Race Report 2 May 2021

Sunday 2 May was the first day of our winter racing season, although nobody informed Huey (the weather)!

A combined fleet of nearly 30 sailors took to the water along with Australian Sailing Squad members, Mara Stransky and Zoe Hamilton, and the NSWIS team, coached on the day by Tom Burton.

With clouds and a warm morning, the winter westerly was subdued and shut down early, in fact during the first race, with many sailors unable to make it to the end of the second lap before timing out. It took a little time for the northerly to set in at sea level, but once it did, we were able to have a further two races in light but reliable conditions.

The results have been dancing with Gremlins, and will be available on the website in due course.

Many thanks to PRO, Luke Parker who persevered in tricky conditions. He was ably assisted on the Jazzman by Steven London, with COTD David Huber and co-COTD Pia Hattersley on the water.

After racing, we returned to the the pre-COVID tradition of soup on the deck. Many thanks to Paul who cooked up a delicious tomato and capsicum number - there wasn’t a drop left! Thanks also to Peter Collie who graciously heated up, and cleaned up afterwards.

Steven London has also taken some fantastic photos of the day, and these have been published in our Facebook group.

The wind dropped out in the first race, before filling in again for another two races… Photo: Steven London

Golden Jubilee

We’re thrilled to be hosting a Sydney Harbour birthday bash for the 50th anniversary of the ILCA Laser one-design class on Sunday, 30 May 2021.

The event will be a “parade” sail from Fort Denison to Watsons Bay, with participants gathering on water at Farm Cove at 09:30 before a 10:00 departure. A start procedure and course will be provided in the Sailing Instructions. Participants are invited to attend DBSC after the event for a free BBQ and prize draw. All visitors are welcome and club dollies will be provided for those that sail in.

There will be prizes for entering and participating, including a hull upgrade (donated by PSA) and three new sails (donated by NB Sailsports). You must enter and turn up on the day to be eligible to win (see the Notice of Event for terms and conditions). Thank you to our generous sponsors for these prizes.

We are welcoming all (Laser) sailors from far and wide to join the event. If you don’t have a Laser, but would like to join email us and we will see what we can do to help. If you have a laser (or a spare), but are unable to sail it at the event, please email us if you would like to lend it to someone else to sail.

We intend to set a world record for the largest number of Lasers sailing in a single fleet, and we need (and appreciate) your support to do so!

Membership subscriptions now due

While it might be winter and sailing isn’t at the front of everyone’s mind, the bills keep rolling in… Many thanks to the majority of members who have paid their memberships on time. This allows our club to keep running smoothly.

We do however, have 30% of members that have not paid their subscriptions. If you are one of these members, can you please pay your membership a.s.a.p.?

Please email our club secretary, Emily if you have not yet received your invoice or are having any difficulty with payments.

AGP. Please RSVP!

A paperless post invite has been sent to members. Please RSVP using the link in the paperless post email to ensure we are appropriately provisioned for the evening.

If you are having any difficulties with your RSVP, please email our club secretary, Emily.

DBSC hoodies

DBSC branded hoodies are now available to keep the cool kids warm during the cooler months. They are a similar design as the T-shirts, just warmer.

Head to our shop to purchase for $45 and pick them up from Diana on the weekend.

The cool kids will be wearing these.

60 Seconds With Michael Osborne

1. How old were you when you first stepped on a boat? My family lived 100 metres from Lane Cove Sailing Club. My father had a yacht and my brother Alick had a variety of dinghies. Robert Lowndes used to spend weekends at our house and go sailing with Alick. I was too young to now recall the first time I was on a boat. 

2. If money (and sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy?  A Laser, or an Etchell (if I could organise the crew).

3. What is your ultimate sailing goal? To keep sailing lasers until I am the same age as Julian van Aalst.

4. Tell us the story behind the name of your Laser? Dragonfly - we have a pond in our garden which is regularly visited by these beautiful creatures. My younger daughter suggested it.

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

6. What are your second/third favourite hobbies (assuming sailing is #1)? Cooking, swimming laps.

7. Describe what you do for work in less than five words? Give legal advice. Document transactions.

8. What is the first international destination you will travel to (once we're allowed) and why? Probably the USA. I like the place.

9. What is your favourite TV show, movie, and/or book? Seinfeld. The Philadelphia Story.

10. Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know? In the last couple of years I have been (informally) learning about ancient Indian philosophy.

Michael at DBSC. Photo: @lucky_lion_photography

Coming up next

Sunday 9 May – Winter Series (4,5,6)

Sunday 16 May – Winter Series continues (7,8,9)

Sunday 23 May – Winter Series continues (10,11,12)

Friday 28 May – Annual General Party

Sunday 30 May – ILCA 50th birthday bash!

Race Report 27 April 2021

After a brief postponement, the summer (autumn) season closed on Saturday 25 April with sprint racing. 

Once the breeze swung around to the NNE, PRO Kirk Marcolina, assisted by Hadrian Bourley, Thomas Beregi and Les Katz, ran five fast and furious 15-20 minutes sprints for a combined fleet of standard and radial rigs. Results varied with the radial fleet trying to hold back the standards that started 2 minutes behind them.

Many thanks also to Pia Hattersley and Hadrian Bourley who assisted Shirley and Paul in the canteen.

Closing out the summer season…

Winter series starts this week!

The Winter series kicks off this weekend on Sunday 2 May, with the first warning signal at 8.30am.

There will be three races of approx. 30 minutes each per week (weather permitting), a combined start, and the standard (yet shorter) DBSC format: triangle-sausage-sausage. The quick format will keep us warm!

All sailors are encouraged to participate and there will be championship and point score trophies in radial and standard divisions, as well as a radial Masters+ award. 

Updated Sailing Instructions

Our Sailing Instructions have been updated and are available online. Being among the best laser sailing clubs in the world, it’s important that we are all familiar with our rules of engagement.

There have been some changes to our Sailing Instructions for the winter series including:

• Winter Championship starts will be a single 5-minute countdown for all fleets, with 4.7s and Radials starting (together) after 3 minutes, and Standards starting after 5 minutes

• The Winter Championship will include both scratch and handicapped scoring each week

• Coaching on the course is no longer permitted (this does not affect the BBWP as advertised)

The PRO guide and the COTD instructions have also been updated to reflect these changes.

The discard rules have also changed for ALL our racing series (year-round) as follows:

6-8 races = 1 drop

9-11 races = 2 drops

12-14 races = 3 drops

15-16 races = 4 drops

17-19 races = 5 drops

20-22 races = 6 drops

23-25 races = 7 drops

26-28 races = 8 drops

29-30 races = 9 drops