Race report 19 March 2022

Our PRO, Luke Parker, and LTRAR, David Murphy, have provided the following report on racing on Saturday.Saturday was the harbour bridge’s 90th birthday and the sailing gods presented sailors with a “thinking person’s breeze”.  In other words, it wasn’t easy sailing; 5-20 knots predominantly from the SE, but with occasional gusts from the SW, followed by a gust (or maybe it was a lull) from SE and so on in an outgoing tide of flood stained water.Point score 3 and 4 brought some fast, exciting racing within Double Bay and both fleets were a little below usual numbers. There were some really fun reaches (and bottom mark roundings) out on the course. Sailors in each fleet conducted hull and centreboard inspections at various times. The “proximity award” goes to Geoff Boscoe for capsizing to windward pretty much into the Jazzman and taking out the club flagpole!As PRO, Luke accurately predicted a

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Save the dates

Easter Saturday (16 April) – on Easter Saturday the club will host an Easter hunt with a difference with our inaugural race around the harbour. Rod Barnes is designing a course that will take approximately 1.5 hours around key marks on the harbour and potentially a handicap start. This will be an exciting and fun event for the club, so be sure to come! Stay tuned for more details.AGP (27 May) – our Annual General Party will be on Friday 27th May. This is always an event not to be missed with formalities, food, drink and dancing! You might just be surprised who tears up the dance floor if you haven’t been to one of these events before… More details to come.

The AGP. Not like any

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This weekend

Learn to Race is scheduled for this weekend, weather permitting. If you wish to attend, keep your eyes peeled for Martin’s email later in the week. If you are interested in the learn to race program, or have any questions, please email Martin. This weekend the club will host heats 7&8 of the Autumn pointscore as well as heats 9&10 of the Club Championship. There will be a bbq after racing on the deck.Partners and family are welcome to come out on our support boats (RIBs and Jazzman) during racing. If you would like to come along, please email Mark Crowhurst to ensure there is adequate space. Partners, family and Learn to Race participants are also welcome to join us after racing on the deck for the bbq.If you need to plan further ahead, the club calendar can be viewed (and subscribed to) here.

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Volly of the week

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 Martin White for his contributions to the club. Martin is responsible for the Learn to Race program, coordinating a team of volunteers to help prospective club racers come to the club and refresh themselves on how to rig and sail a laser. This “try before you buy” scheme is an excellent “sales funnel” for the club, bringing in new members. Martin has also been behind Sailing Stories – our events where noteworthy sailors come and share their experiences in a Michael Parkinson style interview with club members. Martin’s contribution to the club ensures the membership remains vibrant and energised.

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Race report 26 March 2022

Our PRO, Alistair Sutherland has provided the following report from racing on Saturday.A small but enthusiastic fleet took to the water for Autumn pointscore races 5&6.Race Officers Alistair Sutherland and Derek Hand made an early call to set the windward mark up in Rose Bay, and run the racing between Shark Island and Point Piper, with the “Dardanelles” living up to its reputation as a thinking man’s game. Large shifts of up to 30 degrees in the east / southeast breeze meant that having the head out the boat and getting on the correct tack was the order of the day.  Some did better than others, with Richard George and Pat Levy taking out the wins in the two radial races.  In the standard rig, Ryan Aldrich persevered around the course and his tenacity to make sure he finished paid off with a handicap win. Mike Dunne took out the other

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60 seconds with Mark Gray

He sure has taken his time to do his Q&A, but the timing is impeccable given our session with Malcolm Page on Wednesday. Also, check out those socks from the 1980s!How old were you when you first stepped on a boat? 8 years old. I did a learn to sail course over the 1985/86 season at Hunters Hill Sailing Club with my older brother. My first sail there was in a Manly Junior with the then recently-crowned Australian National MJ Champion, Malcolm Page. If money (& sailing ability) were no limit, what boat would you buy? Beneteau Oceanis 50 or something similar. What is your sailing goal? Sailing holidays in the Mediterranean with family and friends. Tell us the back story to your laser’s name? I bought my Laser second hand and liked the name it came with – “Zone”. When I eventually buy a new Laser, it will be named “Zone II”, as a tribute to the transport zone

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Winter sailing and BBWP

Winter sailing will be returning this year. The winter series will be 30 races held over 10 Sundays from 1 May 2022 to 24 July 2022 (that is, 3 races each Sunday). There will be no racing during the school holidays. (3 Jul, 10 Jul, 17 Jul). The calendar is on the website.This year there will be a handicapped pointscore held in conjunction with the championship for every race. We encourage everyone to participate as there are trophies and honour boards at stake!In conjunction with the winter series, Brett Beyer will offer a Brett Beyer Winter Program (BBWP) for 6 weeks (18 races) on 8 May, 15 May, 12 Jun, 19 Jun, 26 Jun, 24 Jul.  The cost of the program is $360 for all 6 weeks. BBWP subscribers will carry a GPS during each race and will later receive a report and animation showing their GPS tracks vs the fleet, together with

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