Sydney-Hobart hero wants to win the race again for Tassie

THE man who famously skippered his yacht to handicap victory in the hardest Sydney to Hobart of all time says he hopes to win another Tattersalls Cup for his new home state.

Sydney sailor Ed Psaltis, skipper of Midnight Rambler, has said goodbye to Sydney where he was “born and bred” and moved permanently to Hobart.

“I’ve just had enough of Sydney — it’s a big, corporate, dirty, city and Hobart isn’t like that,” Psaltis said. “I don’t dislike it, but I wanted a change and I’ve always liked coming to Hobart.”

With the summer season kicking off on the Derwent with Opening Day on Saturday and the Channel race on Sunday, Psaltis’s 36foot yacht Midnight Rambler — not the original 40-footer that won the race — is one of 16 yachts that will represent Tasmania in the 75th SydneyHobart. Psaltis is excited to be sailing under the banner of the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania.

“You can always dream of doing it again,” Psaltis said.

“It’s very tough to win these days because the bigger boats have gotten so big now that it’s a bit of a lottery who’s going to win.

“It’s either a big-boat race or a small-boat race, and I’ve found over time that very rarely is it a midsize-boat race on handicap.

“I’ve placed myself with a good crew at the small end of the fleet — we’re one of the smallest boats on handicap — so if we can win our division, and that’s a big if because we’ve got to beat a lot of other small boats like us, then the rest is in the lap of the gods.

“If it’s a small-boat race weather-wise, then potentially yes, we could win, or at least win our division.”

Midnight Rambler will be crewed by eight — four Tasmanians and four of Psaltis’s regular team.