The Week Ahead

Wednesday 7 March, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. Sign up here if you’re coming. Brett Beyer will run us thought the paces. Only 4 weeks left twilight sailing, so don’t miss out.

Saturday 10 March, 2pm Start – Autumn Point Score Heats 11 & 12. Please note, the JJ’s are still on this weekend, so plan on bit of a crowd in the rigging area.

Sunday 11 March, 2pm Start – Big Boat Racing (postponed to this week due to high winds last Sunday). Please let Jonathan Stone know if you want to join the fleet. 

Everyone’s Welcome at DBSC’s Family Day BBQ – March 17

Thanks to everyone who has RSVP’d for our 1st Annual DBSC Family Day – if you haven’t what are you waiting for? Let us know here if you are coming (we need to know numbers for catering). It’s not just for kids – it’s also for your loved ones – partners, parents, grandparents, etc! Come and join in the BBQ – even if just attending by yourself – it is a replacement for the 3 March BBQ that was cancelled due to JJs. The fun starts at 4:30 (after our Sprint Racing) and will include a jumping castle, family friendly laser races and more! Look forward to seeing you there. 

Yearly Dues

Can you believe that it’s already March and our 2017-18 sailing season will be coming to a close in less than 2 months? But fear not, we’re already thinking about next season and that includes dues.  Invoices will be sent out shortly and we’d appreciate payment before 30 April.  Most of our costs are incurred in the off-season, so that’s why we invoice at the end of the season instead of the start of the new season.  So we’d appreciate it if you could pay as soon as possible.

Unlike last year, we are not asking for voluntary donations this year.  We will revisit that when the next large instalment of piles work is needed. Thank you to everyone who contributed so generously this year!

Clean Up Australia Day - Success Again

written by Jonathan Stone

I came down to the Club just before 6.30am on Sunday 4 March. The Club was already open and its lights on, the dawn was as pretty as … … And  Peter Collie greeted me with a fresh-brewed coffee; a welcome surprise. I donned one those high visibility vests, and set up a table just in front of the Club.

Within minutes people came by for the ‘dawn patrol'. Peter of course, and I remember Josh, Stephen, Yves and his team, Simon, Pippa, and many more from DBSC. A dozen lads from Cranbrook came through looking serious about it; they touched base before moving through. A good mixture of Laser and big boat sailors, and other members of the community.

More importantly, they brought in maybe 20 bags of rubbish. Yves’ team commented on the cigarette butts near the park seats - ‘you should ban smoking!’. Bits of tape and wire; but all in all the beaches are showing improvement over the years - no reports of needles, little broken glass. The beaches were clean by 7.15am; the rest by 10.30am.

At the end, the rubbish was sorted (recyclables were separated) and the residue was consolidated into fewer bags, and taken out to Bay St for collection. I will call the Council in the morning. Unused bags and gloves were packed and stashed in the workshop for next year.

The job was done, in great spirit, by many volunteers - all thanks to them.

The dawn patrol was greeted with a pretty sky over calm waters. Later in the morning (about 9.30am) a big southerly front came through, with heavy winds and grey skies. Races were cancelled up and down the harbour; and the southerly is set to blow for another two days.

Thanks to Jonathan Stone for making DBSC's participation in Clean Up Australia Day a huge success!

Drummoyne Hosing Metros 17-18 March

The Metropolitan Championships are coming up on the weekend of 17-18th March at Drummoyne Sailing Club.

The Notice of Race is HERE and entries can be placed  online HERE or on Saturday 17th at the club. Entry is $60 or $30 for sailors under 21.

Registrations Open for Masters Worlds and Radial Youth Worlds

The Radial Youth World Championships and the Laser Masters World Championships applications are open from now to 12 April.

The details of these events can be found here and the Australian entry ranking criteria can be found here. 

Note that the Standard Men's World Championship and the Radial Women's World Championship will be organised by World Sailing not the ILCA. Links to the details of these events can also be found here.

Race Report

Saturday was heats 7 and 8 of the Autumn Point Score.  It looked like an absolutely stonking northeast gradient, so everyone rigged their number three sails and reefed their jibs.  But when we got out there, it wasn’t so bad.  BoM recorded it as 17-22kts NNE, with a short peak at 26kts.  Our resident wind-whisperer, Brett Beyer, clocked it at more like 12-20kts for the first race and 7-14kts for the second.  And that’s pretty much how it really was.

The Radials and 4.7s showed exactly how not to start.  Dreadful drift rate management, late bale-outs and even a couple of capsizes on the gun.  The Standards did better.  And eventually everyone was away.  There was some good wave catching to be had with the incoming tide, and that was Race 1.  Race 2 was more interesting.  The Radials didn’t learn, and still botched the start.  This time the wind had died, before some rain came through on the left.  Those who managed the lull and the rain-induced left-hander did very well.  And those who didn’t, didn’t.

Thanks to PRO, Michael Osborne, assisted by Clare Alexander, and to the COTD team of Mark Crowhurst and John Chesterman, helped out by Julian van Aalst and Hugo Knight.  Thanks also to Wade McDonough, who helped Paul, Andrea and Shirley in the canteen.

The winners on adjusted times were:  for the Standards, Steve London ahead of Dave Newman in Race 1 and David Newman ahead of Ian Alexander in Race 2; and for the Radials/4.7s, David Huber ahead of Daryl Lawrence in Race 1 and Zac West ahead of Pat Levy in Race 2.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 28 February, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. Sign up here if you’re coming. It’s the last few weeks of daylight saving, come and join us for some big fleets.  Everyone gets to join in the drills and hear from Brett Beyer as part of the group, while those in the program get individual help.

Saturday 3 March, 9am – Learn to Race. Come along if you want to learn more about Laser boat handling, balance, boat posture, trim, starts, tacks, gybes, boat set-up and any other race management fundamentals. Please email Martin White if you plan on attending.

Saturday 3 March, 2pm Start – Club Championships Heats 11 & 12 and Autumn Point Score Heats 7 & 8. No BBQ due to the JJs.

Sunday 4 March, 6:30am & 9am to 12noon – Clean-Up Australia Day at DBSC. See details below.

Sunday 4 March, 2pm Start – Big Boat Racing. Please let Jonathan Stone know if you want to join the fleet. 

Clean-Up Australia Day – This Sunday

DBSC is once again participating in Clean-Up Australia Day. We’ll be cleaning the beaches and parks near our club this Sunday, March 4th. Because low tide is early (at 4:43am) it’s an early start.  We’re looking for volunteers to arrive at 6:30am to clean the beaches for about 30 minutes. Then we’ll have a second wave from 9am to noon to clean the park and upper parts of the beaches. Thanks for coming out and supporting the club’s efforts to be a good community partner in this important event. 

Family Day RSVP

In order to gage numbers and interest in Family Day we need those who’d like to attend to click here to RSVP now (the event is free, but we just need to know you’re coming). We’re planning a jumping castle, family Laser sprint races, and a kiddie friendly BBQ. Family day will take place at 4:30 pm on 17 March.  It’s the chance to show the kids and your partner what you get up to every Saturday. Thanks for letting us know if you’ll be attending.