Advertising Your Laser for Sale

We have decided to allow members to advertise their boats for sale in the newsletter going forward.  We see this as both a service to sellers and to would-be buyers, who might not see a 'traditional' sign on our noticeboard.  Ads for a particular boat will take the form of “editorial copy”, and will be included for one week only. Please submit your listing to newsletter@dbsc.com.au, your ad will then appear in the following Wednesday's newsletter. (Please note, submissions must be received by 5pm Monday to appear in that week’s newsletter.) The Commodore has generously volunteered to road test the new system this week, joined by Dennis Kuhlmann (please see below).

In addition to this, the “boats for sale” section on the website will still remain – see revised usage instructions here. We encourage members to use this, and to post on our Facebook page: The Top Mark and the clubhouse noticeboard.

Lasers for Sale

Andrew Cox is selling his 2yr old boat, 210797.  The laser comes fully rigged as is, with aluminium top section, yellow laser foils, carbon tiller and extension, and a used sail.  It is available either with radial bottom section and sail (correct numbers) or with standard bottom section and Mark II sail (different numbers).  The price is $8,000, which is a discount to the price at which 210192 recently sold on equivalent spec.  Contact Andrew on 0412 445 667.  See details here.

Dennis Kuhlmann is selling his lightly used laser, 209271. The boat is ready to race with a radial sail that has only been used for eight hours. The set-up includes heaps of upgrades and extras. The price for this boat is $7,500. Check out the details and photos here. Please contact Dennis on 0405 217 587 for more information. 

Club Championship Wrap

We had 42 boats for the final Club Championship races of the season, in a 10-15kt southerly.

It was a somewhat eventful day, with the first attempt at Race 15 having to be abandoned mid-race at the insistence of the Port Authority, who required us to move our bottom mark further south due to an unusually large tanker that was scheduled to exit the harbour.  We re-ran Race 15 and then managed to squeeze in Race 16 before sunset, making for a long day on the water. We apologise to the fleet for the disruption and for the disadvantages it may have caused to people’s positions.

In the end, the 2017/18 Club Championship series was won in the Standards by Mark Bethwaite ahead of Rod Barnes and Luke Parker, in the Radials by Jack Littlechild ahead of Martin White and Matt Knight, and in the 4.7s by Brooke Wilson ahead of Sara Brooks and Daniel Costandi.  Well done to you all!

Thanks to our PRO, Jonathan Stone assisted by Ashley Deacon, as well as the on-water team of Andrew Cox, Dave Rogers and Gerard Cafe.  Photos taken by Andrew Cox are available here.

The Standard Fleet Prepares to Start

May Events

Sunday 6 May, 8:30am start – Winter Series Commences. It looks like we’ll have a large fleet and good weather. Come join us for the inaugural edition of the newest DBSC racing series. 

A few items to note regarding the Winter Series:

• If you plan on sailing in the series, please email your name and sail number to Max Dzhura here. Max has volunteered to be responsible for the results.
• There will be 3 races on each day of about 30 minutes’ duration.
• The course will be one triangle and one sausage.
• The starting sequence will be 5 minutes with the Radials and 4.7s to start at 4 minutes and the standards at 5 minutes.
• The series is conducted every second Sunday.

Sunday 13, May, 1pm start – Big boat racing

Sunday 20 May, 8:30am start – Winter Series Heats 4-6

Friday 25 May, 7pm –DBSC’s Annual General Meeting and end of season dinner at the clubhouse. Bring your partners and get ready to sing along and dance.

Saturday 26 May, 8am– Boat Licence Course (see details below)

Boat Licence Course – Saturday May 26th

We will be running a 1-day boat licence course at DBSC on May 26th from 8am - 4pm, provided by ABC Boating and financially supported by the club.

The course costs $250 per person, but members will pay just $125 to participate and the club will fund the other 50%. All members should have a boat licence if you perform PRO or COTD duties. It is also good for anyone who just enjoys being on the Harbour in a boat.

Spots will be allocated on a first-in basis. To reserve your spot, please email Christine Linhart (c.linhart@unsw.edu.au) with the subject "LAST NAME - Boat Licensing Deposit". Christine will then send you the details of how to make the payment of $125. After we receive payment, your spot in the course will be confirmed.

The weather policy on the day is go unless it's dangerous (e.g. lightning).  If you can't attend, it will be your obligation to find an alternate (we will help as long as it's not at the last minute). If you don't attend without covering your spot, you will be expected to reimburse the club for its contribution on your behalf (an additional $125).

You will need to provide your boat licence details to us for our records once you have obtained it. If you do not, we may request you cover the club's contribution for the course.

New Sailing Instructions

The Sailing Committee has tweaked the existing Sailing Instructions for the 2018/19 season (which begins with the Winter Series). You can check them out here. The two biggest changes follow:

• The Winter Championship will be conducted in accordance with the Sailing Instructions in general, with additional provisions specific to the Winter Championship in Annexure 6, which can be seen here.
• The Sailing Instructions now include the new sign on / sign off rule – no score will be recorded unless people sign on before racing and sign off within 30 minutes of the last on-water race committee member returning to shore.  Provisions for people signing on and off from other locations are yet to be finalised.  As a result, the new sign on / sign off provision will not operate for the Winter Championship.

Laser Oceania Masters in Fiji

The 2018 Fiji Oceania Laser Masters Championships will be held on the beautiful Denarau Island, Fiji, hosted by The Denarau Yacht Club.  Warm waters and great sailing breezes are a feature at the event venue, the luxurious Sofitel Resort and Spa. 

  The event will be run separately for Standard and Radial rigs:

• Standard rigs from the 13th – 19th October 2018 
• Radials rigs from 20th – 26th October 2018

A fleet of 100 PSA supplied brand new Lasers will be allocated for the event, just turn up and sail. The event web site HERE has links to the notice of race and all the information and links for charter and accommodation.

Finn in France

Congratulations to Finn Alexander who placed 13th overall in the Sailing World Cup Series in Hyerés, France. A great result in a fleet of 68 amazing sailors. Finn reports on Facebook, “Hyerés provided some super tight racing, in fickle breeze most of the time. Had some tough moments throughout the event, but happy to finish things off well.” Finn is now off to La Rochelle, for the European Championships.

Photo by Sailing Energy

Watch Out - New Turf Going In

A quick reminder that the Council is currently resurfacing the lawn in our rigging area. During the next 7 weeks, we need to respect the works and give time for the new turf to establish itself. During the period, there will be a narrow access corridor available from the concrete semi-circle outside our roller door to the concrete semi-circle above the eastern boat ramp.  Boats must be rigged on either of the concrete semi-circles or on the beach, NOT on the lawn area.  When wheeling boats through the access corridor, please be mindful of minimising impact, particularly once the turf has been laid. Thanks for your help with this. 

Autumn Pointscore Wrap-up

We had a good turnout of 34 boats for our last Autumn Point Score races of the season.  It was a lovely autumn afternoon with a very shifty 9-14kt SE breeze, that moved further and further right as the afternoon progressed. 

Competition was close leading into the last two races, with Murray Stone 1.5 points ahead of Ian Alexander in the Standards and Daryl Lawrence 2.5 points ahead of Martin White in the Radials/4.7s.  This was made more exciting with a further impending drop.  And Daryl’s absence posed some risk for him.

In the Standards, Murray did everything he could to give Ian a chance, posting a 14th in the first race, but Ian obliged by posting a 16th.  And then Murray sailed a great second race, posting a 4th vs Ian’s 8th to secure a series win.

In the Radials / 4.7s, Daryl’s absence proved to be costly.  Martin had two great races, with significant separation on the rest of the fleet, resulting in a 3rd and a 5th vs Daryl’s 12th and 12th (DNC).  While Daryl got to drop one of those 12ths, it wasn’t enough.  In the end, both Martin and Julian van Aalst passed Daryl in the series, giving another series win to Martin.

Well done to Murray and Martin for their hard fought and successful results.

Thanks to Dennis Kuhlmann for running well-organised races, assisted by Clare Alexander.  And thanks to the COTD team of Josh Kirton, Yves Stening (and kids, Molly and Bill) and Gerard Cafe (who used to drive the RIBs regularly for the club some years ago) – welcome back Gerard.  Thanks also to Hadrien Bourely, who assisted Shirley Roach in the canteen, and thanks to Shirley for her hard work as the sole regular volunteer!