Vaucluse Challenge – this Saturday at DBSC

The first heat of our annual Vaucluse Challenge (VC) will be held this Saturday. For those who are new to the club, this is a hard-fought and longstanding tradition, where we battle it out against our well-heeled rivals from the French enclave for the glory of holding the perpetual trophy at our club for the following year. Both trophies (standard and radial) currently reside at DBSC and we intend to keep it that way. 

This heat of the VC is being hosted at Double Bay. The second heat in the new year will be at Vaucluse. The race starts at 2pm as usual, but the format is different. 

The format is a single long race of ~90min length comprising triangle, sausage, triangle, sausage, sausage, with the usual upwind finish. Note, the Standards will go first, followed by the Radials and 4.7s together. We will set the course in Rose Bay (possibly to the east of Shark Island) if it is a southerly as predicted. So, rig early and allow 30min to get out there. 

The scoring system for this year is yet to be confirmed (and will be explained at the briefing at 1pm), but suffice to say you want to get yourself in front of as many Vaucluse boats as possible. And, unless ridiculous, don’t call starboard on DBSC boats, but instead do a courtesy duck, which, for those who haven’t worked it out yet, is the right tactical decision anyway against any boat on any day!  Read that last sentence again. 

At the end of racing, we all head over to Vaucluse to enjoy their post-race entertainment. In past years, the turnout has been very poor and this is embarrassing for us. Please plan to join us at Vaucluse — we will have plenty of cars to carpool and take you there and back. 

And if that is not enough incentive, Saturday is still a Brett Beyer Saturday Program day. Brett will be doing the post-race debrief on the front deck of VYC and all are welcome to attend it (not just program subscribers). So please join us!

Wednesday Twilights

Twilights are on again tonight with organised racing hosted by Brett Beyer.  There will be at least 10 boats – and more boats mean more fun, so tell the boss you have an important appointment and come join us.  Racing starts at 5.30 with a splash at 5.10 (or whenever you can get there).  All welcome, whether part of the program or not.  Fill in the Doodle Poll here and let us know if you can make it. 

Brett Beyer Lecture Tonight

Don’t forget, tonight, after the twilight sailing, Brett will be presenting a special lecture at 8pm. The topic is sail shape and trim, which is the #1 secret to going fast.  So far we have 30 people attending from DBSC and our sister clubs around the harbour. If you’d like to attend, please sign up and pay here.  If you have not booked, please don’t turn up.  Pizza included, drinks to be paid in cash.

State Championships

The big weekend is almost here. November 18th - 19th is when DBSC will be hosing the NSW Laser State Championship. It’s the time for the club to shine and we would love to see as many members as possible participate. Please sign up here as soon as you can.

To get the club in tip top shape we’ll be having a series of working bees that we need everyone’s help with:

• Beach Clean-up – this Saturday, November 4th, after sailing. Before you de-rig come help get some of the debris off the sand. 
• Club Clean-up – 11am on Saturday, November 11th. 
• Race Day Organising – 9am on Saturday, November 18th.  There are heaps of jobs to be done on the Saturday morning of the Championships. Please help us organise and manage the day and the 100+ sailors who will be coming to DBSC as our guests. This is not voluntary; we need everyone to be there. But don’t worry you’ll still have time to race!

New Rack Positions

We have had a rack reshuffle last weekend.  This reflects our longstanding policy of “use it or lose it”.  We have an objective model that determines rack allocations, based primarily on (a) frequency of sailing (with additional weight for mid-week sailing when there are less people to help lift boats) and (b) volunteer contribution to the club (if you want to increase your volunteering, please contact a member of the management committee).  The new rack plan has been posted on the noticeboard. We’d appreciate it if everyone with boats in the shed could please check the plan and make sure their boat number is correct on the plan. If it’s not correct, please cross it out and write in the correct number.

Boat Repair Clinic

Thanks to Craig Sheers and Ian Alexander for running a successful part one of their boat repair clinic last weekend.  There were several customers with problems ranging from worn fittings to decluttering the cockpit to tightening foot straps. Round 2 of the clinic is scheduled from 8am on 11 November for those who presented with more major repairs (mainly fixing centreboards and rudders). If you’re scheduled to attend, please bring all the supplies requested by Craig and Ian and get there on time at 8am because your work will need to be finished in time for the working bee that day at 11am.

Big Boat Race This Sunday

The Big Boats will race again this Sunday at 2pm. Please let Jonathan Stone know if you can make it. Be advised the Double Bay Street Festival is on this Sunday, so please be aware that getting to the club may require extra time.   

New Member Profile – Hans Baecker

Please welcome DBSC’s newest member, Hans Baecker. Hans grew up sailing FlyAnts at St George Sailing Club and slowly progressed to larger skiffs whilst continuing to sail out of the GRSC for many years.  In his 20's, Hans moved to sailing yachts both inshore and offshore on the Farr 40, TP52, Volvo60 and Super Maxis. In 2010 Hans decided to take a break from sailing for several years and has only recently returned to sailing after coming back from Bermuda. Hans chose the Laser due to its competitive racing. 

So far so good… Hans reports, “I had a ball last weekend meeting many of the sailing members at DBSC and managed to ticket all the boxes of sailing on a new boat including going for a swim towards the end of the last race.” Please say hi to Hans next time you see him at the club. 

Hans Sailing in a Strong Southerly

Season Opening Dinner

Over 35 members gathered at the Royal Prince Edward Yacht Club last Friday for a great evening of fun conversations, delicious food, and a drink or two (and maybe a bit more for some). Congrats to Campbell Patton for winning the Commodore’s Q&A competition (we hope you really did give that bottle of red to your dad), and to Mark Crowhurst for winning the Commodore’s drinking competition… It was an evening (and early morning) to remember. If you missed it, fear not, this is a newly reinstated tradition and we’ll be doing it all again next year.

Fun and Games at the Season Opening Dinner

New Members’ Welcome Drinks

Calling all members, both new and old (including RSYS sailors and their parents), to make 25 November a special day. Please plan to be at the club and stay for a few drinks on our amazing deck post racing that day. The idea of this is to make sure our existing members get to know the new members.

We would really love all the RSYS sailors to come across with their parents for this event too. We watch you beat us each week on the water and we would like to say thank you for keeping us on our toes!  A few of us might ask you for tips, so prepare you answers😜

Please note, this is a momentous day, as that is the first emoji that has ever appeared on any DBSC digital property, which apparently is the name you’re supposed to use for this sort of thing if you’re in the know. 

Hope to see you all on the 25th!