Australia Day Weekend


There will be no sailing on Australia Day, Saturday 26th. Our harbour will be chookas with ferries and various other flotillas, so we’re staying away. We recommend you BBQ some juicy lamb chops and enjoy a cold one with loved ones. But… on Monday 28th there is a Public Holiday and we’re planning some informal sprints. There might be a course set, probably no RIBs, definitely no canteen service. 1.30ish briefing for a 2pm splash. Hope to see you there.

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Vale Jeff Martin

Written by The International Laser Class AssociationILCA is shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of Jeff Martin on 11 January 2019 while on a ski holiday with family and friends.Jeff’s dedication to the sport of sailing was unparalleled, having served as the Executive Secretary of the International Laser Class Association for 40 years. Jeff was a cornerstone of Laser events, having worked at every Laser Open World Championship except the first one in 1974 where he was a competitor. The loss of Jeff Martin will be keenly felt throughout the sailing world and our deepest condolences go out to Jeff’s family and friends.

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Big Boat Race Report

Five boats presented on summer afternoon, with a fresh sou-easterly blowing.And Peter Collie gave us a start. (Remember flags rule in the starting sequence, and as PRO Peter used the answering pennant to delay until he felt the fleet were all there). The start was just 5 min delayed. The right place to start was at the green pole, but the first leg was a beam reach and the advantage was small. Umbakumba, Chenonceau  and Smitten were all there; one was OCS (Chenonceau) and she went back – and was last to start instead of first. Still, she worked her way through the fleet for a strong finish. G-Force started late but fully powered up and was soon amongst the leaders. Umbakumba was the first to the Point Piper mark and threatened to lead all the way, as she did in December. But boat size does count, and with all boats powered to their intrinsic boat speed, the 30 footers

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Boat Licence Course – Sunday January 20th (8am-4pm)

There is ONE spot left in the one-day boat licence course we will be running at DBSC on January 20th provided by ABC Boating and supported by the club. Members will need to pay $125 to do the course and the club will subsidise the other 50%. All members should have this licence if you perform PRO or COTD duties. It is also good for anyone who just enjoys being on the Harbour in a boat. To make payment and secure the last spot please click on this link: http://www.dbsc.com.au/shop/boat-license-course-jan20 The weather policy on the day is go unless it’s dangerous (e.g. lightning).  If you can’t attend, it will be your obligation to find an alternate (we will help as long as not at the last minute). If you don’t attend without covering your spot, you will be expected to cover the club’s contribution on your behalf (e.g. make up the difference that the club

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Official 2019 Sailing Kicks off Saturday

We hope you all had an excellent holiday, and that 2019 is off to a great start. We’re planning a great year of events, and are looking forward to seeing you all back at the club this Saturday, 12 January, for the first two heats of the 2019 Autumn Point Score. The big-boat are also planning their January race this weekend on Sunday, 13 January. In the meantime, there will be Twilight Sailing on tonight, and if you’re off from work and looking for a sailing partner, pop a note on our Top Mark Facebook page. It’s been great to see so many members using the Top Mark to plan informal sailing together over the holidays. 

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BBSP Needs YOU

The Brett Beyer Saturday Program (BBSP) will commence this coming Saturday, 2 February, which is a club championship.We currently have five participants signed up – 2 full rigs and 3 radials.  We need many more people to make this viable – like 10 in each class.If you are interested, can you please purchase your tickets HERE ASAP in the next two days?The Brett Beyer Twilight Program (BBTP) is fully subscribed with 10 people.  Twilight sailing is on tonight with Brett Beyer and all are welcome to attend.  Let’s maintain the momentum last year, when we got a record number of 22 sailors on a Wednesday evening in December.

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Competency Training – This Saturday 9am

Our first ever competency training course will be held this Saturday, 2 February, commencing at 9am at the club.  We have only 35 people signed up, out of our 120 members.This is an event we are asking all our members to attend as a commitment to your fellow members and to the standards of racing and safety to which we aspire. The reason we are doing this is that we are consistently short of people who are competent to set courses, run races, record results, launch and drive our boats, rescue lasers, use the radios and deal with life-threatening emergencies.  This is a big problem for the club and we need to fix it by increasing the competency of all members.The topics covered will be course setting, mark laying and mark moving, race management and weather monitoring, RIB launch and operation, Jazzman launch and operation, radio usage, incident management plan and emergency response,

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Coming Up

Wednesday 30 January, 5pm – Twilight Sailing.Saturday 2 February, 9am –  Competency Training for all members. (see above for details) Saturday 2 February, 2pm Start – Club Championship Heats 9 & 10 followed by a BBQ on the deck after racing.  Sunday 3 February, 2pm Start– Big Boat Racing.

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Brett Beyer Programs

We will be running another instalment of the BBSP and BBTP, commencing shortly. If you are interested in these programs, can you please click on the following links and purchase tickets ASAP. Closing date for purchase is in one week — Tuesday, 29 January.For BBSP, click HERE. For BBTP, click HERE. BBSP details:The Brett Beyer Saturday Program (BBSP) will run for 7 sessions as follows: 2 Feb, 9 Feb, 23 Feb, 9 Mar, 23 Mar, 30 Mar, 27 Apr.*  You can sign up for the BBSP HERE.  There will be two categories: B = $315, A = $630 (plus merchant fees).* Everyone is invited to join the post-race briefing on the deck.“B” participants receive (a) a video of the start with voice-over commentary, (b) a video of the “real time” GPS tracks of the fleet, (c) a leg by leg analysis of the performance of the fleet including individual speed and angle statistics vs the fleet,

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Laser State Masters South Lake Macquarie March 2nd & 3rd

The block buster State Masters Championship is coming up 2nd and 3rd March. This one will be at South Lake Macquarie Amateur Sailing Club at Sunshine – always a great venue. We have 20 DBSC members signed up to participate… if you haven’t done so already, and want to join us, please let us know HERE. This is your last chance to join our armada headed North. The Notice of Race for the event is HERE and you can enter online HERE. SLMASC have arranged with the Lake Macquarie Council to allow us to camp (tent only – no caravans) on Friday and Saturday nights on Sunshine Park at the club. Camping fee is $30 per night (with funds going to the Council). The clubhouse toilets and showers will be available 24 hours. Please contact Diana Charlton by email at treasurer@slmasc.org if you want to book a camping spot. On Saturday night the club is putting

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