Author: admin

Written by Tim Heath I’m not sure if this is a sailing tip or a confession. Probably both. While learning to sail I have developed an interest, ok a bit of an obsession, with learning how to tie knots and splice ropes. I find myself practising them when daydreaming or watching Netflix?! In the process of furnishing my habit, I have come a across a couple of cheap, excellent e-resources that I think would be useful to normal people who sail dinghies:1. Animated Knots (by Grog) is a phone app which costs $8 and is a pretty comprehensive compendium of knot videos, including notes on usage, and pros and cons for each knot. There are also splicing videos. You can watch some of them online but this app stores them all offline on your smartphone.

2. Rope splicing

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The wind forecasts were all over the place for last Saturday afternoon. From some models, it looked like there might not be enough wind to race… Boy was that prediction wrong! What eventuated was a strong, shifty 22 knot WSW breeze with some 30+ knot bullets that saw much of the fleet in the drink.  It was surely a day you needed to keep your wits about you and your downhaul cranked on. Those who managed to keep their boats upright and took advantage of high port tacks won the day.  The day was so challenging that several boats did not finish within 15 minutes of the lead boat, giving them a DNF (S.I. 18.3). The Afternoon was a combined Club Champs and Spring Pontscore; congratulations to the hardy victors. The results were: Championship – Full Rigs: Campbell Patton (Championship Heat 3) and Luke Parker (Championship Heat 4); Radials: Otto Henry (Championship Heats 3 & 4).  Pointscore (after

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Next week we will unveil the final designs of our regatta kit, and move forward with taking orders.  This is very exciting!If you are attending an ILCA regatta this season, you will be offered one T-shirt / cap / bib combo for FREE.  If you are not attending an ILCA regatta (or you want more than one combo set), you can also buy whatever you want.There will be a form in next week’s newsletter to indicate what you want to order – quantities and sizes.  We will include price details then. In the meantime, in preparation for this, we will have size samples of the T-shirts and bibs at the club on Saturday so you can select your sizing. If you’re interested in one of the DBSC branded Musto sailing jackets, check out the sizing details HERE (and you can see the unbranded jacket in person at Sturrocks). So, don’t miss out, come on down to

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On 9-10 November the 2019 NSW/ACT Laster State Championships will take place at George’s River Sailing Club in Sandringham.  Please email Ian Alexander HERE if you plan to attend, and stick around after sailing on Saturday to white board trailer solutions. This is important — if you want to attend the regatta, but cannot attend the white board session, please speak to someone else and ask them to represent your interests at the white board session.

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We are asking ALL members to plan to attend our annual Competency Training on the morning of Saturday, 23 November. No matter how experienced you are, your attendance is required. Most weeks our race management is falling short of the standards we are seeking, and the competency training is an important element of our strategy to address that for the benefit of the club and all our members — so we need everyone to commit to this. Please confirm your attendance HERE. Thanks!

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The forecast is looking perfect for twilight sailing tonight (Wednesday)… 26 degrees and an 18 knot NE breeze. Join us for a beautiful evening on the harbour, with organised sprints with Brett Beyer. Everyone’s welcome. Splash is at 5pm for a 5:30 start! 

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Wednesday, 16 October, 5pm Splash – Twilight Sailing / BBTPSaturday, 19 October, 9am – Learn to RaceSaturday, 19 October, 2pm Start – Club Championship, Heats 3 & 4 AND Spring Pointscore, Heats 5 & 6.  Followed by a BBQWednesday, 23 October, 5pm Splash – Twilight Sailing / BBTPSaturday, 26 October, 2pm Start – Spring Pointscore, Heats 7 & 8.  

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Continuing with more tips on boots, Mark Crowhurst provides us with a cautionary tale: On Saturday as I came back to land I stepped off my boat onto a broken bottle. My foot is fine, but the bottom of my shoe was maimed quite a bit. So, remember you aren’t just wearing shoes because of the increased hiking capacity they provide – you’re wearing them to protect against monsters in the shallows.Anyone who has done Clean Up Australia Day will know what hides in these shallows! So, make sure you’re wearing your shoes/boots when you venture out into the harbour. 

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We had notified the RMS of our intention to host the Metros on 28 & 29 February 2020.Subsequently, SailGP has decided to host their event on this day, meaning we must move the date of Metros as the SailGP exclusion zone is effectively the entire sailable harbour. Unfortunately, the only date we can now host the Metros is on the 1st and 2nd of February – as a result, we have to move the Club Champs originally on that day to the 15th February. We apologise to members for the inconvenience. The Club’s Online Calendar has been updated accordingly.The Sailing Schedule for February 2020 is now the following:

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch, 20+ boats saw some extremely tight sprint racing, in a shifty 8-12 knot South Easterly. The course was laid bang in the middle of ‘The Dardanelles’ (aka the passage between Point Piper and Shark Island) to make the most of the constant pressure coming out of Rose Bay. There was quite a lot of Big Boat traffic on the harbour, which kept the laser racers alert and on their toes. Check out the close call on ‘The Top Mark’.Speaking of top Marks… the Standard rig sailors had the pleasure of being schooled by Mark Bethwaite another week in these conditions, while the Radial sailors escaped at least another week before Mark dominates their fleet…Thanks to this week’s race volunteers — Nick Pellow (PRO), Josh Kirton (COTD), and Daryl Lawrence and James Tudball in the canteen.

Top

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