Midnight Rambler Racing

The entry is in for this years Rolex Sydney Hobart and it's a big change for Midnight Rambler. Last years race was fairly successful with a 5th place overall however 3 of the 4 boats that beat us were from the Two Handed Division and Ed has decided this year that if you can't beat them, join them.
Joining Ed for the race will be Navigator/Tactician for the last 5 years, Andy Davison and with a combined 56 races between them (Ed 43, Andy 13) there is plenty of experience.
Winter in Hobart has been fairly quiet for Midnight Rambler with a bit of time put into setting up and training with new systems for short handed sailing. Our intention is to complete the local summer series and well as a few long distance races as preparation for the Sydney Hobart in December.

After a successful season of offshore racing we attended the RYCT Prize Night on Friday night and collected a few trophies.
In addition to the race trophies for the Maria Island Race (1st IRC and 1st ORC) and Bruny Island Race (3rd IRC and 2nd ORC) Midnight Rambler also picked up the Britannia Trophy for Outstanding Offshore Performance as reward for our results in the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart (5th overall, 2nd Div 5, 3rd Corinthian and 1st Tasmanian yacht). We also picked up a trophy for the best performed boat in the recent Hope Island Race with a youth crew led by Grace Bottomley.
As well as the team trophies Ed was awarded the Governors Cup for Outstanding Yachting Achievement.

On Saturday 18/4 Midnight Rambler took to the water to give some of our youth sailors a taste of offshore racing. Long time Ramblers Ed Psaltis and Andy Davison were joined by 6 local based youth sailors with varying amounts of keelboat racing experience for a 70 nm race to Hope Island near Dover and return. Despite being in the Derwent River and D'Entrecastraux Channel the course threw up some challenging conditions with a cold south westerly wind from 15 to 25 knots with gusts up to 35 knots at times.
Midnight Rambler generally excels in these conditions and our youth crew exceeded expectations as well to sail the boat with minimal input from the "old hands".
After 11 hours on the water we crossed the line ahead of our rivals to claim a win. Hopefully some of our newest Ramblers will join us for some more racing in the future.

After a successful summer season of racing on Friday night we attended the Combined Clubs Presentation Night at the Bellerive Yacht Club. Solid results in all four races including a win in the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania's Maria Island Race saw us take home the trophies for the Combined Clubs Offshore Championship in both the IRC and ORC Divisions.

A tradition for the crew of Midnight Rambler is to get together for lunch after the race and decide the winner of the John Whitfield Award. The award is named in honour of one of the legendary Ramblers Johnno (who skippered MWF Kayle in this years race) and is awarded "For outstanding effort in adverse conditions during the Hobart"
The recipient this year was great kiwi sailor Ken Ormandy from Perfect Storm Sailing who regularly sails his own yacht two handed in New Zealand with his wife Lori. He reckons having six extra crew on board is a luxury

A couple of Sydney Hobart legends enjoying a beer post race. Skipper Ed Psaltis (43 races) and one of this years Rambler crew Tony (Grumpy) Ellis (55 races) have an incredible 98 races between them, and from their efforts in this years race both look like they've got a few more in them.

Now that the race is done and dusted and the celebrations are over we can look back at what we have achieved and be proud of our performance. 5th place overall, 2nd in our Division and 3rd in Corinthian is a great result. Being within an hour of the overall winners time after 96 hours of racing we were always in the picture.
The first two days were tough with big seas in the southerly current against southerly winds that we saw get up to 38 knots and the fact that we got through this period with relatively minor damage is testament to the preparation that is put into the boat by Ed and the crew in the months leading up to the race. The boat loves this sort of stuff and going into Bass Strait we felt we were very well placed. The lighter reaching conditions in the strait weren't to our liking and we saw a few boats pass us but once the wind got behind us down the Tassie coast we were back in our element and started to gain places again.
A highlight of the race was the performance and cameraderie of all the crew which included two kiwis, two Sydneysiders as well as four regulars from Hobart.
Thanks to our support crew and particularly Ellie Eagles and Derek Inglis for their work and help in getting the boat to Sydney.

The Rambler crew are quietly confident if a good showing in this years Rolex Sydney Hobart. With around 130 races between us we have plenty of experience on board, particularly with Ed Psaltis (42 races and Tony (Grumpy) Ellis. Preparation is done and we are ready as we can be. See you in a few days in Hobart.