Thriving Twilights
Kirk Marcolina
There were 18 boats last Wednesday for Twilight Sailing. It was a great evening on the water. The BBTP continues tonight so come on down for some close racing and training!
The best way to find out about the club is to visit us, and meet some members.
Apart from the week of Christmas, the clubhouse is open from at least noon every Saturday from 1 August to 30 April. Our telephone number is: +61 2 9363 5577.
We are run by volunteers, so if your query cannot answered by the frequently asked questions (FAQs) below or the rest of the website, we will get back to you by Wednesday, 10pm.
How do I subscribe to your Pulitzer Prize winning newsletter?
How to make a tax-deductible donation to the club (using the internet)?
How to make a tax-deductible donation to the club (using paper forms)?
Want to book a seat at the restaurant?
Want to become a social member?
Can I rent/hire your clubhouse?
How do I get to crew on a yacht?
Can you teach me to race a Laser?
What is the deal between your club and the 18 footers and Sydney High School?
Can I store my kayak (or similar) in the clubhouse?
Can you help me buy, or sell, a Laser?
How many times can a visitor race at DBSC?
79 Bay St
Double Bay NSW 2028
Australia
The best ILCA / Laser sailing club in the world, located in Double Bay on Sydney Harbour.
There were 18 boats last Wednesday for Twilight Sailing. It was a great evening on the water. The BBTP continues tonight so come on down for some close racing and training!
Our contingent of 20+ sailors is ready to head North next weekend for the State Masters in Lake Macquarie. If you’re one of them, please make sure you’ve officially registered for the event here.
A computer glitch delayed the results of the Vaucluse Regatta, but after a reboot we have them now. Congrats to all the DBSC members who did our club proud. In the Full Rigs Ian Alexander won and Nick Pellow finished 3rd out of a fleet of 33 boats. In the Radials, Campbell Patton was first, Otto Henry was second, and Matthew Knight placed third out of 34 boats.
Every year, we have a shortage of people we can roster on as PRO for our races. We have now developed a “learn to run a race” program to address this.
This program, which follows on from our club-wide competency training, is intended to provide the practical experience needed to act as PRO for our main competition races (i.e. Club Championships, Point Scores and Winter Championships). For those who have acted as a PRO before, it will be a refresher course; and for those who have not, it will be an opportunity to learn.
The program will run in conjunction with Learn to Race, which is generally held on every first and third Saturday of the month from September to April. We will initially be asking selected club members to “volunteer” to participate in this program, and be rostered on for training, where you will revise / learn how to run races by acting as PRO for the LTR races. The aim over time is for every member to become qualified to act as PRO in our main competition races.
In addition to the training, those who are rostered on will also be asked to assist with rigging, de-rigging and packing away club boats – the LTR team needs help with this. All participants in this program will still be able to sail in the afternoon racing.
You might have noticed that the women in our ranks have grown substantially over the last year. This is great news, but has caused a bit of a strain on the one shower that was previously in the women’s change room. But thanks to Pat Levy, Geoff Kirk, and Richard Bott a second shower has been created. The women are over the moon and deliriously happy with this development. They report both showers are in regular use already, so thanks to all.
Photo by Clare Alexander.
Do you want the good news or the bad? The good news is that the club has been at capacity all year and is now overflowing! The bad news is that this means there are two boats that live on the floor for now.
One of those boats is our recently refurbished fifth club boat, and the other is a new member’s boat.
The plan is to monitor the situation between now and the end of the season, waiting to see if any natural attrition occurs. In the meantime, we will be speaking to those members who are rarely at the club to see if they might be willing to move their boats until they are able to sail more often. And failing that, we are going to have to “volunteer” people to do so!
Until we find a permanent solution, we appreciate your forbearance for any inconvenience the success of our club is generating! If you need to access your boat, please move the boats on the floor as needed, but put them back when you are done.
Importantly, please store them end to end down the left side of the aisle, leaving a free corridor down the right side with unblocked access to the bathrooms. Do not store them side by side!
During the weekend of April 6-7 we’ll be sharing a bit of DBSC with our family, friends and wider community. After sailing on Saturday April 6thwe’ll have our annual Family Evening. It’s a chance to show off the club to our loved ones, and for our families to meet and mingle. We’ll have a jumping castle, RIB rides, parent / child sprint races, and a family friendly BBQ.
On Sunday 7 April, from 10am to 1pm, we’re hosting our inaugural DBSC Community Day. More details will follow, but we’ll need a lot of volunteers for the day, so please mark it on your calendar.
Family Day Fun in 2018.
Wednesday 20 February, 5pm – Twilight Sailing.
Saturday 23 February, 1pm Briefing / 2pm Start – Club Championship 11 & 12 plus Autumn Pointscore 5 & 6.
Saturday 23 February, 5pm– BBQ on the Deck.
The harbour will be a bit busier than normal this Saturday with F50 Catamarans taking up our normal racecourse for the inaugural SailGP event. Here’s the spin from their website: “SailGP is sailing redefined, combining awe-inspiring athleticism with top-flight tech. Bringing you the thrilling sight of supercharged F50 catamarans charging down Sydney Harbour, battling it out on the water for their countries in an all-new nation vs nation international competition.”
They are racing on Saturday from 3pm to 5pm, with a huge exclusion zone starting at 2pm. The exclusion zone and the forecast Easterly breeze will make it very difficult (if not impossible) to sail between Vaucluse and Double Bay between 2 and 5pm. Because of this, VYC and DBSC have decided to cancel the second leg of this season’s Vaucluse Challenge which was scheduled for this Saturday. The scores of the first leg will stand and serve as the final result of this season’s Challenge.
Instead of the Vaucluse Challenge we will be running sprint racing this Saturday. To avoid the heart of the SailGP event we will be sailing earlier and on a course away from the exclusion zone. Please join us for the briefing at 12 noon in preparation for sprint racing starting at 1pm.
Laser Sailors Beware, the F50 Cats are Coming.
It was a trying day on the water last Saturday at the Vaucluse Regatta. The day was looking promising. A decent N/NE breeze was building and the forecast thunderstorms looked like they would say away. But as race time approached it was clear our luck wouldn’t last; storms were building in all directions. On top of that, a strong outgoing tide and a short starting line forced 5 general recalls and a few postponements. By the time the first race started, it was clear the wind was dying, and before the end of the race the wind completely stopped. Much of the fleet began moving backward with the tide as we struggled to reach the finish line. Nick Pellow posted Brett Beyer’s GPS annimation of the final moments of the race on the Top Mark. It’s both painful and hilarious to watch. Steven Bradbury eat your heart out.
Luckily, soon after the finish, a squall came though from the NW, providing an exhilarating reach all the way back to Double Bay. Hopefully mother nature will provide better conditions for this week’s sailing.
Pat Levy enjoys a quick ride home. Photo by Clare Alexander.