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.
How do I subscribe to your Pulitzer Prize winning newsletter?
How to make a tax-deductible donation to the club (using the internet)?
How to make a tax-deductible donation to the club (using paper forms)?
Want to book a seat at the restaurant?
Want to become a social member?
Can I rent/hire your clubhouse?
How do I get to crew on a yacht?
Can you teach me to race a Laser?
What is the deal between your club and the 18 footers and Sydney High School?
Can I store my kayak (or similar) in the clubhouse?
Can you help me buy, or sell, a Laser?
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.
The club will continue the annual tradition of participating in Clean Up Australia Day, undertaking a beach and park clean up before racing on the morning of Saturday 5 March. Please mark this event in your calendars.
This week we are extending a warm welcome to Yves Stening, who has returned to the club after a stint in Melbourne.
Here is 60 seconds with Yves.
How old were you when you first stepped on a boat?
5y.o., Manly Junior, DBSC, 1969.
If money (and sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy?
I’d have 3. An AC40, a Moth, and a 505.
What is your ultimate sailing goal?
I think the best thing in life is to sail every week at your club and share a beer with your friends afterwards, so sail every Saturday at DBSC!
Tell us the story behind the name of your Laser?
Sailing is … Air Play
If you could add any ingredient to DBSC's world’s best toasties – what would it be?
These toasties are made with love. What more would you need?
What are your second/third favourite hobbies (assuming sailing is #1)?
Reading, bush walking, yoga, chess and Rugby (purely a spectator)
Describe what you do for work in less than five words?
I write and produce stories.
What is the first international destination you will travel to (once we're allowed) and why?
Probably Bologna, for the next international children’s book fair
What is your favourite TV show, movie, and/or book?
Favourite TV show - Breaking Bad, Favourite Movie - The Lives Of Others, Favourite Book - The Unbearable Lightness Of Being
Tell us something interesting about yourself that members of the club don’t know?
With my kids, I won the 2018/19Mirror Dinghy Australian Champs & 2nd in Worlds (both Classic Division) and managed WSC for several months in 2019 overseeing the Sail Sydney Regatta. Great fun!
Wednesday 19 January – Twilight sprints
Saturday 22 January – Spring pointscore 11 & 12
Wednesday 26 January – Twilight sprints
Saturday 29 January – Club championships 5 & 6
Sunday 30 January – Club picnic
Wednesday 2 February – Twilight sprints
Saturday 5 February – Sprints | Masters’ State Championships
Sunday 6 February – Masters’ State Championships
Wednesday 9 February – Twilight sprints
Saturday 12 February – Autumn Pointscore 1 & 2
Sunday 13 February – Reserve Day for club picnic
Wednesday 16 February – Twilight sprints
Saturday 19 February – Learn to Race (am) | Club Championships 7 & 8, Autumn Pointscore 3 & 4, Vaucluse Regatta
Wednesday 23 February – Twilight sprints
Saturday 26 February – Sprints | Masters’ National Championships (Westernport, Vic)
Wednesday 2 March – Twilight sprints
Saturday 5 March – Learn to Race (am) | Clean Up Australia Day (am) | Sprints | Metros (RPAYC)
On Saturday races 9 and 10 of the spring season were completed in a moderate, gradient north easterly.
PRO Mike Dunne oversaw racing with the assistance of Kevin Gilroy (LTRAR), Murray Stone (COTD) and Andrew Dixson (co-COTD). Off the water, Mike Dunn and Emily Ball assisted Paul and Shirley in the canteen.
Our race winners were Steven London and Mike Dunn in the standard rigs and Andrew Cox took the bullet in both races for the radial fleet.
The club continues to abide by the government health advice and in line with these we have some amendments to the procedures at the club.
There are no longer formal capacity caps on spaces and there is no longer a requirement to check-in to the club with a QR code. We will therefore no longer have a CSO managing check-in nor confirming vaccination status.
The formal rules that apply to the club are now:
Masks are required indoors. Please bring a mask for use inside the clubhouse.
For your safety, please avoid congestion and maintain 1.5m social distancing.
Do not attend the club if you have any COVID symptoms or are required to isolate due either to COVID diagnosis or contact.
Further information can be found on the government website.
Thank you to everyone for your cooperation with the ongoing COVID management at the club. In line with our culture focused on health and safety we encourage everyone to continue to take care, and follow the government’s health advice.
For those of us who aren’t yet ready to abandon QR codes, there is one next to the fridge for some well-deserved refreshments!
Double Bay Sailing Club is managed and run entirely by volunteers. As the saying goes, “many hands make light work. There is always work to be done in the upkeep of our shed and the ongoing running of dinghy racing.
This week we’d like to thank Emily Ball for her excellent service to the club as secretary. This is Emily’s last week as club secretary (see further information below).
The club is full of people making wonderful contributions around the place, and sometimes behind the scenes. Do you know of someone who deserves a mention? If so, email us and tell us why they should be club member of the week.
Twilight sailing continues through the summer on Wednesday from 5.30-7.30pm. A fresh southerly is forecast!
The Masters’ State and National Championships are looming in February.
The Masters’ State Championships will be held at Bay Sailing Centre, Port Stephens. Rod Barnes has organised transport for those confirmed attending. You can enter the Masters online here or until 11.30am on Saturday at the sailing office at the club. Entry is $60. The Notice of Race is here.
The Masters’ National Championships will be held at Westernport Yacht Club on Balnarring Beach, Victoria (approximately 70 kilometres from Melbourne). The event will be run from 25-28 February 2022 and will be preceded by a two day coaching clinic 22-23 February. The Notice of Race is here.
For more information, or to confirm your participation in any of these events, please email Rod Barnes.
For those not yet committed to travelling to Westernport for the nationals, Martin White has written the following about the venue.
As a teenager, I was fortunate to do a lot of sailing on Westernport Bay, not far from Westernport Yacht Club where the nationals will be held in late February. My parents owned a beach shack at the next beach (Somers).
Talking with family members and trying to remember my experiences on Westernport Bay, here’s a quick summary.
It’s an absolutely beautiful part of the world surrounded by The Mornington peninsula on the west side, the opening to the bay bounded by Philip Island and Flinders and …...
It’s the 2nd largest bay in Victoria (680 km sq).
There is no shortage of current. The water depths on our racecourse vary a lot (can be between 6 feet and 30 feet). I’m told this can flow at up to 5 knots in the deeper sections. This flows in and out and sweeps around the edges of the bay.
Waves: a lot friendlier than Port Phillip Bay but can get up in a SW sea breeze.
Wind: dare I suggest, but my money would be on pleasant summer sea breezes of 10-15knots as this is what I mostly recall in February.
If you like wineries, cool coffee shops, sailing amongst dolphins, sightseeing, beach life etc, do not miss this regatta!
Following the success of last year's Picnic Day, DBSC are once again hosting a Kutti Bay Picnic Day on Sunday 30 January (with Sun 13 Feb as a wet weather reserve date).
Family and friends are welcome to join; they can either jump in the RIB, go two-up on your laser or meet us in the Bay.
Splash will be at midday, and we will leisurely make our way down the harbor before beaching at Kutti Bay. We then propose a swim and a few refreshing drinks and snacks on the beach before a beautiful sail back home.
We look forward to having you join us!
Please RSVP here.
As many of you may have noticed, our club secretary Emily Ball has developed a growing girth over the most recent lockdown, and in anticipation of her first child is stepping down from her role as club secretary. Steven London will be assuming her role.
Emily has done a fantastic job as club secretary including instituting and organising the club picnic and project managing the new boat ramps through to DA approval (yes, they’ve been approved, watch this space!).
Emily has brough energy, drive and enthusiasm to the club on and off the water, and while we anticipate she will not be lost to the club completely, her less frequent attendance and participation in the upcoming months will be missed.
We wish Emily the very best in her new role and look forward to meeting DBSC’s next newest member in the near future!
