In the leadup to Sunday’s departure from the Harbour City, veteran sailors Tony Ellis and Ed Psaltis talk disaster prep and moments of awe.
After the disappointment of last year’s cancellation because of COVID-19, the 76th Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race gets under way on Boxing Day. Veteran contestants Tony Ellis and Ed Psaltis will be on board No Limit and Midnight Rambler in a bid for line honours on January 1.Since his first race in 1963, Ellis has competed in the Sydney Hobart 52 times – more than any other sailor. He was aboard Ragamuffin when it won line honours in 1988 and 1990.
I always try to spend Christmas Day reasonably quietly. You want to start the race without too much food and grog in you. All your prep work should be done by then, too. The main task is to consult the weather forecast. No two races are the same because the weather patterns along the coast change all the time. Sometimes, it’s agreeable, but other times there’s a really strong sou’wester that creates tough conditions. It can last for days on end, like it did in ’93.
Now, it takes about 36 hours for the maxis and about 60 hours for the 60-footers. There’s no such thing as rest.Psaltis made his Sydney Hobart race debut when he was just 17, and won first place overall in 1998 with his yacht AFR Midnight RamblerEd Psaltis on Midnight Rambler in Sydney, ahead of the big race.I moved to Hobart three years ago, so now the Sydney Hobart is a race towards home. Before that, I was a partner at big chartered accounting firms for 19 years, and it was a stressful life.
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