79 Bay St
Double Bay NSW 2028
Australia

News

Visit from Boat Ropes

Kirk Marcolina

Last Sunday Blake from Boatropes.com.au came by to introduce himself and his company. Boatropes.com.au is a mobile Rigging & Splicing service which has been established to help local dinghy sailors. 

They have a lot of experience working with the laser dinghy and have made systems for club level racers through to sailors representing Australia including Brett Beyer.

They offer many options for Laser Control Systems or can assist with repairing, rebuilding or improving your current set up. 

Their most popular Laser service at the moment is the Allen High Load Vang Upgrade. 

They also stock products from PSA, Harken, Allen, Ronstan, Gottifredi Maffioli, Liros, Marlow, The Virus, GComposites, Rooster Mainsheets, Spinlock & Wichard.

You can contact them on Blake@boatropes.com.au or www.boatropes.com.au.

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Claim Your Missing Items

Kirk Marcolina

The change room is chockablock with clothing items, sails and other items that will be donated to charity if not claimed prior to this coming weekend. Please look at the pictures below. Are some of these prime goods yours? If so, make sure you collect your items now.  

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Fun and Tears at AGP

Kirk Marcolina

Last Friday DBSC held its 2018/19 Annual General Meeting… sounds like a stuffy yawn fest, but we all know that at our club the meeting is really just an excuse for a good party. The evening began in a refined manner with cocktails and entrées on the deck followed by the AGM.

A beautiful evening (and a Laser filled with beer and champaign) greeted guests. Photo by Peter Collie.

A beautiful evening (and a Laser filled with beer and champaign) greeted guests. Photo by Peter Collie.

The “official” portion of the evening saw Pat Levy win Club Person of the Year for his never-ending contributions to the club. Whether it be coaching Learn to Race, fixing dollies, or installing an extra hot-water heater, Pat seems to always be around to help bring our club to the next level. Pat is certainly a positive force and is a very worthy recipient of DBSC’s most prestigious award. Congratulations Pat!  In addition to Pat’s award, all the 2018/19 sailing awards were presented by Shirley Roach in a very spirited fashion.

Luke Parker gets a hug with his trophy. Photo by Peter Collie.

Luke Parker gets a hug with his trophy. Photo by Peter Collie.

The Management Committee’s reports were glowing — by all accounts the state of the club is excellent. Commodore Andrew Cox reported that 2018/19 has been a year of records for the club:

●          Record fleets on the water for all our racing

●          Record attendance at all our social functions (including close to 100 at the AGP!)

●          Record membership

●          Record financial contributions from several of our departments

●          Record number of financial transactions through our accounts

●          Record attendance at regattas, and record results

A full hose at the AGP. Photo by Kirk Marcolina.

A full hose at the AGP. Photo by Kirk Marcolina.

Commodore Cox also farewelled three of DBSC’s Management Committee: Michael Osborne, who served for 8 years as Vice Commodore, and was instrumental in many facets of the club including the quality of our sailing, our regatta management and our Sailing Instruction; Geoff Kirk who served for many years as Rear Commodore and was an extraordinary contributor to the club, performing continuous repairs and maintenance, enormous renovations, and was instrumental to the culture of the club; and Clare Alexander who served for 7 years as Secretary who was always filled with tremendous energy and enthusiasm and was a significant contributor to membership, instigator of the Women’s Regatta and driver of social engagement. Thanks to these three for their many years of dedication on the Committee. 

Before the conclusion of the AGM, the tone of the meeting became a bit sombre as we bid goodbye to several Life Members. Julian van Aalst (a Life Member himself) spoke eloquently (and humourlessly) of his friends and departing members Jonathan Stone, who is retiring from competitive sailing (see story in last week’s newsletter), and Andrea and Dene Bergman. Andrea and Dene are retiring from the club after many decades of service and dedication to DBSC. (Watch for a more complete article on Andrea and Dene’s retirement in a future newsletter.) Jonathan, Andrea and Dene will all be greatly missed!

Andrea and Dene. Photo by Peter Collie.

Andrea and Dene. Photo by Peter Collie.

After the formalities were out of the way, the evening took on a more festive tone. Delicious savoury pies and salads were enjoyed on deck. After dinner, the Double Bay Sailing Club Band was back by popular demand and everyone cut loose on the dance floor. The band was led by the very talented professional vocalist and keyboardist, Gerard Masters. And then there were our talented club members, James Tudball on drums, Andrew Cox on bass, Hadrien Bourely on rhythm and lead guitar, Marty Trembath on bagpipes, and Wade McDonough on keyboard. But the duo that stole the show was Dene and Andrea Bergman. During a very special edition of “Piano Man” Dene showed us that he can play the harmonica as well as he can fix a boat and Andrea joined him on stage, stepping in for a chorus on vocals. It was a very special moment for all.

Special thanks to John Vasey who used his music industry connections to secure donations of lighting and staging, and to everyone who made this memorable event a great success, especially Clare Alexander, Peter Collie, Diana Chen, Paul Adam, Shirley Roach, and Andrea Bergman. We’re already looking for next year’s edition!

St John’s Ambulance at DBSC

Kirk Marcolina

Last Sunday members of St. John’s Ambulance visited DBSC. Don’t worry, no one needed to go to hospital. Their visit was part of a first aid training course that was organized by our very own Dr Christine Linhart. Seventeen enthusiastic members toiled from 9am to 5pm and immersed themselves in first aid protocols and procedures. It’s part of the club’s initiative to provide a safer racing environment. One of the participants, Justin Davey was glad to learn how to better assist in a medical emergency, explaining, “a focus on first aid competency can only add to the safety of club activities in what can, at times, be a physically challenging sport that is prey to the whims of Neptune.” Don’t worry if you missed out, more first aid training courses will be scheduled next season. 

Pained Members at Fist Aid Training. Photo by Clare Alexander.

Pained Members at Fist Aid Training. Photo by Clare Alexander.

Upcoming Events

Kirk Marcolina

Sunday 2 June, 7:45 briefing / 8:30am start – Winter Series Heats 7-9. 

Sunday 2 June, 1pm start – Big boat racing.

Sunday 16 June, 8:30am start – Winter Series Heats 10-12.

AGP This Friday – Help to Setup

Kirk Marcolina

The wait is finally over for the social event of the season. Our Annual General Party and Meeting kicks off at the clubhouse at 7pm this Friday, May 24.  We look forward to seeing you for a fabulous evening of fun. 

But all this merriment takes a lot of work. We would appreciate a couple of volunteers who can get to the club this week to get the chairs out from behind the boat storage racks and to get various things down from the rafters and/or high shelves. A bit of strength and agility would go well here!

If you can get down to assist with any of these, could you please let Peter Collie know at social@dbsc.com.au. He will let you know what needs to be done. 

Separately, we would appreciate help in Friday afternoon from about 2.30pm in putting up lights, setting up chairs (with Shirley), getting ice from the A18s, setting up the laser bar (with Clare), assisting in the canteen (with Paul), and many other preparatory tasks. Again, could you please email Peter Collie at social@dbsc.com.au if you are able to assist.

Record Fleet Sails in Warm Winter Championship

Kirk Marcolina

A beautifully warm late autumn day and a steady 8 knot WNW breeze greeted a wintertime record 35 sailors who competed in Winter Championships Heats 4-6 on Sunday. It was a gorgeous day for an early morning sail on an almost empty Sydney Harbour. 

Excellent race management was provided by the on-water team of Michael Osborne (PRO Instructor), Nick Pellow, Jim Dounis and Wade McDonough (our learn to run a race trainees), Joshua Pearl (COTD) and Pia Hattersley (Co-COTD) . Luke Parker won all three races in the Full Rig Fleet, as did Mina Ferguson in the 4.7s. In the Radial Fleet, the winners were Campbell Patton, Brooke Wilson, and Daniel Costandi. We look forward to heats 7-9 of the Winter Championship on Sunday, June 2.

Big Fleet in Early Morning Light. Photo by Brett Beyer.

Big Fleet in Early Morning Light. Photo by Brett Beyer.

Learn To Run A Race (LTRAR)

Andrew Cox

The club has implemented a Learn To Run A Race program over winter in an effort to increase the number of members at the club who are competent to run races, and thus to improve the quality of our race management year round.  Thanks to all the participants and instructors who have volunteered to make this possible!  We plan to continue this program year round.

Matt Knight has designed an easy-to-use guide for PROs, covering course setting, race management and results recording – this is available in separate documents here.  

It is important that all LTRAR participants (and instructors) read this guide and learn it BEFORE they turn up for their rostered training session.  We encourage all members to read these documents and learn them, whether you are experienced or not.  Thank you for your commitment to this – it is an important initiative for the club.

The PRO Instructor and LTRAR participants need to be at the club at 6.30am SHARP – please be early, because even five minutes late will compromise the training and the race management for the day.  We know it’s early, and we appreciate everyone’s support!

Even with the early start, the PRO Instructor and LTRAR participants will be extremely busy with training.  It is important that club members and race participants leave them alone for this.  This means no requests for help with boats and other things on shore, and no asking questions of them on the water!

It also means the COTD and Co-COTD need to know what they are doing and also be on time at 6.45am SHARP.  If the COTD and Co-COTD are late and/or not up to speed, it also compromises the training.  So, if you are COTD or Co-COTD, please read the guide in advance, and contact the PRO Instructor and/or the Commodore or Vice Commodore IN ADVANCE if you would like assistance.  There is no shame in asking!

It is particularly important that the Bergman is prepared and ready to go at 7.15am SHARP, fully loaded with fuel, buoys, anchors, tackle, safety bags, radios checked and launched from the davit.  Any later will impact training and racing.

The message is simple – preparation in advance and on-time on the day!  Thanks again to everyone involved for your commitment and understanding.

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! The Women's Laser Regatta hosted by DBSC!

Clare Alexander

This is a sailing regatta run by women, coached by women and sailed in by women and girls on the wonderful waters of Sydney Harbour!  

SAVE THE DATE - 28-29 September 2019

After the success of the 2018 event - The Women's Laser Regatta hosted by Double Bay Sailing Club has locked in a date for 2019 and the regatta team are in full swing, planning the most amazing weekend of sailing (and a few other fun things), for you!

  • We have already locked in Krystal Weir to lead our coaches!

  • We have already locked in the weekend regatta plan! 

  • We have already locked in the women's only changerooms! 

  • We have already locked in a team to bring you the best event... but all we need is - YOU! 

Let us know that you are keen to join in - so we can make sure you have all the resources you need for success and fun! 

Sign up here!

http://www.dbsc.com.au/new-events/wr2019-eoi

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Laser Given Green Light for 2024 Olympics

Kirk Marcolina

It was feared the RS Aero would replace the Laser for one-person dinghy events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In fact, the Equipment Committee recommended this change. However, the World Sailing’s ruling Council rejected the change in equipment, citing the lack of large RS Aero fleets outside of the UK. So, for now, the Laser looks safe as an Olympic class boat. For more on the decision you can read an article HERE