Login | Register | Search Site

DBYC Newsletters: July 2007

Dear DBYC

July came and went like a whirlwind. With events and activities following each other in rapid succession and even overlapping into one another.

Stanley race.
Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Andy Kung the event was a success went as smoothly as could be expected, but he forgot to order the wind and most of the boats ended up motoring to lunch. So the race itself was uneventful except for one chapter: Interesting to see the different strategies with Wizard and Authority passing south of Lamma, hoping for stronger breezes, and everybody else taking the direct route through the Lamma Channel.From Stanley, Wizard could be seen coming around Lamma, a little spot far out on the horizon,  just as Miss Salona appeared from the Lamma Channel with only a few short tacks to finish. To everybody it looked like Wizard had lost by miles. But then, as often happens in life, fate reversed the situation and Miss Salona got stuck in a hole with Wizard  charging like a bull chasing it’s red kite. It still seemed impossible for Wizard to catch up but Miss Salona had no wind. For a good 20 minutes we watched, fascinated, as the distance between the two boatsshrank. Finally, Miss Salona found some wind and started moving but Wizard with the kite was faster and closing the gap rapidly. An exciting finish with Miss Salona cutting the line first and Wizard less than a boat’s length behind. Authority refused to motor and when they came into the restaurant an hour later they received a standing ovation from the other crews who, by now, had had a few glasses. Excellent food and good wine. Another ‘bravo’ to Authority for assisting a girl kayaker in the middle of the Lamma Channel at sunset on the way home. She had paddled from Sai Kung and was so exhausted she could not think straight, attempting to cross the busy channel in the dark. They towed her to safety, probably saving her life. Good job Torben.

Beginner’s Sailing Course.
As you know after a period of absence the DBYC has resumed sail training courses, the first in July. After a long period of preparation, training of the trainers, polishing the method of teaching and editing a DBYC introduction manual, the first course was a success with eight new members - two of which are talking of buying a boat to keep in DB. A special thanks to Stephan Kottekwho spent countless hours doing the graphics that make our training manual look so professional. Also our appreciation toJan Neuhaeusserand Antoine Serrat as well as your Commodore for volunteering 4 full days on the water teaching. And teaching well, obviously, since on the last day of the course the students took over Rosemary, Skellum and (partly) Thea, participated in the DB Regatta and won some prizes. To read what the students thought of the course click here.

DB Regatta.
Meticulously organized by Jim Fernie,it seemed at first that he too had forgotten to order the wind. But the wind gradually picked up during the second half of the first race, a cans course. In the second race, an islands race, the wind freshened and  things got exciting. A lovely day with great visibility, blue skies and thirteen boats tacking their way to the finish. For the full story click here.

Vice Commodore.
The executive committee unanimously nominated Ken Wiltshire to be the Vice Commodore pro tem, meaning he is now Vice Commodore to all effects, awaiting formal confirmation by vote in the next general meeting. Congratulations Ken.

Handicapping.
If you are interested in following what the Handicapping Committee is doing please go to the website where you will be able to see the minutes of the last meeting as well as a schedule of introduction of the new system. The new handicapping system  will be based on historical performance of any given boat and will be calculated by statistical averages. The Committee will be able to override the system in special cases such as new boats that have no record or boats that get new sails or a new skipper etc, but the platform for the fleet in general will be computer-driven. In the hope of getting everybody to understand how the system works, we have organized a presentation for the 10th of August to introduce the new system to members in an open meeting (this date has now been postponed to the 15th). The new system has been put in parallel with the old one for the past 3 years and the results indicate improvements in the spread as well as the mix of winners. Unless something happens the new system will become operational in the Middle Island Race. We will be using the old system for an interim period while everybody gets familiar with the new one. 

Next Event – Cheung Chau.
Coming up on Sunday, 12th of August, the Cheung Chau race-to-lunch will be organized by Jan Neuhaeusser. Click here for the report of last year’s popular event, and hope to see you there!

Paolo Alvera
Commodore

Print Version