday afternoons.  When I'm next in Sydney, can I hire a boat, please?" 

Speaking about organisational efficiency, Troublemaker explained:

"I used to work 70 hours a week with most of the time spent making sure my grunts (associates and interns) were putting together the best pitch books possible, however, the typos and the tables that didn't add up would drive me to tears despite knowing most of the 200 page pitch books were not read.  Then I realised that by sailing on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons I was more relaxed, and that led to idea generation and improved more efficiency.  The very first time I left work "early" to go sailing, I came up with a life changing idea: replace an an associate with three interns!  No more worrying about an off-sider being on their own all weekend: I feel so much better!"  

Might be worthwhile diarising sailing at least once a week.

Lost....have you found it?

Craig Sheers has lost a foil bag with two rudder blades, tiller etc.  He also has had a centreboard taken from another bag. Does anyone know of their whereabouts?

With equipment "going walkabouts", it's important that you make sure your equipment is put away properly each week. We strongly recommend foil bags are stored inside your boat, and don't leave belongings on the floor

Also, inside the men's change room is a growing pile of lost clothing.  It will be cleared out shortly, so if it's yours, please take it before it's tossed

VHF Radio Operator Course

The VA12SC is hosting a course so that interested sailors in our area can attain their Short Range Operators Certificate of Proficiency (SROCP) and become a licenced VHF operator. This accreditation is provided by the Office of Marine Communications.

The course will be held at VA12SC club house on the evening of Tuesday October 20th from 6.00pm to 9.30pm.  

"For those of you who are planning on spending any time on the water, either in a club boat as part of water safety, or in your own boat, having the confidence to use your radio appropriately will give you peace of mind if you ever get into any trouble. Additionally, if you are looking to be in charge of the radio in the clubhouse, you need to upgrade your skills. Doing the course means that you'll get a licence that you can show to the relevant authorities when, inevitably, they enquire.

There is a requirement for some home study  (approx. 2 hours) before the training/exam on Tuesday evening.

There are two levels of payment required:

The first is a fixed cost of $85.00 for the licence. This is a government mandated cost.  This payment can be made by on the evening of the exam by credit card.

The second is the cost for the tutor/educator: Captain Graham Wilson, Master Mariner.  His cost for providing the course is $750.  The number of individuals who participate in the course will determine the cost for each individual participant. We are hoping to get a minimum of 10 people to take the course, making the maximum cost $75.00 per person. (This is in addition to the cost of $85.00 for the licence.)

This payment can be made, in cash, on the night of the course.

To access the study information please go to:

http://issuu.com/australianmaritimecollege/docs/docs/vhf_handbook_dec_2013?e=3893336/10223621

To access sample exam questions please go to:

http://academic.amc.edu.au/~omc/revision%20questions%20MROVCP.html

The minimum age for this licence is 16 years old.

100 ID points are required plus a new passport photo less than 6 weeks old. You will need to bring these on the evening of Tuesday October 20th.

If you would like to take advantage of this opportunity, please send an email to VA12SC Committee Member, Danelle Denny at danelle@eftel.net.au.

Please include in your email the following information:

Full name:
Date Of Birth:
Email:
Mobile:

VA12SC looks forward to seeing you on October 20th for an evening of learning and fun!

Big Boats to Race this weekend

The big Boats will race on Sunday, 11 October .  Mr Stone reports....

Dear fellow sailors

   Our next race will be on October 11, with a 2.00pm start

   We normally sail on the first Sunday of the month; but October 4 was part of a long weekend, and we traditionally sail the October race on the second Sunday.

   So - get October 11 into your diary!

   I look forward to seeing you then

   J

 

Hot real estate market now affecting DBSC.

Three (3) Laser rack spots left and we are not quite finished with September!

Globally, we have a reputation as the best Laser club in the world.  Locally, we have a reputation as having the best toasties in Australia thanks to the Canteen Crew.  Despite these two drawcards, there are some that have acquired their slice of eastern suburbs waterfront for $800/year merely for bragging rights. The lack of freehold is no concern to these cocktail circuteers, but their tenure is tenuous given the demand from real sailors.

The truth is the biggest swing factor in the last couple of seasons has been the re-introduction of Learn to Race (LTR) by Blackie who coaches, and coordinates the increasing number of volunteers helping with the programme.  LTR has swelled the number of members considerably, and helped put more boats on the 2pm starting line each Saturday.

If you are interested in a rack space, please use the forms on the website as we are likely to start a waiting list earlier than ever before during the season. If you are on the waitlisted, we will get you a spot but there might be a delay while we move a non sailor's (aka cocktail circuteer) boat on. 

Also if you are keen to join, but need a boat, please feel free to use the DBSC matchmaking service

Heats 3/4 pointscore....where was Grasshopper 2.0?

A lovely 10-12 knot easterly greeted the fleet on Saturday 19th

Points of  note:

• 8 full rigs OCS'ed.
• Two boats were OCS'ed in both races
• no radials were OCS'ed
• in the full rigs, in each race there was a tie on corrected time in the first 3 places.  

Thanks to Team Alexander for PRO'ing.

However, one questioned permeated the fleet: where was Grasshopper 2.0?

Rumours abounded; was he changing class; was he  co-op'ted by Dear Leader to help Malcolm and Lucy move;  did he stay at home to do a couple of more problem sets; etcetera.

The answer was he was temporaliy changing class for a charity race on Sunday.  So what was he doing on Saturday?  Media training....see about 30 seconds into this clip:  https://www.facebook.com/bartsbash/videos/458998994302323/

NOTE: with the influx of new members and new boats for old members, please make the Handicapper's and the on-water officials easier as possible by ensuring sail numbers match boat numbers, and both are the same as on the sign-on sheet.

Heats 5 and 6 this week. Long range weather forecasts suggests it could be Groundhog Day.  

Sailing instructions 2015-16 season

Sailing instructions this year are same as last year with following exceptions: 

1. Boats can cross the finish line while racing. However it is good courtesy to stay clear while other fleets are finishing.
2. 4.7's will not have separate top mark. They will score in radial Pointscore. Handicaps will account for the speed difference.  
3. We've got new big buoys (and a fabulous new system of anchoring the buoys).  

Radial cut standard rig sails!!

The new radial cut standard rig sail is being released on 1 November. Legal at DBSC and all Australian summer regattas this summer.   NB has offered free numbers and delivery to DBSC members.  You can pre-order here

LCA announcement......

Laser Class Announces New Sail Design

The all new Standard Mark II Laser sail available on 1 November 

9 September 2015

The International Laser Class Association (ILCA) is pleased to announce the release of a completely new class-legal design for the Laser standard rig sail. The release marks the first time in over 40 years that the Laser sail design has been substantially updated.

Known as the Standard Mark II Sail, the new patented design is the result of thousands of hours of design work and on-the-water testing involving the Laser builders, the Association, two major sailmakers and some of the world’s top sailors.

The Mark II features bi-radial panels, a heavier 4.5 ounce cloth and optimized reinforcement patches, all intended to maximize the sail’s competitive life. The sail also features tapered battens with Velcro batten pocket closures, a larger window for improved visibility and a patented re-designed luff tube to eliminate wrinkles at the mast joint.

“This is a quantum leap forward for our class,” says ILCA President, Tracy Usher. “For several years the number one complaint about the Laser has been the outdated sail design. We’ve put a lot of time and effort into this new sail design and we’re really happy with the result.”

As with all changes to the Laser, the new sail has been carefully designed to be backwards compatible with the existing equipment, meaning it was not designed to provide improved performance. Instead, the Mark II promises improved durability and ease of use.

According to ILCA Technical Officer, Clive Humphris, “The main objective of the design project for the Mark II was to create a sail with equal performance to the existing sail, but with better durability. We worked very hard to ensure that the Mark II was not a faster sail and wouldn’t make all the existing sails obsolete overnight. The original Laser standard sail will continue to be available through authorized Laser dealers and we fully expect to see the two designs racing side-by-side for a number of years.”

The initial run of class-legal Mark II sails will be available starting 1 November 2015, with worldwide availability by early 2016. Because of the timing of the release, by agreement with International Sailing Federation (ISAF) the Mark II will not be used in the 2016 Olympic Games or any Olympic country qualifying events for 2015 or 2016.

The use of the sail will be controlled by the Notice of Race for each event until after the 2016 games. After that time, the Mark II will be allowed in all ILCA sanctioned regattas along with the original standard rig sail.

“Because many of the Olympic qualifying events have already occurred, we’ve agreed with ISAF that we shouldn’t make any major changes to the equipment for the 2016 games at this time,” says Usher. “Our goal is to have the Mark II sail available worldwide for the start of the next quadrennium (four year period), leading up to the 2020 games in Tokyo.”

In coordination with ISAF and the Laser Builders, ILCA will make further announcements about the availability of the Mark II sail and its use at events over the coming months. 

New radial cut sail being tested in DBSC waters adjacent to the People's Democratic Republic of Point Piper

Changes to the Calendar for 2016

Please note the following changes to the 2016 Calendar.

1.  The second round of the Vaucluse Challenge has been moved from 27 February to 19 March 2016.

2.  27 March is now Autumn Point Score 9 & 10.

3.  Club Championship 13 & 14 is now on 12 March 2016.  There is no BBQ on that afternoon.  There will be a BBQ at DBSC on the 19th March after the Vaucluse Challenge.

4.  Club Championship 15 & 16 has been moved from 30 April to 9 April 2016 to accommodate the Radials' World Masters at the end of April.  

5.  Autumn Point Scores 13 & 14 and 15 & 16 have been moved to 16 and 23 April 2016.

6.  There have been changes to the volunteers rostered on for duty on the dates referred to above.

7.  The AGM and dinner is now scheduled for 10 June 2016.

Pointscore underway. Heats 3 and 4 this week

Pointscore heats  1 and 2 were sailed last week under sunny skies and a fading Nor-Easter.    We had fleets of about 20 in each race, so it was fun for all.

This week we have Learn to Race @9am (not Learn to Rave as predictive text just suggested!). Followed by Pointscore (heats 3 &4) with Usual arrangements:  briefing at 1pm. Racing at 2pm. Early indications are a 10-15 knot S/E breeze.