NSW Youth Championships

Well done to the large contingent of DBSC sailors who competed at the NSW Youth Championships at Lake Macquarie last weekend. And thank you for supporting DBSC with branding in your registration details – we know you are all members of more than one club!

The results speak for themselves – our sailors performed very strongly in their fleets with a first in the Radials and clean sweep in the 4.7s.  Congratulations and well done! 

Radials - 25 Competitors:

1st - Zac West

4th- Campbell Patton

6th - Otto Henry

7th - Mark Louis

11th- Maddie O’Shea

13th - Sylvie Stannage

14th - Tom Green

4.7s - 28 Competitors:

 1st - Brooke Wilson

2nd - Mina Ferguson

3rd - Daniel Costandi

16th - Ian Louis

Cover Girls

We are proud to report our very own, and significantly more wholesome, version of the “cover girl” concept.  Sistership magazine, which is the biggest selling sailing magazine for women in Australia, and also has a huge international following, is featuring our Women’s Laser Regatta in its next edition, not only in the form of editorial copy, but also on the front cover!  Make sure you get yourself a copy.  Well done to Clare Alexander for organising such a great outcome for the club. You can check it out here.

Front Cover of the October edition of SisterShip Magazine featuring the DBSC Woman’s Laser Regatta.

Brett Beyer Twilight Program

We now have five boats confirmed for the Brett Beyer Twilight Program. We need 10 for this to proceed. If you want to join the program, which is capped at 10 boats, please email coaching@dbsc.com.au ASAP. 

The program involves individual real-time on-water coaching during both drills and racing scenarios. Drills last season included start practice, super short course boat handling, and tacks and gybes. Last year’s program participants learned a tremendous amount about boat setup, boat handling, technique, strategy and tactics. 

Splash is at 5pm (or whenever you can get there) for a 5.30 start and two hours of serious fun!  All sailors are welcome to join whether part of the program or not. We had 15 boats every Wednesday last season — let’s try and get to 20 regulars this season!!

Up Next

Saturday 29 September, 2pm start – Sprints. With the long weekend and footy finals, we’ll be talking it a bit easier at DBSC, with a series of short sprint races. 

Weekend Recap

It started as a light North Easter on a beautiful sunny spring afternoon for heats 3 and 4 of the Spring Point Score.  We had a large fleet of 45 boats racing. 

In the first race, there were significant differences in pressure between the left and the right, which resulted in some big shifts in position as the first race progressed. 

In the second race, an increase in wind strength made for more consistent pressure across the course. The wind shifted a little to the right and the top mark was moved in, favouring port as the long and often lifted tack.  

Thanks to Gerry Donohoe, Mark Crowhurst and Trish Hancock for PRO, COTD and Co-COTD duties. And thanks to Clare and Charlotte Alexander who slummed it on the start / finish in the Paul Adam because the Jazzman was out of service due to a leaking seal and bilge flooding. 

Thanks also to Shirley Roach and Yves Stening who staffed the canteen. 

And finally, thanks to Brett for running the first instalment of the Brett Beyer Saturday Program. Participants will receive start videos and GPS tracks during the week.

LOST PROPERTY:  while we’re on that subject, Mike Dunne’s GPS unit went missing in the change room after sailing. Can everyone please check their gear bags and let us know if you accidentally picked it up. 

Can all BBSP participants please return their vests and GPS units to Brett on the water. Sail over to Brett at the end of racing for some feedback and to return these items. And please feel free to get as much as you can out of your participation by sailing over to Brett before racing and between races for questions and feedback. All members are welcome to join Brett on the clubhouse deck for a post-race debrief each week. 

Important Note from the Handicappers

This is a bit of a long article. The important points are:

- check your results for last weekend and let the handicapper know if incorrect

- check if your sail number is listed in the results section of the website as unknown and let the handicapper know

- all sailors please talk to the handicapper next week and make sure your number is recorded correctly in the system

- number your sail correctly with six digits and no duplication vs other numbers in the fleet or risk disqualification 

The details are as follows:

Race results this week are not yet finalised. The scorers and handicapper have had great difficulty with new members whose sail numbers are not recorded, new boats with new sail numbers, blank un-numbered sails, and incorrectly or partly numbered sails. 

There is a note from the handicapper in the results section of our website www.dbsc.com.au that lists the numbers that are unknown and unscored. Several other results are also incorrect. Can you please check your results and get in touch with the handicappers at results@dbsc.com.au if you believe you are not scored or are incorrectly scored. For example, there are several people who sailed, but whose results are incorrectly recorded as DNC. 

Separately, can all sailors please speak to the handicappers this coming weekend to make sure your number is recorded correctly in their system. We ask every sailor to do this please to assist the scorers and the handicappers.

As a further important note, we are implementing a policy effective immediately that the scorers reserve the right not to score any incorrectly numbered sail. As a leading Laser club, we are committed to observing and enforcing class rules. 

Sail numbers MUST comprise six digits — if you are missing digits from your sails, please add them ASAP. Numbers can be purchased from NB Sailsports. 

Sail numbers must also match hull numbers.  However, we are know some people are using sails handed on from other members. We encourage and support this, so we will not penalise people for mismatching sail / hull numbers. Nevertheless, we do ask that, as a courtesy, if you are using a mismatched sail, please make sure your sail number does not duplicate any other sail number in our fleet. You can do this by removing selected numbers and replacing them with other numbers. If you see someone using a number that duplicates yours, please ask them to change it. 

We need your active and rapid help on this. The scorers and handicappers have already had to spend several unnecessary hours this week trying to sort out results!

Bulk Sail Order

The first instalment of our bulk sail order was delivered by NB last week, with about half the standard sails delivered. We have emailed directly those whose sails are available, but not yet collected. 

NB will continue to work on the next instalment to be available this weekend. Please do not take your sails without speaking to Andrew Cox, who will check them off the list.  

Delivery of all sails will take another couple of weeks — as you will appreciate it takes a long time to put the numbers on 50 sails!!  We will not have visibility in advance as to whose sails are being delivered at a particular time, but we will email you if yours remains uncollected on the day it is delivered. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this regard. 

Women’s Laser Regatta Thanks

We have three important contributors to the Women’s Laser Regatta that we want to recognise and acknowledge with a special thank you. 

First, we thank NSW Government Member for Vaucluse, The Hon. Gabrielle Upton — Gabrielle is a strong supporter of the club, having championed several NSW Government grants for us, including grants for the Women’s Laser Regatta, the club’s brand new cardiac defibrillator, and the ongoing piles replacement project. Gabrielle opened the regatta, saying “I’m proud to support DBSC and this event, which celebrates women. It’s wonderful to see you all here with these inspirational coaches, learning and having fun.”

The Hon. Gabrielle Upton with DBSC Commodore, Andrew Cox.

Second, we thank Mayor of WoollahraMunicipal Council, Peter Cavanagh — Peter is also a strong supporter of the club and its contribution to the community. He championed a Woollahra Municipal Council grant for the Women’s Laser Regatta, and presented the prizes at the conclusion of the regatta. He showed tremendous affinity for what we are doing in promoting women in sailing, by wearing a bright pink waistcoat selected especially for the event, matching the pink bibs that had been worn by the sailors all weekend. He said, “It’s wonderful to see the sense of community this has created. Volunteering is such a rewarding thing and Council is proud to have provided a grant for this event.”

Mayor of Woollahra Municipal Council, Peter Cavanagh.

Third, we thank Kevin Phillips and the NSW and ACT Laser Association — Kevin is a great friend and partner to the club, providing a grant to fund coaching for the weekend, and providing support in the form of marketing and promotion for the event. We have been proud to work very closely with the Laser Association in holding various championships at DBSC, most recently the Open and Masters State Championship last season. We also aim to support Laser Association events by sending large contingents of sailors to their regattas. We encourage all members to diarise and sign up for the Coast Championships at VYC on 27-28 October (there will be no racing at DBSC that day) and for the State Masters Championships at South Lake Macquarie Amateur SC on 2-3 March 2019.

Women’s Regatta Coaches sponsored by the NSW & ACT Laser Association. Photo by Hadrien Bourely.

Wild Start to Spring Pointscore

The first heats of the Spring Pointscore were quite a challenge for the 35 boats who competed on this beautify warm, sunny day. The forecast was for a strong North-westerly and Mother Nature didn’t let us down. Race one was sailed in a moderate 15 knot breeze, but things got more than a bit tricky for race two as the wind built substantially. Two 30+ knot bullets saw most of the fleet in the water. Because of the extreme conditions, more than half of the fleet retired early and did not finish the second race. The winners (after handicapping) were: Full Rigs: Michael Osborne (race 1), Matt Wenke (race 2); Radials & 4.7s (who race as one fleet in the Pointscore): Mark Crowhurst (race 1), Brooke Wilson (race 2). You can check out all the results here. Thanks to last week’s volunteers for doing a great job in some tough conditions: PRO Craig Sheers, assisted by Christine Patton, COTD Geoff Boscoe, CoCOTD Max Dzhura, and Canteen Assistant Steven London. 

Saturday’s Wild Winds.

Thanks also to Matthew Knight for assisting Geoff Boscoe in rescuing a sailor who was unable to right their boat in the huge winds. Matthew showed us the right thing to do when a fellow member is having difficulties – stop racing and help. Matthew will receive average points for the race.

It’s a good reminder that safety is the responsibility of every individual participant, and every participant is responsible for both their own safety and the safety of others.  Please be aware of your equipment and surroundings, and the associated dangers, and please be aware of the safety and wellbeing of your fellow participants. In case there is any doubt, the safety of people comes before the race or safety of property, no matter what.

If you see a capsized boat, and are the closest person to it, you must establish visually and verbally that its crew are safe, even if this means sailing out of your way. This is an obligation of every boat that sequentially becomes the closest boat to a capsized boat until that capsized boat is righted and its crew is back on board.  The fact that a capsized crew indicated to an earlier closest boat that he or she was safe, cannot be assumed to mean he or she is still safe when a later boat becomes the closest boat.

It is important to remember there is no guarantee that a club volunteer and/or response boat crew member will see an incident or be able to attend to it either in time or at all.  You cannot assume that someone else will take care of it.

Thanks, Matthew for looking out for your fellow sailor – let’s all remember this when the winds start to howl again. 

Up Next

Saturday 22 September, 2pm start – Spring Pointscore, Heats 3 & 4. Brett Beyer Saturday Program Begins (see details below).