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.
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Want to become a social member?
Can I rent/hire your clubhouse?
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Can you teach me to race a Laser?
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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 are delighted to welcome our latest new member, Campbell Patton, whom you will see around the club with his mum, Christine. Campbell competed with Finn at the Youth Worlds and evidently liked what he saw, because he and his family have moved from Bermuda to sail with us here. They are a bit of a sailing family and, if early results have any bearing, it seems he might have some talent. Welcome Campbell and Christine!
Campbell winning the 2nd race last Saturday.
Written by Jonathan Stone
It was an overcast, eventually rainy afternoon on the Harbour. The morning’s light sunny westerlies gave way to an unusually cold, cloudy north-easterly as we manoeuvred for a start; the wind held at 15 knots and cold, eventually reaching 20 knots, as we sailed home. A great sailing wind.
The Harbour was crowded like a summer’s day - fleets of WSC dinghies, the 18 footers’ first race of the season, Moths and Wasps flitting silently among us.
John V gave us a timed start; and we all need to get that right. The flag sequence is set out in the Sailing Instructions in Section 11. Today was windy, our rigs were noisy and it was hard to hear the sound signals. So, you needed to read the flags, sync your watch to the flag falls and take it from there. As it was, Time & Tide made the best of it, after ducking behind two boats who, having arrived at the start line early, were loitering on starboard, for a fast, strong start.
Corinna had been the last to start area, arriving from Rushcutters Bay with a fresh coat of antifoul; or something. Though she missed the start by the best part of a minute she sailed high and fast, to turn the Point Piper mark first. The leg to Taylor’s Bay saw a couple of port-starboard incidents; G-Force reached the Point Piper mark on port, making good time against T&T. But she tacked under T&T at the mark, made contact with the mark and loyally did the appropriate 360° penalty. Half way across the Harbour, Corinna was hit by a Mirror from WSC. No injuries and no damage to either boat, but the Mirror turned turtle, and its young crew struggled to right it. The Mirror was on port and Corinna on starboard, but Corinna stopped racing and hovered close to ensure the kids could handle the situation. T&T slowed, radioed in the situation to WSC via Paul in the Clubhouse, before we all started racing again. (The kids did get the boat up and were able to sail on but, even when the mistake was theirs, you can’t just sail on and trust they will cope - so properly done Chris).
In a nor-easter like today’s, any nor-easter, the legs from the start to Point Piper to Taylor’s Bay to Sow’n Pigs form a long work. Heading to the top mark Corinna continued her uncanny performance, working high and fast. Chenonceau also showed speed, sailing over T&T to reach the top mark in second place.
After the long work, we were all relieved to ease away and turn downwind for Shark Island, goose-winging our headsails. T&T was characteristically fast downwind, passing Chenonceau, regaining second place and making time on Corinna. Still it was Corinna who gybed first at the Shark Island mark to head for the finish, then T&T, Chenonceau, G-Force and Smitten.
As we reached for the finish, on the leg from Shark Island to Clarke Island, the 18’s fleet zoomed through us. On T&T, I felt we had our little yacht moving nicely, both sails nicely engaged, white water at our bow and in our wake. But the 18’s had up twice the area of sail (including spinnakers) and a tenth the hull weight. With maybe 20 times the power-weight ratio, they were planing well above wind speed. The difference was stark between displacement sailing and skiff sailing, in which planing is the key mode, at least off the wind. And then there’s foiling, with only foils in the water, and under the surface, unaffected by the surface chop; one wonders what's next.
For our fleet, on this last leg, there was just one change of place; Chenonceau challenged T&T for second, sailing over the smaller boat successfully. On Corinna Chris paused to hoist a spinnaker, just for fun because his lead was decisive without it.
The wind blew up as we finished, fresh and cold; it blew us quickly back to our moorings and made us focus as we unrigged. Air temperature was nearly 20°C, so we weren't freezing, but it was unusually cold for a northerly in October.
Ashore, we sat inside the Clubhouse, with the north-facing windows closed against the breeze and warmed up, talking about port and starboard and rights at marks, moths and wasps and 18s, sailing short handed, hull cleaning and antifouling. The 18s came ashore after their race, flopping around like large butterflies. With several of their crews novice to racing these wild skiffs, there was some struggling, and helping, not too much shouting. Fortunately, there seemed to be neither damage nor injuries.
As all this unfolded, light rain settled in, the first in Sydney for 6 weeks. Nobody minded.
Another Sunday, lots of sailing fun Across our line:
Well done to Chris and Stephen, to all boats for a safe, competitive, fun race.
We race again on November 5.
We had about 20 boats show up for our long weekend sprint racing. It was a gusty shifty westerly which made for some large angles and significant gains. If you got too hot upwind, all you had to do was pinch a little, and sooner or later you would find yourself back winded and submerged backwards head first.
Thank you to our PRO, Alistair Sutherland, and our COTD, Murray Stone, who set a good course in difficult conditions and officiated with experience. At one point the action got a bit feisty at the pin end, with certain members confusing the zero in 10 seconds with the zero in zero – anyhow, who doesn’t like a good head start. Alistair soon had them whipped back into shape, and the afternoon proceeded smoothly thereafter, with a total of 6 short two-lap races.
This Saturday, it will be Heats 7 & 8 of the Spring Point Score. As usual, the briefing will be at 1pm, with the first warning signal at 2pm. See you there!
It was a difficult week of sailing for our team of World Championship sailors in Split, Croatia, with fluky winds resulting in long days on the water and only 6 or 7 races sailed.
But there were no complaints from at least one of our team members because we have a new World Champion! Martin White won the well-deserved title in a large and competitive fleet with a convincing 7-point lead over a hard charging Italian who came prepared with his own support boat and coach. Our Learn to Race program at Double Bay Sailing Club has just entered a new league, and the phones have been running hot with applicants.
Martin White on the Winner's Podium
Mark Bethwaite narrowly missed out on his 13th World Champion title (of which he already has 10 in the Laser class), coming second by an agonising one point to his German rival. Our other team members, Rod Barnes, Mike Dunne, Gerry Donohoe, Richard George, Simon Stone and Pat Levy, all had a great time, and were frequently spotted training in the pub.
Our new club coach, Brett Beyer, came away with his 12th Laser World Champion title, equalling the record by any sailor. Our good friend, Rob Lowndes, achieved a very credible second after leading for the early part of the event.
The 2017 NSW Youth Championships were held at South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club over the long weekend.
We had a strong contingent at the event, with credible performances from all, including 6th for Jack Littlechild and 8th for Zac West in the Radials, and 2nd for Mina Ferguson, 3rd for Daniel Costandi and 4th for Sylvie Stannage in the 4.7s. Ryan Littlechild got a 4th in the 420s.
Well done to everyone.
We have had only four people sign up to the Brett Beyer Wednesday program so far, out of 20 who indicated interest. We need six more people for this program to run at the advertised cost.
If you need an excuse to get out of the office and come sailing on a long summer’s Wednesday afternoon, then this is it. And David Huber has offered to write a weekly doctors’ certificate for all participants.
With the program slated to start on 18 October, this is urgent. It is $300 for 10 weeks. And it is first in best dressed, if that claim still has any weight.
So, could you please email commodore@dbsc.com.au ASAP if you’re in.
And don’t forget – twilight sailing starts this Wednesday at 5.30pm splash – let us know you’re coming via Peter Collie’s Doodle poll.
We will be shutting off RSVPs to the Season Opening Sailors’ Dinner soon, so please respond as soon as you can via this link. The price is $90 per person, which includes a two-course dinner and a group-shared beer, champagne and wine tab of $30 per head.
This will be a very fun night at a very special venue, so get your tickets and come along.
Double Bay Sailing is hosting the NSW State Championships on 18/19 November. This will be a huge event, with up to 200 boats expected, in both Open and Masters fleets.
It is a very exciting event for the club, and provides a rare opportunity to sail in a large fleet. If you want to race that weekend, you must sign up to the event, which is conducted by the NSW/ACT Laser Class Association. The cost is $60 for entry – sign up here.
And, while you’re there, don’t forget also to sign up for the Coast Championships to be held at Gosford Sailing Club on 21/22 October. Could you please let Ian Alexander know if you plan to attend (email laserrep@dbsc.com.au), as he is coordinating transport and accommodation.
We have our very own closed group on Facebook for post-race banter, pre-race banter, on-water banter, and any other sort of banter. Double Bay Sailing Club – The Top Mark is the place to go, so just request entry to this exclusive club to find out all the latest.
