The Busy Weeks Ahead

Saturday, 8 / 15 / 22 / 29 August – August Sprint Series.

Saturday, 29 August – Annual club working bee. Please RSVP HERE.

Saturday, 5 September – Season Opening and Club Championships. 

Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 September – The Women’s Regatta hosted by DBSC. Volunteer HERE.

CYCA Closed Due to COVID

On Tuesday the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) was advised that two of their active members tested positive for COVID-19. As a result, CYCA has closed its clubhouse until further notice. The closure serves as a good reminder of why we need to strictly adhere to our COVIDSafe plan at DBSC. 

We wish all of our friends at CYCA well and hope for a speedy recovery for the members and a quick reopening of their club. 

If you have been at or sailed from CYCA, or interacted with people who have, within the relevant times on the 23rd, 24th or 26th of July, please notify our Commodore and refrain from coming to DBSC for 14 days.
We request that all members ensure that you stick to all relevant guidelines and procedures to remove the risk to our club and its members.

August Sprints Start This Saturday

In a sign that spring is just around the corner, Saturday afternoon sailing is back this week with our August Sprints. The sprints are a perfect way to get back in shape for the upcoming season of sailing, and will be on every Saturday in August. Because of on-going restrictions due to COVID-19, the series will be a bit different this year, so please read the following carefully. 

The key regulation we have to work around is that no more than 10 people can be in the clubhouse or 20 in the outdoor rigging area at one time. To avoid this, Radials and Standards will rig and launch separately (just as they did in the Winter Championship).  Radials need to launch no later than 12:25pm for a 1pm start. Standards will arrive at 12:25pm for a 12:55pm splash and a 1:30pm start. It is important to avoid inter-mingling of the groups on land. Each week there will be a COVID Compliance Officer (CCO) to make sure everyone is complying with these restrictions. 

Racing will take place in a combined fleet, with a three minute starting sequence and a signal on every minute. Radials will start after two minutes and Standards will start after three minutes. The first signal will be at 1pm and the Radials will begin racing at this time. The Standards will join the sprints upon their arrival at the course. To avoid too many members in the clubhouse and rigging area, Radials will complete racing at 3pm and Standards will continue until 3:30pm. Standards must wait on the water until the Radials have finished de-rigging and have placed their boats in the clubhouse. 

There will be no race briefing. Please familiarise yourself with the SIs HERE, paying particular attention to ANNEXURE 2 which shows the Sprint Course.

Please look out for your fellow members by staying home if you feel the least bit unwell or if anyone in your immediate family or work colleagues has COVID-19 or has been in contact with a known COVID-19 patient. 

Other things to keep in mind:

1. You are not permitted to attend the clubhouse or to sail from the clubhouse if: 

   • You have been to Victoria in the last 14 days

   • You have attended any of the reported case locations on the NSW Health website HERE (Please note there now are several venues in Potts Point on this list)

2. Before entering the clubhouse, you must sign in with an active mobile number – as this will allow us to fulfil our requirement to maintain contact tracing records

3. Hand sanitizer will be provided at the club and must be used prior to entry and after touching any equipment

4. 1.5m social distancing rules apply inside the club and in the park

5. No getting changed in the club (it takes up one of the 10-people spots needed to move boats in and out)

6. No use of toilets, showers, front deck, or canteen – it is get in, get out (if you absolutely need to use the toilet, the accessible bathroom will be available for toilet purposes only)

7. There will be no socialising post-sailing on the front deck  

8. We encourage you to download the COVIDSafe App, and make sure it is active when you come to the club

We know the inconvenience caused by these restrictions has deterred some people from sailing. But take it from the many members who participated in the Winter Series, it’s not that bad and you quickly get used to the new procedures.

So come out and join us. We’d love to see a big fleet for some pre-season fun this Saturday!

Working Bee – RSVP Now

We will be running our annual working bee on Saturday 29 August from 8am – 12pm. This is an important event that gets our club ready for the new season of sailing. 

There is a lot to do, and we would appreciate participation from all members to make this a success. We are working on plans now to ensure that the day will be COVID Safe. 

Could you please RSVP HERE to confirm your attendance?

Winter Championships Come to an End

Sunday dawned with a grey, windless morning. The clouds overnight caused warmer temperatures that prevented the typical winter westerly from blowing, and hopes of a gradient breeze didn’t eventuate. The lack of wind forced the race management team of PRO Rod Barnes, COTD David Huber, and CCO Candice Cushway to make the difficult decision to abandon racing for the day. It was a disappointing ending to a great Winter Championship Series. 

Thanks to the many members who participated in the Series. Despite the chilly temps and COVID restrictions we had an impressive fleet of over 20+ boats every weekend (and over 30 on several occasions). There was some brilliant sailing on the Harbour this winter, with Luke Parker winning the Championship in the Standards, and Sylvie Stannage victorious in the Radials. A big congratulations to both our champions! 

Thanks to all our race management teams, especially to our CCOs who took on this new role and made sure we stayed COVID Safe. Thanks also to Brett Beyer who ran another successful program that helped many in the fleet continue to improve their skills.  

A glassy harbour prevented the final heats of the Winter Championship. Photo by Andrew Cox.

New COTD Checklist

We know that being COTD can be stressful as there’s so much to remember. To make the job easier, Diana Chen has worked with Andrew Cox and Matt Knight to create a COTD checklist. It will be posted on a wall in clubhouse for people to use. Check it out below. If you’d like to print out a copy for yourself, you can do so HERE. 

60 Seconds with Diana Valia Chen…

Read on to find our why a Russian grandmother’s plans were thwarted by Aussies’ lack of diction... 

1. How old were you when you first stepped on a boat? 
When I complained to my boyfriend that we weren't spending enough time together as he was always out sailing, he booked me in for dinghy lessons. I completed level 1 at the end of 2015 but didn't have the opportunity to do the next level until a year later. I now have my boyfriend's Laser and sail more than him 😁

2. If money (& sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy? 
I'm a designer by trade, so I would definitely design my own and get the best boat builder in the world to realise my vision.

3. What is your sailing goal? 
Learn as much as I can and be more competitive.

4. Tell us the back story to your laser's name? 
My boat came from GRSC and they all have funny names. Passing Wind is too good to change.

5. If you could add any ingredient to our already world’s best toasties – what would it be?
Sriracha or bread & butter pickles.

6. What are your second/third favourite hobbies (obviously assuming sailing holds the #1 spot)
I did do a bit of indoor bouldering as it was a good excuse to go to my favourite brewery afterwards (which was conveniently located across the street). Now it's bush walks and bike rides.

7. Describe what you do for work in less than 5 words? 
Swiss Army Knife

8. What’s the first international flight you are going to book post Covid-19? And why? 
England (in-laws) via Vietnam (cancelled trip), but it would more likely be New Zealand (if options were limited) as we try to go every year either for snowboarding or cycling.

9. What’s your favourite TV show, movie, and or book?
I was a huge movie buff when I was at uni (as you could rent 10 DVDs for $10), so there are just too many to list, but Bladerunner would definitely be in my top 5. In the same dystopian theme, I love Nineteen Eighty Four and Brave New World. Current TV show binge is Dark - Season 3 on Netflix.

10. Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know?
My Russian grandmother named me Valia (short for Valentina) which was then translated to a non-poetic Chinese name "Hua Li Ya", which was then changed to Diana when we arrived in Australia in the 80s as the kids at school couldn't pronounce Valia 😆

Diana at sailing lessons at GRSC.

Coming Up at DBSC

With spring around the corner, things are starting to heat up at DBSC. Here are the highlights of the next few weeks:

Saturday, 1 August – First heats of the Winter Sprint Series (see article above)

Saturday, 29 August – Annual club working bee

Saturday, 5 September – Season Opening and Club Championships 

Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 September – The Women’s Regatta hosted by DBSC

Winter Series Record

It was another beautiful Sunday morning for Winter Series Heats 19-21. The good forecast coaxed members not seen for weeks to make an appearance, and a Winter Series record of 33 sailors participated. Clear skies and cold overnight temperatures gave us a fun 10 – 12 knot westerly for the first two races. But the warmth of the day heated the land up relatively quickly and in turn killed the land breeze earlier than normal. For the Radials, the 3rd race of the day was abandoned at the end of the 2nd reach as it became a total drfitathon by that stage. The Standards never even started the 3rd race. 

Congratulations to the winners: Standards: Luke Parker (heat 19) and Gavin Blake (heat 20); Radials: Sylvie Stannage (heats 19 and 20).

Thanks to our race officers who, in addition to running a tight ship on the race course, also graciously assisted in towing a few VYC sailors back to Watson’s Bay after the wind died. PRO Jules Hall, and COTD Gerry Donohoe were aided by Ben Shrimpton and Jackson Parker. Ben is an ex-Laser sailor keen to get back into it. He's going to join Learn To Race in September. Jackson Parker is Luke Parker's nephew and is an aspiring 29er sailor - he was keen to come and see how our racing works. Thanks also to our cheery COVID Compliance Officer, Diana Chen. 

We look forward to seeing everyone for the final heats of the Winter Championship this Sunday morning. Luke Parker seems to have the series in the bag in the Standards, but in the Radials it is nearly a dead heat between Sylvie Stannage, Evie Saunders and Daniel Costandi. It will be interesting to see which of our talented youth sailors prevails. 

Jackson watches as uncle Luke wins another race. Photo by Jules Hall.

New COVID Restrictions

Due to recent COVID developments in Victoria and in various locations in NSW, latest NSW Health requirements are that you are not permitted to attend the clubhouse or to sail from the clubhouse if:

(a)    You have been to Victoria in the last 14 days

(b)    You have attended any of the reported case locations on the NSW Health website HERE.

The COVID Compliance Officer (CCO) will require each participant who attends organised racing to confirm this. If you are in any of the above categories, please do not attend the clubhouse at any time or for any reason until 14 days have elapsed.

Please note, the changerooms are still off-limits due to social distancing requirements, namely the 4m2 rule and the 1.5m rule, which are impractical to meet given the small size of the changerooms.  The disabled toilet can be used (for toilet purposes only) if absolutely required. 

We know the inconvenience caused by this has deterred some people from sailing at all, and we apologise for this. To the extent it provides encouragement to those people, it is worth noting that we have had 20+ sailors, both women and men, attend the Winter Championship each week. We are all making do with either coming and going in our sailing gear or wearing swimmers under our wetsuits and using towels as cover while we get changed outside the clubhouse.

While we know this does not sound great, those who have tried it will confirm you get used to it, and it is actually not that bad!  So, please don’t be deterred – come and give it go.  We miss you!