It’s All In the Preparation

The 2022 Rolex Sydney to Hobart was my third and Ed Psaltis’ 40th, and his fourth on the current (fifth) Midnight Rambler (a Sydney 36-footer). The crew of 8 was a mix of his current Hobart-based crew and three of us who had sailed with Ed when he lived in Sydney. We operated a three-on, three-off watch system, with Ed and our navigator floating. Being on bow, I got up for each sail change and gybe, so spent most of the race in my wet weather gear with PFD and tether.

For those of you who hear Ed speak at the club on 15 March, one of his key messages will be the importance of preparation. That was definitely the case this year. Due to us working systematically through Ed’s extensive and often frustrating detailed list of pre-race tasks (e.g., polishing all the tools in the tool kit, capping all bolts in the cabin, servicing every block and winch), and lots of training and race time together, we had the confidence in the boat and crew to keep pushing hard when other boats in our division buttoned off in trying conditions.

We were on the third of four start lines when the 109 boats set off in a 10-15 knot north-easterly on Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day. It is an amazing experience with the huge spectator fleet and the massive 100 foot maxi yachts towering over us in the pre-start. We were successful in starting at the boat end, away from the crappy wind from the big boats, and tacked our way up the eastern shoreline, out of the harbour before rounding the turning mark to head south and pop the kite.

For the next 24 hours we had glorious downwind sailing in 15-25 knots, using the full wardrobe of 3 masthead kites, only interrupted briefly by two sun fish that took a liking to our keel – but fortunately not the rudder – when we were doing 13 knots. We were below the southern tip of the mainland and into Bass Strait shortly after lunch on the 27th. Was glorious.

Consistent with forecast, the breeze steadily built, and many boats in our division dropped their kites at dusk as the northerly set in above 30 knots. Conversely, we kept the masthead kite all evening until shortly after dark we changed to the fractional storm kite, strapped down hard. With the wind from the north constantly in the mid-to-high 30s, and occasionally into the low 40s, and boat speed consistently 12-18 knots (top 22 knots), in 6-8m swells for at least 6 hours, the noise was intense, white water flying high above both sides of the boat. Although most of us had sailed in conditions like this before, most of us were in roles where we had increased responsibility relative to those previous times. Therefore, we constantly felt on edge (definitely type 2 fun), knowing we were only one rogue wave away from potentially catastrophic wipe out. I take my hat off to all you short-handed sailors. Although we had a handful of broaches, the Sydney 36 is very forgiving and we were able to quickly tidy up and push hard again. Around 3am on the 28th, having put about 40nm on those boats who had dropped their kites six hours earlier, everyone was tired and the wind wasn’t dropping from the high 30’s, so we dropped the fractional and poled out the number 2 jib, where boat speed was still consistently reaching the high teens. Eventually, the track on the mast snapped, so we reverted to two-sail reaching.

By sunrise on the 28th, we were off the Tassie coast and the forecast southerly was setting in, which meant that the smaller boats like us were no chance for overall handicap, with the big boats already being well around Tasman Island. However, it was all on in Division 4, with us being one of three boats that had got a large jump on the rest of the division. The other two boats were in front of us on the course but had slightly higher handicaps, and the lead changed between the three of us many times over the next 30 hours. Our focus was all on getting around Tasman Island (about 40nm from the finish) around midday, if not earlier, on the 29th, so as to not get stuck on the river when the breeze dies late in the day and into the night. We ended up rounding the island around lunchtime. Initially there was little breeze, and our competition were benefiting from a sea breeze further up the course. Eventually, we got hold of a steady north-westerly sea breeze and were able to activate our ‘clayton’s code zero’ (pictured). However, the River Derwent can be brutal for sailing and so our competitors had finished an hour or two before us, so we kept pushing hard with many sail changes to get as far up the course as we could in case the breeze died out. It wasn’t until we were a couple of miles from the finish that we let ourselves believe we were going to get there without the wind dying out.

In the end, we finished in three days, eight hours, to win IRC Division 4 and the Corinthian Division for the first IRC amateur crew. It had been 21 years since Midnight Rambler last had a divisional win, so it was great to be able to contribute to this to mark Ed’s 40th and Michael Bencsik’s 25th Sydney to Hobart. To top it off, I, along with our navigator, were awarded the John Whitfeld trophy, which is a Midnight Rambler tradition for ‘outstanding effort in adverse conditions during the Hobart’.

I could not be prouder to have contributed to another chapter of the long and proud Midnight Rambler legacy. I am grateful for all of the support that I’ve received this past few months, including from the RPNYC, my wife, family and friends, and for the sailing opportunities I have had over the past 16 years, including but not limited to the crews and owners of Wellington Ocean Sports, Andiamo, Bullistic, Cinquante and Gucci.