Canteen Update

There’s now an easier way to buy yourself or fellow sailors a tasty beverage after midweek sailing. You may have noticed that there are now QR codes on the fridges so that you are able to pay for your beverage and/or snack via our website when the canteen is closed. If you use an iPhone and have Apple Pay set up, open the site using Safari for a simple check-out. Android users will have to enter a few more details for the purchase.

History Corner

At a Special General Meeting on Sunday 5th February 1984 it was agreed that the official race day for Lasers at DBSC would be on Saturdays. The other classes then racing at DBSC, namely Herons, Leaders and Manly Juniors continued racing on Sundays.

60 seconds with Christine Linhart

1. How old were you when you first stepped on a boat? I was ten when I first stepped onto a keel boat called Flyaway which my family owned. I was 33 when I stepped onto my first dingy (at DBSC), and have never looked back!

2. If money (and sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy? Something I could cruise around the world on.

3. What is your ultimate sailing goal? To always love being on the water in my Laser as much as I do now. I have zero competitive aspirations.

4. Tell us the story behind the name of your Laser? It was called PEBDAT when I bought it (problems exist between deck and tiller). The letters DAT subsequently fell off, so I used a permanent marker to fill in the letter to call her PEBBLES. As in Pebbles and Bam-Bam.

5. If you could add any ingredient to DBSC's world’s best toasties – what would it be? Fresh chilli.

6. What are your second/third favourite hobbies (assuming sailing is #1)? Swimming in the ocean, bush walking.

7. Describe what you do for work in less than five words? Improve the health of populations.

8. What is the first international destination you will travel to (once we're allowed) and why? United Kingdom, to introduce my son to his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and all the people who are dying to meet him for the first time.

9. What is your favourite TV show, movie, and/or book? The unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera.

10. Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know? When I was 24 and between finishing university and getting a job, a friend called and asked if I was free to help him deliver a boat from Sydney to the Caribbean. I said yes and we left a few days later. We ended up living on the boat for 10 months doing the delivery as we slowly meandered through the Pacific, Asia, Africa and South America. We covered 15,000 miles at sea and stopped in 14 countries. Without doubt one of the happiest years of my life, and the best impulsive ‘yes’ responses I’ve ever given (there have been many!).

2010 – my first equator crossing, and all the initiation rituals (fish tales around my neck, buckets of rancid fish guts water thrown on me) that King Neptune and his offsiders Poseidon & Davey Jones could conjure up.

Coming Up

Wednesday 3 Mar - Twilight Sprints, Brett Beyer Twilight Program 6/10

Friday 5 Mar to Sunday 14 Mar - 18 Footers JJ Giltinan Championship at DBSC

Saturday 6 Mar - DBSC Clean Up Australia Day, Learn To Race, Metropolitan Championships at HHSC 1/2, DBSC Sprints

Sunday 7 Mar - Metropolitan Championships at HHSC 2/2

Wednesday 10 Mar - Twilight Sprints, Brett Beyer Twilight Program 7/10

Saturday 13 Mar - Autumn Point Score 9 & 10

State Masters Debrief with Brett Beyer – Tonight

Last chance to sign up for tonight’s presentation/Q&A by Brett Beyer at DBSC! If you are interested but can’t make it in person, we can offer a video link to watch at home (for a limited time). Cost is $20pp - book/pay [HERE]

Race Report – Sat 20 February

Sydney Harbour presented a beautiful sunny day for Champagne sailing. However, the breeze proved tricky for setting a course and really tested the sailors’ ability to pick the shifts and come out on top. For the wind obsessed, the easterly that started the morning with a lot of north in it threatened to waft in initially from the south east at 2pm, then moved continuously left during the course of the afternoon as the day warmed and the breeze strengthened.

In the Radial fleet, we were fortunate to have representatives from the Australian Sailing Team and Australian Sailing Squad race with us. Mara Stransky, Zoe Thompson, Elyse Ainsworth, Casey Imenro, along with visiting NSWIS sailor, Paige Caldecott, and a guest reappearance from Otto Henry – all providing great competition for DBSC’s NSWIS sailors who raced on the day, Evie Saunders, Brooke Wilson, and Daniel Costandi. Zoe Thompson was first across the line in both races. Winners of the DBSC Autumn Pointscore races were Kirk Marcolina and one of our new members Rob Vann. The Standard fleet has grown recently with a few ex-Radial sailors moving over as they were getting frustrated with the lighter sailors outperforming them on the light breeze days. Winners of the races were Nick Alexander and Murray Stone.

Thanks to all the volunteers this week: Andrew Cox, David Newman, John Chesterman, James Leaver, Vic Whitby, Andrew Dixon, Shirley Roach, and Paul Adam.

Photo by Andrew Cox

Metros – 6 & 7 March

The Metropolitan Championships will be held 6-7th March at Hunters Hill Sailing Club. This is a great opportunity to sail on a different part of the harbour and test yourself in a competitive fleet.

If you are interested in attending please email Rod Barnes so we can coordinate transport. We are also looking at the option to launch from DBSC on each day then towed to the race area by RIBs. If you would like to spend the day watching from a RIB and are able to tow some Lasers to and from the event please email Rod. You are also welcome to sail from DBSC to HHSC if the conditions are favourable.

The Notice of Race, Online Entry, Sailing Instructions, Venue Information & Logistics, Electronic Sign On/Off, and Results are all available via the NSW/ACT Laser Association website and Australian Laser App [HERE]

Clean Up Australia Day – 6 & 7 March

If you are sailing on the Saturday either in club Sprints or Metros, please consider coming in earlier and contributing to the litter pick-up at low tide around the club. If that doesn’t suit, then Sunday morning is also an option. Please email Kate McHugh to let her know.

First Aid Training – 18 April

Do you know what to do if someone is unconscious or bleeding or stung by a marine creature? First Aid is an essential skill to have either in or out of the water. Just like sailing, if you don’t practice regularly, you will forget what to do when something unexpected happens. Even if you have had training in the past, it is recommended that you do a refresher every 1-2 years. DBSC will cover the cost of the training to be held on Sunday 18 April. Please register [HERE]

Volunteering

DBSC is managed and run entirely by volunteers and that spirit is what makes it such a great place to sail and hang out. Aside from running races and making toasties, so much more happens behind the scenes such as RIB maintenance, electrical wiring, unblocking drains, finances, teaching, video & photography, grocery shopping, newsletter posts, and many more – all made possible by volunteers. There are always jobs to be filled, so if you are interested in volunteering, please email Andrew Cox and let him know. Not only fulfilling, volunteering will also help your boat move down the racks faster (as well as sailing regularly).