Local entry Midnight Rambler is flying

TASMANIAN entry Midnight Rambler is making it a special 40th Sydney-Hobart for owner-skipper Ed Psaltis as its leads IRC Division 4 on day two and is in the top five on overall handicap.

On Tuesday evening, Midnight Rambler was locked in a Bass Strait battle with NSW rival Mistral for division honours, and sailing perfectly in 57th position on the water.

Psaltis, 61, won the most treacherous Sydney-Hobart of all-time in 1998, when it survived the weather bomb and made it to Hobart as the winner of the 628 nautical mile race on overall handicap.

That was on a different yacht called Midnight Rambler. This version is also set to deliver fast Ed some silverware.

To make the race more special, Psaltis, who moved from Sydney to live in Hobart in 2019, was rejoined by close friend Michael “Mix” Bencsik for his 25th Hobart.

The two met in the Sydney suburbs when Bencsik was friendly with Psaltis’ younger brother, Arthur, who will do his 17th Hobart on South Brittany this year.

“Our friendship goes back to when ‘Mix’ was about seven and me 10,” Psaltis said.

“We both loved boats. Outside sailing Sabots, we raced model boats of Ragamuffin, Police Car and others and inherited a passion for ocean rac- ing from that.

“I couldn’t wait to do my first Hobart. I grew up around it and was ready.”

Psaltis is in contention to win the Tattersalls Cup for a second time, while fellow Tasmanian Alive was 35th on overall handicap.

Hip-Nautic (Jean-Pierre Ravanat) was 78th on the water and winning the battle of the Tassie Two Handed teams against Kraken 111 (Rob Gough/John Saul) in 88th.

Mark Bayles and Andrew Sinclair’s 42-footer Kraken 42S was 54th in the fleet and 10th in IRC Division three, while Huntress (Victoria Logan) was 70th and 14th in IRC Division 2.