Paul Adam For Sale (the boat not the man)

After many years of faithful service the Paul Adam RIB is set to leave DBSC. (Thankfully, the man after whom the boat was named will be staying – hopefully for many more years.) 

We’re offering the boat for sale to members, with expressions of interest due by 3 April.  The boat will be sold to the highest bidder, subject to meeting a reserve. (Note, we are not specifying what the reserve is). We will disclose in subsequent newsletters the amounts that are bid, so bidders are informed of progress.  

The boat will not be sold with a trailer, so interested parties will need to source their own if needed (these are readily available online).

Here are the relevant details for the Paul Adam: 

• South Pacific ‘Cormorant’ 4.3m

• Aluminium RIB

• Registration 58162

• Yamaha Model F40FET6GBL

• 4 Stroke Outboard 40HP

• Serial No 1000819G

If you’re interested in the RIB please contact Justin Davey HERE.

The Paul Adam in action.

Race Report

It was a big day of racing last Saturday, with Club Champs and Autumn Pointscore on tap. Nearly 40 sailors competed in a shifty Double Bay Southerly, which moved progressively left throughout the afternoon.  The on-water team did a great job juggling course set up to keep us racing on fair courses as the wind shifted. 

Volunteers on the weekend were Mike Forbes (PRO) with Dave Newman, Isabelle Wilkins and Isabelle's grandfather's partner, Linda World, on the Jazzman. And Sara Brooks, Tim Heath and Campbell Patton's friend, Alex, on one RIB and Craig Sheers and Clare Alexander on another RIB.  A big shout out to Clare who has been much missed on the water at DBSC recently! It was a pleasure to have her back. It was also great to see Craig Sheers, also not seen much these days due to injury.

Heading up the canteen were Paul and Shirley, assisted by Matt Knight, Hugo Knight, Ian Alexander and Clare Alexander. So many people that the toasties have never tasted better!

We were delighted to have two visitors sail with us on Saturday.

Emily Keg, an Australian who has been living in Hong Kong and has recently moved to attend Sydney University.  She has had a lot of experience in both laser and 470, including strong finishes at several youth world championships.

Keith Wilkins, father of Jason Wilkins and grandfather of Isabelle Wilkins, who is an equal all-time record-holding 13-times laser world champion (currently tied in that position with Brett Beyer).  He is here for the Nationals and the Worlds, and sailed with us on the weekend.  Unfortunately, his mast broke just after the start in the first race, putting him out of action.

The results were: Championship – Standards: Campbell Patton (Championship Heat 11) and Luke Parker (Championship Heat 12); Radials: Matt Wenke (Championship Heat 11) and James Tudball (Championship Heat 12).  Pointscore (after handicap): Standards: Rod Barnes (Pointscore Heat 7) and Andrew Simpson (Pointscore Heat 8); Radial / 4.7s: Nathan Deng (Pointscore Heat 7) and Andrew Cox (Pointscore Heat 8). In the first race, there was a photo finish between three radials, which after much debate and several viewings in slow motion replay of the finish video taken by Isabelle Wilkins, resulted in the third umpire declaring the finishing order to be Matt Wenke, Gavin Blake and Andrew Cox. Exciting stuff!

Iconic Racing on Sydney Harbour. Photo by Sara Brooks

Missing Mast

John Chesterman’s radial mast bottom section (with attached Vang) has gone missing. It is labelled 199109. If you know the location of the mast, please let John know HERE. Thanks!

DBSC Heads to National Masters

Good luck to all our DBSC sailors who are headed to Geelong, Victoria for the 2020 Oceania & Australian Laser Masters Championships. Racing begins on Sunday and concludes on Wednesday 18 March. 

JJs at Double Bay

It will be very crowded in the park the next two weekends, as we will be sharing the rigging area (and clubhouse) with the A18s annual JJ Giltnan World Championships. The JJs are on from 14 March through 22 March. The 18s have agreed to leave space for us between the club and the eastern boat ramp – for those who rig first, please rig in the main park behind the playground area to leave room for later-comers to rig in front of the club.  Also, please be aware that the 18s have limited manoeuvrability near the shore. Please do not launch or retrieve lasers while the 18s are launching or retrieving. We appreciate your patience and understanding. 

Up Next at DBSC

Wednesday 11 March, 5pm splash – Twilight Sailing.

Saturday 14 March, 2pm Start – Sprints (due to the National Masters).

Wednesday 18 March, 5pm splash – Twilight Sailing.

Saturday 21 March, 9am Start – Learn to Race.

Saturday 21 March, 2pm Start –Autumn Point Score heats 9 & 10.  

And remember to start inviting your loved ones to DBSC Friends and Family Day – Saturday 4 April, 5pm.

Twilights Tonight with Special Appearance from Brett Beyer

Twilight sailing is back on again tonight with a 5pm splash. Brett will be running races tonight as he trains Andrew Cox. Brett has welcomed the rest of the fleet to utilize the marks and the starts that he will be setting up as part of Andrew’s training. Hope you can join us!

Sprits and SailGP

Last weekend was a busy one on the harbour. DBSC held Sprits due to the SailGP event. Over 30 members took part in seven very competitive short races. Thanks to Alistair Sutherland and Marty Trembath for setting up an excellent course, under some very tricky conditions. 

After the sprints, about a dozen or so members headed out on the Jazzman and Berman, finding the perfect vantage point to anchor up off Point Piper and watch day two of Sail GP. Day one saw Ainsley in Team GB win all three races, leaving the first two races on Saturday as a battleground between Team Australia and Team Japan for a place in the winner takes all final match race against Team GB.  

Team Australia was successful getting to the final match race, but Tom Slingsby and the Australians found themselves behind from the start, incurring a penalty for entering the start box early and the hosts were unable to pull back. 

Prior to heading home, a slightly rogue Bergman took the phrase “#justforthegram” slightly too literally for comfort. But Emily Ball didn’t seem fussed, commenting, “The photo almost cost us a $1,500 fine but I’d say it was definitely worth it.” 

The $1,500 photo.

Summing it up, Emily reflects, “The F50s are basically the same as lasers. Just slightly less cool...” Thanks to Emily for organizing the afternoon and to Justin Davey for captaining the Jazzman.

Bergman to be Used as Default RIB

The new Paul Adam is still being upgraded and worked on by Pat Levy. While this is occurring, members should use the Bergman as the default RIB. The Adam may be used with Pat’s okay. Thanks for your help with this until all the Adam upgrades are completed. 

Clean-Up Australia Day Success

Written by Jonathan Stone

It was a clear and sunny day - the first day of autumn.

Low tide was at 7.20am, so the ‘event’ - three hours of cleaning up - was scheduled for 7.00 -10.00am. 

I am rarely at the Club so early - it was really pleasant. The morning was warm, the day at its best. The bay was dead calm; no commuters on the ferry wharf as it was a Sunday; much too early for the crowd for the harbour’s music ‘islands’. Or for Laser sailors to be rigging. A couple of 18s turned up early, perhaps for early parking spots. Paul Adam appeared soon after 7, with the day’s meat pies (for the 18s).

I opened the Clubhouse, set up a table at the entrance, and found the gear stored since last year. Candice and Mike appeared first and worked long and hard; they were followed Diana and Christiana and Christine and by Craig and a daughter, Richard, Andrew, and more.

Right at the end, Stephen - from the BIG BOAT float fleet came by with some paint cleaner and scrubbed some graffiti from the front entrance area. A valuable improvement.

All sorts of rubbish were collected, from a car tyre to a broken mirror stand. No sharps; no syringes; still some cigarette butts. Maybe 10 bags of rubbish, most unrecyclable. 

My job was to get it all out to the end of Bay St, wash the gloves, repack the unused bags and the gloves and stow them in the corner of the workshop. And it was done for another year.  The job is more than symbolic; levels of rubbish were not high - though people swept all the usual areas - the beaches and grass areas and the kid’s play area. Levels were low because we do the job each year.

My thanks to all those who came and made it happen! 

(Editor’s Note: A big thanks to Jonathan for organizing another successful Clean Up Australia Day at DBSC.)