Learn to Run a Race

We are calling for volunteers who are willing to commit to learning how to run a race.  We are offering an opportunity for two people to run the winter championship races each fortnight, under supervision from an experienced race officer.  There are three races each fortnight, every second Sunday morning at 8.30am, starting 5 May.  Trainee race officers should be at the club at 7.30am to set the course and get in position for starts at 8.30.  You will be home, with much improved skills, by 11 (after free hot soup and bread from the canteen).  If you are interested in this opportunity, please email commodore@dbsc.com.au.

COTD Responsibilities

We had a VERY NEAR engine-terminating incident on Saturday.  Presumably someone the previous week had flushed the Bergman engine and left the water-cooling connector unattached. Fortunately, one very observant member saw it before the RIB was used. Had it been driven without the connector re-attached, the engine would have been caput!  $15,000 later …  PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE COTD GUIDE, LEAVE THINGS HOW YOU FIND THEM, AND IF IN DOUBT ASK FOR HELP!

Club Clean Out

There is an enormous pile of lost / unwanted / unloved clothing in the men’s change room – hanging up on the wall hooks, strewn across the benches, and half in and half out of plastic crates.  If this is your gear, please collect it.  We will be reminding people each week between now and the AGP – anything left in the changerooms after the AGP, whether hanging up or not, will be donated to charity via one of the neighbourhood “friendly bins”. 

Club Tidiness

We have had several articles over the past few weeks about taking pride of ownership in the club.  It continues to be disappointing to find examples of people who don’t demonstrate this pride or sense of responsibility.  For example, all the club’s lifejackets were carefully stacked neatly against the wall by one member after Community Day – and someone else has decided they look better strewn across the floor like this:

Someone else, who clearly has domestic problems, has decided to make the workshop their new bedroom, at least judging by the large pile of bedding left in there:

If you are responsible for either of these things, can you please take the time to clean them up before (a) a volunteer has to deal with the life jackets and (b) we put the bedding outside this weekend.

CYCA Scholarships

CYCA has kindly offered half-scholarships to DBSC youth members to participate in CYCA youth sailing courses on CYCA’s Elliott fleet.  If you are between 13-18, you can take up this offer (subject to availability for each specific course) for any of CYCA’s Youth Sailing Academy courses.  The list of courses can be found at https://cyca.com.au/youth/ and further details are available from Jordan Reece on 0433 272 283 / Jordan.reece@cyca.com.au.  If you are interested in these scholarships, please email commodore@dbsc.com.au.

Race Report

It was an amazing balmy sunny April afternoon, but a tricky day for racing, with the wind shifting nearly in a full circle during the course of the day.  The race committee took the unusual step at DBSC of raising the AP on shore while waiting firstly for the breeze to come in, and then for the northerly breeze that appeared to be replaced by the predicted E / SE breeze scheduled to arrive from nearby Botany Bay.  The AP came down at 1.45pm and racing was underway a little late at 2.20pm in a 6-7 knot easterly.  After some competitive racing in both fleets, the breeze began to fade, resulting in a shortened course being called at the last top mark, followed by hoisting of “N” over “A” to signify abandonment of further races, leaving time for the fleet to drift home, and enjoy a sundowner on the dock. Winners, after handicapping, were: Standards, Geoff Kirk, and radials/4.7s, Kate McHugh. Thanks to Andrew Cox, Matt Knight, Tom Beregi and Vic Whitby for their on-water race management and support.

No wind? No worries. Photo by Nick Pellow.

This race also brought to a close the 2019 Autumn Pointscore. Congratulations to our series winners. In the Standard fleet Hadrien Bourely eked out a victory with 33 points, with Max Jura (36.5 points) and Steve London (40 points) close behind; in the Radial/4.7s: Jim Dounis finished first with 40 points over Ashton Scott (51 points) and Emily Ball (52 points).           

Upcoming Events

Saturday 20 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 are planning on attending.

Saturday 20 April, 2pm – Easter Sprint Racing.

Saturday 27 April, 2pm – Final Heats of the Club Championship followed by an end of season BBQ.

Community and Family Weekend a Huge Success

Well done and thank you to the 30+ volunteers who made our Community Fete such a success on Sunday. Well over 500 people came to enjoy the sparkling day. Steyne Park was at its festive best, with a massive jumping castle, an array of favourite carnival games, flapping sails advertising laser sailboat rides on the lawn, remote controlled sailboats in the harbour, fairy floss and sausages to enjoy, and power boat rides from the front deck of the club. 

We served over 600 sausages and made over $700 for Clean Up Australia Day. We had numerous enquiries about teaching kids to sail (which we referred to Woollahra Sailing Club) and about 8 serious enquiries about LTR and membership.

Special thanks to Kirk Marcolina, who led the initiative, and Justin Davey, who worked closely with him, both spending countless hours enabling this to happen. And thanks to the NSW Government for the funding provided. It was a very successful day for the club which was perfectly aligned with our strategic goals of member engagement, community awareness, new member origination, and fundraising. Thanks again to everyone involved, this was an incredible example of volunteer teamwork and community spirit that makes our club great. 

Ash teaches the kids all his tricks.

As a warmup to the big Community Day, we had a member’s only Family Day on Saturday after racing. A beautifully warm day and gentle breeze greeted the families and friends who came to enjoy an afternoon of fun at the club. There were perfect conditions for tandem parent / child sailing on the laser, and a plucky young teen or two who gave a red-hot solo a go. The perfect breeze allowed a rounding of Clark Island, and for those not quite ready for the Laser, RIB rides provided for some on-water fun. Back on shore the jumping castle got a good workout and the delicious BBQ, complete with gummy worms and Chupa Chup pops, went down a treat. Thanks to everyone for making the day such a success, especially to our BBQ masters Mark Gray, Peter Collie, Pat Levy and his son, Brendan, who evidently has the same incredible volunteer spirit as his dad, stepping straight onto the BBQ for an extended stint.  Thanks also to Paul Adam for keeping us stocked with an unusually large supply of sausages and bread. 

Family Day Fun

Winter Championship Returns 5 May

Just because we’re heading into winter doesn’t mean that sailing is coming to a close. Our popular Winter Championship series is back starting on 5 May. It will run every second Sunday morning from May through July. Splash is at 8 for an 8.30 start. There will be three races each week (weather permitting), in a triangle sausage format with upwind finish (usual DBSC format, minus one leg). Details are in the SIs available on the website. We will be calling on race participants to volunteer as COTD and PRO. Brett Beyer will be running the Brett Beyer Winter Program (BBWP) again in conjunction with the Championship. The cost of this is $300 for five consecutive race days through May and June.  The program involves on-water coaching during the races and fleet level GPS analysis with individual statistics. Please let us know if you’re planning on racing in the series, and to register your interest in the BBWP HERE.

Annual General Party (and meeting)

On Friday 24 May, the clubhouse will be rocking for our Annual General Party (and Meeting). We’ll get the formal meeting out of the way first up at 7pm. Then, after a warm hearty meal, we’ll dance the night away with a reprise by popular demand of the DBSC band, guest starring Pat Levy and Martin White on air mike and air guitar respectively. And some surprise special guest cameos from actual musicians too. Please RSVP HERE. 

Last Year’s AGP fun.