Club Creatives

Two of our members are showing off their creative skills this week. Fist up, Kirk Marcolina’s documentary about the history of marriage equality in Australia will air on SBS on Thursday, 15 November at 7:30pm. Kirk’s been working on the film non-stop for the past year – you can watch the trailer and find out more about the film here. Tune in and check it out. 

Check out Kirk’s doco on SBS on Thursday at 7:30pm.

A few days later, on Saturday 17 November at 7pm, Hadrien Bourely’s band, Napoleonic, is playing upstairs at Red Bar, 36 Glebe Point Road. Come along after sailing for the gig!  And get there early (like 6.30pm) because the venue is going to be at capacity!!  

Open and Youth States

The NSW & ACT Laser State Championships are on 24-25 November at Canberra Yacht Club. CYC is a fabulous club and we have been promised good sailing conditions so this is an event not to be missed. 

This is a cube event for open and youth divisions. Masters cubes will be awarded at the States at South Lakes ASC 2-3 March 2019. The Notice of Race for the event is HERE. Sailing Instructions are HERE. Online entries ($60 and $30 for sailors under 21) can be placed HERE.

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 14 November, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. BBTP Continues. 

Saturday 17 November, 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 here if you are planning on attending.

Saturday 17 November, 2pm Start – Spring Point Score heats 11 & 12.  

Early Saturday Splash for The Vaucluse Challenge

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. 

This heat of the VC is being hosted by Vaucluse. The second heat in the new year will be at DBSC. Because we must travel up to Vaucluse we will have a briefing at 12 noon and a splash no later than 1pm.

The race starts at 2pm as usual, but the format and scoring is different (and more complex) than previous years. Here are the main points: 

Format:

• Two races of approximately 45 minutes (four races in total in the series), with the hosting club to decide the course layout and sequence. We will discuss the course at the briefing on Saturday.

• For each race, there will be separate starts for Standards and for combined Radials/4.7s. If there are at least six 4.7s, including at least one from each club, there will be a separate 4.7 start. 

Scoring: 

(Warning—you may need an advanced maths degree to understand these rules, but fear not, we will review all on Saturday. For those of you who want to see even more details about the scoring and the full rules of the Challenge please click here.)

There will be two elements to the scoring – overall order of finishing and age-based order of finishing. 

Overall order of finishing– in each race, the first n boats in each Starting Fleet from each club will be allocated a score of 1 to 2n in accordance with their relative order of finishing (regardless of their actual position in the finish), where n = the number of boats in that Starting Fleet from the club with the smallest fleet in that class, provided n≤4. 

Age-based order of finishing– in each race, each Starting Fleet will be separated into aged-based “Scoring Divisions”. Within each Scoring Division, the first m boats from each club will be allocated a score of 1 to 2m in accordance with their relative order of finishing within that Scoring Division (regardless of their actual position in the finish), where m = the lesser of 1/3 of the boats in that Scoring Decision and the number of boats in that Scoring Division from the club with the smallest number of boats in that division. 

For each race, the score for each club will be the aggregate of the scores from both types of scoring. In determining the winner of the Vaucluse Challenge, the scores for each club from all four races will be aggregated, to provide an overall score for that club.

Okay, I warned you that it was complicated. But suffice it to say, we need everyone to sail their best to come out on top!

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 7 November, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. The weather forecast isn’t looking great, but sailing is still going forward unless advised otherwise. (See more details below.)

Saturday 10 November, 12pm – Vaucluse Challenge. Briefing one hour early – 12 noon. (See details above.)

Club Championship

A warm spring day welcomed a fleet of 45 boats for Club Championship heats 5 and 6. For a change there was a lighter breeze. In fact it was one of the first Saturdays of the season that was under 20 knots, with a shifty and patchy 5-12 knot E/NEer blowing. 

The winners were as follows: in the Standards, Mark Bethwaite and Jules Hal, in the Radials, Otto Henry and Sylvie Stannage, and in the 4.7s, Morgan Au and Daniel Costandi. A great day of racing was capped by recap of the day by coach Brett Beyer and a scrumptious barbie on the club deck.  

Thank you to our PRO, Murray Stone, assisted by Clare Alexander, our COTD, Matthew Knight, and CoCOTD, Derek Hand.  And thanks to our rostered canteen volunteer, Joshua Pearl, who assisted our dedicated regular team of Paul, Andrea and Shirley. And of course, well done to Peter Collie and the other BBQ masters. 

The post race debrief with Brett Beyer.

The Kitchen Crew in Action.

Terrific Twilights

Last Wednesday saw a record 16 boats turn up for twilight sailing. Brett Beyer ran start drills and sprint practice and the fleet partook in some valuable learnings. We’re well on our way to our aim of 20 regulars!  So tonight, why not join our growing Wednesday numbers – no need to be part of the BBTP to join in the fun.  

Big Boat Report

Written by Jonathan Stone

6 boats presented on a blowy summer-like afternoon - warm, a robust north-easterly.

Peter Collie served as PRO - thank you.

Corinna won the start; we were all a bit late but Corinna did it best but was quickly challenged by Umbakumba and G-Force and these three boats fought for the lead throughout the race. Umbakumba and Corinna arrived at the top mark - at Sow’n Pigs reef - locked together; and it was Umbakumba that had the slightly better run home. Corinna tried to fly a kite - the only one of us to try - but something went wrong; and this let the competitive G-Force through into second. 

Chenonceau started late, but adjusted to the blowy conditions, the fleets of OK dinghies, flying ants, B49s, large yachts, and more - to push through into fourth place. Time & Tide started securely and pointed well but suffered several races worth of mishaps. We ended up 5th, with Smitten 6th

Gerry sailed back to his Balmain mooring with a wide grin - his re-furbished hull, and the team he formed with Max, had won the day.

Over the line:

• Umbakumba

• G-Force

• Corinna

• Chenonceau

• Time & Tide

• Smitten

As always, drinks on the deck; and - with the 18s sailing - the spectacle of their return to base. We race next on December 2.

A close first leg. Photo by Peter Collie

Coast Championship Recap

A strong fleet of 31 DBSC members made the journey up the harbour to compete in the NB Sailsports Laser Coast Championship last weekend. Our sailors made up over 1/3 of the 83 boats that competed – a great turnout.  The two-day regatta was a filled with stiff breezes and even stiffer competition.  The three races Saturday were sailed under a building NEer, which peaked in race three with gusts over 20 knots. A cool change overnight brought a strong Southerly for Sunday’s racing. 

The large fleet and challenging winds were no match for our sailors who came out on top. Standout performances and victories were celebrated by: Brooke Wilson (Winner, 4.7s), Zac West (Winner, Radials), Finn Alexander (Winner, Standards, 1st Overall, 1st U21), Maddie O’Shea (1st Woman, Radials), James Tudball (1st Open, Radials), Brett Beyer (1st Master, Standards), Ashley Deacon (1st GGM, Standards), Hadrien Bourely (1st Apprentice, Standards). 

Supporting our large contingent of DBSC sailors in the Jazzman and RIBs were Clare Alexander, Max Dzhura, Dene Bergman, Gerry Donohue and Josh Kirton. And of course, Paul and Shirley were there to feed the troops before they headed off on Saturday. Thanks to the support crew and well done to all the competitors. 

The large fleet on Saturday. Photo by Max Dzhura.

Some of the DBSC Winners.

Brooke Wilson — Winner, 4.7s

The Week Ahead

Wednesday 31 October, 5pm – Twilight Sailing. BBTP Begins. (See details below).

Saturday 3 November, 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 at mwhite@universalmagazines.com.au if you are planning on attending.

Saturday 3 November, 2pm Start – Club Championship heats 5&6.  

Saturday 3 November, 5pm – BBQ on the Deck.  

Sunday 4 November, 2pm Start – Big Boat Race, 2pm start. The Double Bay Street Festival is happening on Sunday, so parking will be very tricky.