The best way to find out about the club is to visit us, and meet some members.
Apart from the week of Christmas, the clubhouse is open from at least noon every Saturday from 1 August to 30 April. Our telephone number is: +61 2 9363 5577.
We are run by volunteers, so if your query cannot answered by the frequently asked questions (FAQs) below or the rest of the website, we will get back to you by Wednesday, 10pm.
How do I subscribe to your Pulitzer Prize winning newsletter?
How to make a tax-deductible donation to the club (using the internet)?
How to make a tax-deductible donation to the club (using paper forms)?
Want to book a seat at the restaurant?
Want to become a social member?
Can I rent/hire your clubhouse?
How do I get to crew on a yacht?
Can you teach me to race a Laser?
What is the deal between your club and the 18 footers and Sydney High School?
Can I store my kayak (or similar) in the clubhouse?
Can you help me buy, or sell, a Laser?
How many times can a visitor race at DBSC?
79 Bay St
Double Bay NSW 2028
Australia
The best ILCA / Laser sailing club in the world, located in Double Bay on Sydney Harbour.
We realised during the week that the proposed date for the Season Opening Sailors’ Dinner is when several of our sailors are away at the Worlds and is also at the start of the school holidays.
So, we have CHANGED the date. The new date is Friday, 27 October. Same details otherwise – RPEYC, 7.00pm for 7.30pm. Invitations and payment via trybooking will follow.
We have had 68 people provide their up to date details, including emergency contact details. Can we please ask the other 36 members to provide theirs too? Here is the link. This is very important for the club.
No more shoving boats up the 10cm step, over the makeshift conveyor-belt-rubber ramp. We now have a level entrance to the clubhouse, which will match the height of the lawn once it is resurfaced commencing 25 September. Thank you to Mark Bethwaite, Geoff Kirk and Rod Barnes who led the initiative, assisted enthusiastically by Jim Dounis, David Murphy, Craig Sheers and Shirley Roach.
Rod Barnes bossing the pour.
DBSC will be prioritising, promoting and coordinating attendance by a large contingent of our sailors to the National Masters at Mooloolaba in February. The dates are 9-12 February, 2018. So, put them in your calendars now!
In the meantime, two Brett Beyer Coaching Clinics are being promoted by the Queensland Laser Association and Australian Sailing. These will be held offshore at Mooloolaba on 3-4 February 2018 and 6-7 February 2018 respectively.
The cost is $250 for the two-day clinic. This does not include food, drinks or accommodation.
There is a maximum of 10 places for each clinic. In the event of oversubscription, participants will be selected from the applicants at random. Registration closes 30 September 2017.
If you are interested, you can apply through the following links:
Click here for 3-4 February
Click here for 6-7 February
We have had an enquiry from a 19yo female sailor from WA (who was previously part of the youth sailing team). She wants to complete in the States at DBSC and is seeking a good boat to hire for the weekend. Please let Clare Alexander know if you are interested in hiring out your boat – secretary@dbsc.com.au.
In the DBSC Laser Sailors’ Survey, we asked for your ideas and opinions. And we got lots!
Thanks to everyone who contributed – we are listening to you and are taking all suggestions seriously.
The list is so long, that we are going to address them in the newsletter over a few weeks. This week’s instalment covers the topic of sailing. Next week’s instalment will cover the topics of training, rack positions and rigging. There will be two more instalments after that.
(a) Saturday sailing
(b) Twilight sailing
(c) Other sailing
Written by Jonathan Stone
Five boats presented on a sparkling afternoon. The harbour was largely empty, the day spring-warm. The unusual thing about it was a powerful northeasterly, running 18 knots and gusting to 25 knots. Somebody said there was a ‘blizzard in the mountains’ sucking air to the south. Anyway, it was very northerly and very steady, a good heavy sailing wind. But probably not a sea-breeze.
Our start line isn’t easy in a northerly; much of our manoeuvring area is in the lee of Clarke Island; it easy to be trapped. You sail in there to fix some rigging problem, and you can’t get out in time. As we planned our approaches, and Amelia prepared to sound the horn, Corinna was caught in the lee, and others took a cautious approach, staying in the wind further south. T&T made the best of it by sailing on the course side of the line 30 seconds before the start, ducking back along the line, which was windy, and tacking to cross - keeping clear of the lee.
Corinna was not far behind however and we rounded the first mark, at Point Piper, we were on even terms. Calypso Magic had however sailed over the top of us both; she is a fast boat and sailed away from us all. From Point Piper to Taylor’s Bay was a soldier’s work, on starboard; and from Taylor’s Bay to Sow’n Pigs a full work. Calypso Magic continued to move away, and Corinna edged away from T&T. Smitten and Chenonceau chased the smaller boats to the top mark, at Sow’n Pigs, which had to be judged by us all. With the luxury of a good lead, Corinna over stood the mark and made turn with ease. On T&T, trying to close that lead, we tacked earlier and for once got it right, rounding with a small margin to spare. Smitten ducked and weaved and had a conversation with the mark.
And then we all headed straight downwind, to Shark Island, with 20 knots of breeze behind us. Only Calypso Magic flew a kite; there were some minor dramas with her spinnaker, but her lead survived. The wind showed sufficient variation that even without spinnakers we had to manage carefully - to run by the lee (and risk an unintended gybe) or veer left and right, clear Steele Point and hope it added up to the direction you wanted.
In the event, we all managed the run, gybed at the Shark Island mark (or before) and had an easy reach to the finish.
It was heavy weather sailing, but fun.
Across the line:
Calypso Magic
Corinna
Time & Tide
Smitten
Chenonceau
Drinks in the Clubhouse after the race heard the usual chatter about the afternoon, and talk of the upcoming Laser Worlds, in Croatia. Smitten’s skipper, Simon, together with Martin, were packing for the trip.
We race next in October, on the 8th of October (not the 1st, to avoid the long weekend).
With the official start to the 2017-18 Season on Saturday, this week’s newsletter is chockers. So, we thought it would be helpful to provide a brief snapshot of everything that’s going on. Read the list below, then scroll down for more details on everything. Looking forward to seeing you out on the water this weekend!
1. Working bee this Friday at 2pm. We need 6 people to help with concrete formwork in advance of rigging area re-turfing. Please email property@dbsc.com.au to volunteer.
2. Save the date for the Season Opening Sailors Dinner at RPEYC at 7pm on Friday, 22 September. All club volunteers and non-sailing members welcome too!
3. Please indicate interest ASAP in the Brett Beyer Saturday Sailing Program by emailing name, rig size, price point and bib size to training@dbsc.com.au.
4. Club Championship this Saturday at 2pm (briefing 1pm) and Sunday Sprints splash at 8am.
5. New sailing instructions published with a few changes. The most important is this: one turn outside the zone, two turns inside the zone (hitting a mark remains one turn).
6. We need your details, especially sail numbers, so we can record your results! Please fill in the form here before Saturday.
7. Survey results first instalment – the exciting details are below.
8. Successful dolly working bee last Saturday. Thanks to everyone who participated, and to Mark Bethwaite for the initiative and Pat Levy for organizing.
9. Big Boats set to sail this Sunday at 1pm. Let Jonathan Stone know if you can make it: jonathanston@gmail.com.
We are delighted to announce that Woollahra Council will be re-levelling and re-turfing our rigging area (and the rest of the park) starting 25 September. We will include more info on this in subsequent newsletters.
In the meantime, we have permission to raise the concrete semicircle in front of the club to match the level of the clubhouse entrance. Given the timeframes, this work is urgent.
Geoff Kirk, Mark Bethwaite and Rod Barnes have been planning this work and have generously donated their time to install the formwork and reinforcement this Friday, commencing at 2pm.
There are a few hours of work in this and we really need volunteers to assist. If you can help, please email Geoff Kirk at property@dbsc.com.au to confirm attendance.
This year, we are reinstating one of the great traditions of the club, namely the DBSC Season Opening Sailors Dinner.
In times past, the great community of sailors at DBSC, donned their dinner suits and cocktail dresses (or, in the case of management, their full ceremonial regalia), and got together once a year to toast the year of fierce competition to come.
A photo from DBSC's 2001 dinner.
We are excited to renew this tradition with a dinner at Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club at 7pm for 7.30pm on Friday, 22 September. Please save the date.
This is a dinner for those within the club community, so all club volunteers and non-sailing members are also very welcome. (A family day will be held a little later in the year, to bring together all those others who are significant to us).
