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.
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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.
Twilight sailing this week will be half an hour earlier, with splash at 4.30 for a 5pm start and 7pm finish. Brett Beyer will be conducting the twilight sailing session again – let’s see if we can set a new record of >25 boats! There is a function that night at the club, starting at 7pm for 7.30pm, so please pack up your boats and shower quickly upon returning to shore after twilight sailing. Boats will need to remain on the lawn until after the function.
The first of the two legs in this season’s Vaucluse Challenge races will be held this coming Saturday, 30 November. This is a seminal event in our calendar, where we do battle with our friends from the French Enclave to defend the honour of the title of champions of the main harbour! The racing will be held in “neutral waters”, somewhere up near Nielsen Park / Rose Bay – note, it will take much longer to sail to the course area, so we are encouraging all boats to launch immediately after the 1pm briefing – get rigged and dressed before 1pm.
Vaucluse Yacht Club will be hosting a BBQ after racing. Could all sailors please plan to attend this? We will be driving two RIBs to Vaucluse, and will also take several cars.
This leg of the Vaucluse Challenge will comprise two ~45min races, with separate fleet starts for Radials / 4.7s and Standards. Details of the course location and format will be provided at the briefing. The scoring system includes points for overall best boats, as well as for best boats in each age category (open, apprentice, masters, GM, GGM, etc) as set out below, so everyone has a chance to contribute to the outcome. After conclusion of the second leg of the Vaucluse Challenge (which will be held in conjunction with the Vaucluse Regatta in the new year), the perpetual Vaucluse Challenge Shield will be awarded for the following season to the club with the lowest points in aggregate, and there are also perpetual trophies for best Radial sailor (the Dene Bergman trophy) and best Standard sailor (the Graham Reid trophy), based on lowest individual aggregate positions in the fleet.
The details of the scoring in each race are as follows: (a) overall best boats – the first four boats in each fleet from each club will get a score of 1 to 8 in their order of finishing (regardless of their actual finish position in the fleet); (b) best boats in each age category – in each age category, the number of boats (“n”) from each fleet from each club that will be scored are the lesser of (i) one third of the boats in that fleet in that age category and (ii) the number of boats in that fleet in that age category from the club with the smallest number of boats in that age category, and the first “n” boats from each fleet from each club will get a score of 1 to 2n in their order of finishing (regardless of their actual finish position in the fleet). Note, for the purposes of (b), if there are less than six boats in total and not at least one boat from each club in an age category in that fleet, the boats from that age category in that fleet will be combined with the boats in the age category above in that fleet for scoring purposes; and if there are insufficient boats in the oldest category in that fleet, the boats in that age category in that fleet will be combined with the age category below in that fleet for scoring purposes. Clear? Haha
Please save the date for our annual Christmas Party on the evening of Saturday 14 December. It’s sure to be the holiday event of the season. The festivities cap off a day of unique sailing with our famous once-a-year Tyrell and Rousso races, which are super fun and competitive formats. More info on both the racing and party soon.
If you ordered regatta kit you should have received an invoice for any items not covered by the ILCA regatta allotment. We’d appreciate it if you could please pay your invoice promptly.
To assist in identifying your boat in our racks, could you please ensure that your transom contains your boat number. This is a mandatory requirement of storing your boat in DBSC’s clubhouse. Boat numbers can be purchased from Boat Names Australia HERE which provides an excellent service and offers a 10% discount with the code “passiton”. Boat Names Australia provides us with our DBSC stickers for free, so please support them with your orders for boat names and numbers.
It was another light and variable Southerly for Pointscore heats 11 and 12; causing headaches for both the sailors and the race committee. Because of the ever-changing conditions, the racing was delayed and both heats were shortened. Watching for pressure and reacting to shifts was the name of the game.
The winners (after handicapping) were as follows: in the Standards, Murray Stone and Hadrien Bourely, in the Radial/4.7s, Julian Van Aalst and Pia Hattersley. With only two more heats in the Spring Pointscore to come, the competition is very tight in both fleets. In the Radial/4.7 Fleet, Daryl Lawrence leads over Pat Levy by 5 points, with Matt Knight, Andrew Cox, Kate McHugh and Sylvie Stannage all within striking distance. It’s even closer in the Standards, with Murray Stone leading by just 0.5 points over Steve London, with Luke Parker and Andrew Simpson close on their heels.
Thank you to our PRO, Matt Knight, assisted by Brent Smith, our COTD, Matt Wenke, and CoCOTD, Olga Skatkova and Anthea Michael. And thanks to Luke Parker and Simon Stone who helped Shirley in the canteen.
Finally, a huge welcome back to Dene and Andrea Bergman who made a very special appearance. It was great to see them again and we’re grateful for their help – Dene teaching radio usage during the Competency Training and Andrea whipping up delicious treats in the canteen. Come back again soon!
Sandringham Yacht Club hosted the first of many Laser regattas this season. As SYC is hosting three Laser Worlds this season, the racing was hot with roughly 20 countries competing. It felt very international in all fleets.
Day one was fresh (15 - 20 knots) with waves never seen at DBSC while day two was light to medium strength breezes.
Finn Alexander did extremely well to finish fourth on countback, the second Australian. Marlena Berzins, making an impressive comeback to high level competition, was not far behind the top Radial guys and Olympic Women sailors.
Otto Henry was the 2nd Australian youth and will be a strong chance for Youth Selection this summer.
Martin, Marlena and Finn with their cubes.
Wednesday, 27 November, 4:30pm Splash – Twilight Sailing / BBTP (early start)
Saturday, 30 November, 2pm Start – Vaucluse Challenge (early splash, see above)
Sunday, 1 December, 2pm Start – Big Boat Race
Wednesday, 4 December, 5pm Splash – Twilight Sailing / BBTP
Saturday, 7 December, 2pm Start – Final Heats of Spring Pointscore & Club Champs
Saturday, 14 December, 7pm – Christmas Party
We’ve been talking about it for ages… and now the big day is here. Competency Training 2019 is on THIS SATURDAY. Please arrive at 8:45am for a prompt 9am start. It’s the day when our fellow members will impart their knowledge to make us all better volunteers around the club. Don’t worry, we’ll be wrapped in time for afternoon sailing. It’s a critical morning of education, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone there.
Last Wednesday’s twilights were magical: a perfect breeze and magnificent weather conditions. One members described it as “Champagne sailing”. Twenty boats took advantage of these perfect mid-week conditions. We’re set to do it all again tonight with a 5pm splash and 5:30 training with Brett. Hope to see you there. And don’t forget, next week (27 November) we’ll be holding sprints earlier, from 5-7pm, due to a club function later that evening.
