Congratulations to all our Champions last year!

The club is in good shape! with over 150 members (119 are racing members!) In the last year we’ve had 45 new members join, many from our Learn To Race program. Also of those, 25 new Youth members have joined, and another 4 of them are volunteering parents of youth members.
Age of members range from 13 to 84. We are made up of 24% Female, and currently 31% Youth sailors. In fact in our under 21 Youth division, Female membership is over 60%. We continue to attract 40-50 Lasers to the start-line on Saturdays from September through April, and have a strong fleet of 20-30 boats on Sundays in winter.

We have had a great year of Racing - the first full sailing calendar since Covid - with 47 race days over the year. Yep, count them, that's 5 weekends that we didn't sail last year : - We had 26 Summer Series race days, 10 Winter Series, and 11 Sprints/Regattas or novelty race weekends.

Congratulations to this years Award Winners!

2022-23 Club Champion
Laser Standard
Ron Young Trophy
David Newman

2022-23 Club Champion
Laser Radial
Sally Gordon Trophy
Martin White

2022-23 Club Champion
Summer Laser 4.7
Healy Ryan

2022-23 Club Champion
Don Roach Masters Trophy
Laser Standard
Luke Parker

2022-23 Club Champion
Don Roach Masters Trophy
Laser Radial
Martin White

2022-23 Spring Point Score
Laser Standard
Steven London

(Photos by Diana Chen)

2022-23 Autumn Point Score
Laser Standard
Steven London

2022-23 Spring Point Score
Laser Radial
Murray Stone

2022-23 Autumn Point Score Laser Radial
Scott Finlayson

2022-23 Spring Point Score
Laser 4.7
Kevin Cai

2022-23 Autumn Point Score
Laser 4.7
Benjamin Costandi

2022-23 Winter Champion
Laser Standard
Daniel Costandi

2022-23 Winter Champion
Laser Radial
Sylvie Stannage

2022-23 Winter Point Score
Laser Standard
Tim Heath

2022-23 Winter Point Score
Laser Radial
Andrew Cox

2022-23 Richard Tyrrell Trophy
Ian Tudball

2022-23 Mano Rousso Trophy
Sara Bruce

2022-23 Women’s Laser Regatta #1 DBSC Sailor
Patricia Ley Trophy
Sylvie Stannage

2022-23 Vaucluse Challenge Champion
Laser Standard
Dene Bergman Trophy
Finn Alexander

2022-23 Vaucluse Challenge Champion
Laser Radial
Graham Read Trophy (kept at VYC)
Coté Poncell

2022-23 Best Club Person
John Barraclough Award
Pat Levy

2023 EAST COAST CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA

All members planning to compete in the East Coast Championship Youth Regatta hosted by Georges River Sailing Club on Botany Bay over the June long weekend - Don’t forget to Register!
You can Register and read the details in the Notice of Race posted on the OptiNSW website HERE.

Date: Saturday 10 - Monday 12 June 2023

Registration Fee is $140, and registrations will close on 2 June 2023
Late Entries will require an addition $50 fee and will be accepted up until 09:00 on 10 June 2023

WHATS GOING ON - MORE INFORMATION

from DBSC’s Monagasque division

Mark Bethwaite reports:

The hottest ticket in town last weekend was of course the DBSC Annual General Meeting/Party
- others had to make do elsewhere ….

Our man in Monaco, Hadrien Bourely with wife Elle at Yacht Club de Monaco watching some fast moving traffic last Sunday. I can report that YCM is extremely pleased that DBSC has graciously agreed to its request for reciprocity …

New Life Member: Richard George

Over 30 years with the club, Richard can often be seen helping out around the club, and with the attitude we strive for: to treat the club and their own, to act as owners, to fix things that break, or at least let someone know. He’s had many other tasks behind the scenes volunteering over many years, most recently as our Buddy Coordinator, Accounts Reviewer and Club Historian for the last 10 years. Congratulations Richard!

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Notice of fees increase

Committee will increase the Membership Subscription and Storage fees, and this will occur for existing members in the Next Sailing Season (when we invoice for the 2024-25 season in April 2024). The fee increases for future members joining the club will be effective from now. This was communicated to the members at the AGM last Friday as follows:
$50 increase to Adult Membership which will raise to $300 per year (students continue to pay 50% of the Adult membership fee.) and
$50 increase to Storage Fees which will raise to $450 per year.

The total cost for an Adult racing rack storage member would become 300+250+450=$1000 (previously $900)
The total cost for a Student racing rack storage member would become 150+125+450=$725 (previously $650)

The last time we increased fees was 7 years ago, and then 7 years prior to that. We understand that any increases have an impact on our members, and we don’t do this lightly. Even though this is effectively a 10% increase in one year, we ask you to consider that the increase spread over the last 7 years has been about 1.5% per year.

The reasons for the increase are based on maintaining sustainable club revenue versus operating costs, with insurance increases being the major factor in the decision. In the last 12 months we have had significant increases in our insurance premiums, which we were informed at the AS Club Summit last week, were brought about after the multiple flooding events in NSW, and have affected most sailing clubs due to our proximity to the water. On top of that we have had an updated formal valuation for the replacement cost of the clubhouse for insurance, which has shown a 3x increase on the previous value that we had. So there is also a major increase in premium for the clubhouse in the coming year.

We thank all members for their understanding.

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Many Hands make light work

Thank you this week to our resident “Gurneyman” Ian Alexander.
(When asked about the late hour replied “At Alexander’s ramp cleaning, we work the tides… morning noon and night!!)

Ian is one of the many volunteers that keep our club in great shape by doing their bit throughout the year.

If there is something you see around the club that needs doing, why not lend a hand.

Thank you to the members who are sending through information for the newsletter. If you have content for the newsletter, please email it to newsletter@dbsc.com.au by Monday evening.

View all racing results here.
The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.
Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

We Are in NEED of a NEWSLETTER EDITOR

DBSC are looking for a member to take on the volunteer role of Newsletter Editor, please contact secretary@dbsc.com.au

Race Report 21 May 2023

From our PRO Alistair Sutherland:

The end of May has delivered wintery weather across Sydney, and that came to a head with a cold, stiff Westerly on Sunday 21st May which was as exciting as it was hard work.  The Race Officer team of Alistair, John Verco, Kim Ketelby and Chris Berg launched the Paul Adam at dawn to find a pleasant, and surprisingly stable, 12knots blowing down the harbour.  But with the forecast to strengthen as the morning progressed, it was always going to be a gusty, shifty day on the water.  Although the Sailing Instructions called for a three lap windward leeward, the decision was again made to go with a two lap race, with most racers preferring to stretch their legs on the longer course.

A South American Wedding, and a PRO trying to get his head around the technology of the new Race Management system, saw the AP flag go up at 08:15 for a brief 10 minute period, but this gave time to ensure a well set course was locked in, and once we got going we could turn three back to back races around in quick order.

With 40 Lasers on the water, over two well behaved fleet starts, we got through the 6 starts with only a single individual OCS and no General recalls.  The westerly wind was coming straight down from under the Harbour bridge, with large gusts shifting as far as the Centre Point tower in the CBD, and the skyscrapers of North Sydney.  Finding the breeze and getting on the lifted tack was the order of the day, with big gains and losses being made both upwind and downwind.  The Radials had a good mix of Master sailors and Youth sailors at the front of the fleet, with race wins going to Connor Kellett (twice) and Andrew Cox.  The Full Rigs was a Bermudian master class with Campbell Paton taking three bullets.

The numbers had seriously thinned out by race three as the wind licked up to the 20 knot range, cold and fatigue took over, and gear failure became widespread.  Good job from all those who braved the conditions, especially the team who sailed down from Hunters Hill, and a big thanks to those who realised the conditions were getting perhaps a little too challenging and headed for shore at the right time.  Please remember that a decision to race lies with competitors, but getting out of your depth in hairy conditions has the potential to stretch the response crafts, put others safety at risk, and impact the scheduling of the races for the rest of the fleet.  Big thanks are due to the Hunters Hill support crew and our youth coach who provided additional response boats on the water; they were certainly kept busy keeping an eye on several competitors who were struggling as the breeze built.

The club continues to roll out a new system for running the races.  Anyone who has tried to note down the 6 digit sail number and finishing times of 40 Lasers, as they cross the finish line in a big bunch, will understand the challenge we are trying to address.  The new "Sailor" system makes life much easier, but there is something you can all do to help.  Please make sure you have the right sail number registered and have signed in before hitting the water.  Doing so will make life much easier for the PRO, ensure we get more races away on time with a faster turn around, and ultimately lead to better quality races with less sitting about in the cold.  Big thanks to those who did the right thing, and hope the rest can try to help with this next week

Reach Winter Program Update

Our youth sailors from the DBSC Reach team have been making the most of the winter westerlies the past two weekends, with some great on-water sessions on Saturday and Sunday mornings - led by our coaches, Josh Becker and Paige Caldecoat.

It's exciting to point out that half of the Reach team are female youth sailors (many who have recently joined our club), which is fantastic for our club's diversity and our future in general.

15 youth sailors from our club are participating in the winter coaching program which is building towards The East Coast Youth Championships at Georges River Sailing Club over the June long weekend (10 - 12 June), where a strong contingent of DBSC youth sailors will be competing and putting their skills to the ultimate test.

CONGRATULATIONS COTÉ AND JOSÉ

Much loved members of the club Cote and Jose who recently departed from our shores to return to Chile are now married! What great planning - the ceremony coincided with our morning race briefing on Sunday at 7:15am Sydney time, so that while we enjoyed a beautiful - if “chilly” - sunrise, they were tying the knot with a lovely sunset wedding ceremony in Chile.

Ian Tudball organized the link-up, and we had the live stream visible for members to enjoy! Love and best wishes to the happy couple as they set out on yet another adventure! Many of our members continue to follow Cote’s recent triumphs on the international ILCA circuit!

2023 NSW Sailing Summit

Australian Sailing ran a club summit last Saturday at the CYCA which was attended by your Commodore and Secretary. It was good to see the work that they are doing behind the scenes to support clubs, as well as support material and programs being run by AS. There were case studies of other clubs and strategies that work, and updates about technology being used by sailing clubs and ideas to help clubs prosper and enhance participation in sailing. It was a good opportunity to connect and chat with other clubs in the area and further afield.

UPCOMING EVENTS AND MORE INFORMATION

Sailing Instructions Update

Members please note that the DBSC Sailing Instructions have been modified as of today for future races. The only change is where the number of laps required in the Winter Series has ben changed from 3 to 2.

Thank you to the members who are sending through information for the newsletter. If you have content for the newsletter, please email it to newsletter@dbsc.com.au by Monday evening.

View all racing results here.
The club’s calendar can be viewed and subscribed to here.
Make a tax deductible donation to DBSC here.

Race report 14 May 2023

From our PRO Nick Pellow:

There was a strong turnout of over 30 lasers for the first 3 races of the DBSC Winter Series.  Racing kicked off slightly behind schedule due to many boats being late to leave the club. Due to the possibility of the wind dying during Winter Series, the PRO and Race Committee try to keep the races punctual.

Thank you to everyone who signed-on, ensuring you received Points for rising and shining at such a fresh hour.

It should be noted signing on is now compulsory for all DBSC races if you wish to get a result. You can alert the Committee Boat on the water if you forgot for the day, however you have to have registered on the Sailor App - https://www.dbsc.com.au/sailor-sign-on-app at least once. 

The breeze remained a fairly constant Westerly of about 5-7 knots across all 3 races, the sun shone the entire time even with threatening storm clouds surrounding the natural amphitheatre and colosseum where do battle each week - that is Double Bay.

The race committee were paid a visit by Sydney Harbour’s famous Water Rats during on-water proceedings - to check that we had not forgotten to wish our mothers a Happy Mother’s Day on such a glorious morning.

Well done to all sailors on the day. Results are available in the Sailor app and online.

Membership Subscriptions are now overdue

We would greatly appreciate it if members could pay their (outstanding) subscriptions.

It is important that memberships are paid on time, as many of our major payments are due during the winter period. The prompt payment of membership subscriptions allows our club to keep running smoothly.

If you have not received your invoice for the renewal of your membership, or wish to make changes, or there is an error, please contact our club secretary Tory Epworth.