Ed Psaltis’ brand new Ker 40 AFR Midnight Rambler has made a stunning ocean racing debut taking line honours and the PHS Division 1 win in the Sydney Amateur Sailing Club’s Lion Island Race, which also marks the start of the CYCA’s Ocean Pointscore and Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Series.
Psaltis, who owns the boat with his long standing partner Bob Thomas and long standing AFR crew member Michael Bensic, has spent the last 18 months researching suitable ocean racers to replace his modified Farr 40 of the same name. His goal is to achieve another overall win in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race and given the right conditions this could be the boat to watch come Boxing Day.
“I’m very happy,” Psaltis said this evening “The boat’s performance today was very encouraging – she was dynamic off the breeze and her upwind performance was far from vulnerable.”
“The conditions were very testing for the new boat but she held her own in the 20-25 knot westerlies. It’s looking very good at the moment,” Psaltis added.
AFR Midnight Rambler also took PHS Division honours in the CYCA’s Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore
Tom Barker, AFR Midnight Rambler’s tactician also continued to praise the boat “The crew are phenomenally happy with the boat. To get this result in the first race is a testament to all the work that’s been put in by Ed to get the right boat and the crew who have work tirelessly.
“She is everything that we thought she could be,” Barker recalled this evening “The boat is punching above her rating and to beat a 50 footer across the line (Vamp) is fantastic. We are excited by the potential this boat has.”
“It was a testing day on water with an almost true westerly in the morning, which swung to the south west throughout the day. The boat stood up to it and the crew are looking forward to the coming season,” Barker concluded.
Bruce Dover’s Warwick 44 EZ Street placed second in PHS Division 1 behind AFR Midnight Rambler with Frank Hetherton’s Molly third.
For OCL Too, Warwick Sherman’s new GTS 43 it wasn’t such a stunning debut. Approximately half an hour into the race, and around 0.5 nautical miles off North Head, a loud bang was heard; which was the rudder shearing from its housing.
“The boat was on fire,” Sherman said ruefully this afternoon back at the CYCA. “We were sailing well, had our smallest kite up and were just flying when we heard the loud bang.”
Despite undertaking a quick 180 degree turn, something reminiscent of a ballerina’s pirouette, the crew could not retrieve the rudder from the ocean. Marine Rescue came to the aid of OCL Too and towed the boat to Woolwich, where further investigations will be made during the week and to try to find out just what went wrong.
Sherman continued: “We had a few of the team from Sydney Yachts onboard, including Sam Newton, and frankly we’re all in shock as to why this happened. We’ll get it fixed as soon as we can and get back into racing. Luckily it’s the first race of the season and we won’t miss out on too many races.
“We appreciate the assistance provided by Marine Rescue and are lucky that this incident occurred relatively close to shore where assistance was close at hand,” Sherman added.
“The difference between us, AFR Midnight Rambler (Ed Psaltis’ new Kerr 40) and About Time (Julian Farren Price’s Cookson 12) is huge. I’m looking for Ed and the boys here (at the CYCA) but can’t see them yet which is some relief,” he concluded. Sherman and Psaltis have always shared a friendly rivalry in the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Series and with both debuting new boats, there will have been a friendly bet of jugs of rum and coke to be brought by Sherman for the AFR crew.
In PHS Division 2, only four boats recorded a finish time with 14 boats being scored OCS when they started on the warning signal. Sue Rice’s First Light came away with the divisional win, Steve Watson’s Moya second with Torquil (P & C McCorquodale) third.
In the CYCA Ocean Pointscore Series John Griffin’s Bennie and the Jets took IRC & PHS Division honours, with About Time second and Ray Entwistle’s J/111 Jake third in IRC.
Jake, a new 36ft J/111, also made her offshore racing debut. For owner Ray Entwistle it was a day of firsts: “The crew had their first sail on the boat, the first time we had one of spinnakers out of the bag and certainly the first time we have seen 18 knots boat speed.”
“With the breeze from the south west in the 20 knot range and bullets all around the course around the 30’s clashing with the easterly swell, it made a lumpy tricky seaway at times especially trying to surf under spinnaker.
“We made a good start and were very pleased when we settled down under our A3 spinnaker and started to see consistent speeds in the 14 to 17 knots range and a blast of 18 knots approximately three miles north of Long Reef,” Entwistle added.
“By this stage we were being pushed too far east under spinnaker and decided to douse it and make our way further west towards Lion Island under #4 jib and full main. We had some fun in the waves just past Barrenjoey where we surfed down a wave doing 17 knots.
“The leg back to Sydney was close reaching with just cracked sheets was a steady procession and gave us the chance to calm down again after the adrenalin pumping ride to Lion Island,” Entwistle concluded.
Rod Wills’ Great Xpectations placed second in the PHS Division of the CYCA Ocean Pointscore Series wih About Time in third.
In the Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore Bennie and the Jets place first in IRC Division 1 with Jake second and Vamp (skippered by Adam Barnes) third.
AFR Midnight Rambler scored the PHS Division win with Bennie and the Jets second and Great Xpectations third.
For full race results log on to https://www.sasc.com.au/results/2011/club/Liisland/series.htm
For CYCA Ocean Pointscore Series and Grant Thornton Short Ocean Pointscore standings log on to: https://www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2011-2012summer/?key=5366
By Jennifer Crooks, CYCA Media
