Midnight Rambler clear winner of CYCA Port Hacking Race

Midnight Rambler on form in the Port Hacking Race © David Brogan / www.sailpix.com.au

Midnight Rambler has claimed her second victory in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Ocean Point Score's (OPS), taking out the Port Hacking Race this afternoon, beating firm favourite, About Time, to the punch by four minutes on corrected time to snaffle the series lead from Julian Farren-Price's champion Cookson 12.

Ed Psaltis, Midnight Rambler's skipper said: "My crew was superb; I want to thank them all. Alex and Neil trimming, Chris on main and Ben (his son) on bow – they were all fantastic. Alex, she's new to the boat, she did all the right things."

The CYCA yachtsman said it was not easy coming home. "We don't have a pole back situation on our boat, but we held up well against those who do. We reached up the Harbour to the finish with a Code Zero and we're obviously happy to win," he ended.

Fresh from overall victory in the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, Paul Clitheroe's Balance took line honours at 15:03:06pm, finishing third overall, a smidgen under seven minutes behind Midnight Rambler on corrected time. Fellow Hobart devotees, The Goat (Bruce Foye/Sebastian Bohm) and Merlin (Dave Forbes) followed Clitheroe's TP52 across the Rushcutters Bay finish line some 37 and 48 minutes later each.

Adrian Van Bellen's J/122, Jackpot came up with the goods in ORCi, beating Midnight Rambler and About Time for first place. Van Bellen hit the 'jackpot' in PHS also, defeating Midnight Rambler and Noel Cornish's Sydney 47, St Jude.

Going into today's Race 7, About Time led the pointscore, but was on equal points with Midnight Rambler, which finished the Sydney Hobart in 26th overall and now has a one-point series advantage over her adversary. The two have scored a pair of wins and second places each so far in what is going to be a close fight to the finish, with just two races remaining.

About Time played second fiddle today in the Port Hacking Race - photo © David Brogan / www.sailpix.com.au

The light breeze was all over the shop before, during and after the 10.00am start, swiveling from one side of the compass to the other, as the fleet sailed down the Harbour under kite. Midnight Rambler, the Ker 40 owned by Ed Psaltis, Michael Bencsik and Bob Thomas got away well at the pin end of the line, but a short time later, the larger Balance overhauled them and led out of Sydney Heads.

Psaltis got "a cracker of a start," according to Clitheroe. "It was the strangest day. Five knots in one direction, 2 knots in another, south, west, south/east, south/west, you name it," he said.

"The guy's a magician. We saw a bit of breeze where he was, but none of us could get there. The gun went and Ed put up a kite and off he went. I was a bit shocked. We were in an easterly and Ed was in a westerly."

Early on, Andrew and Pauline Dally's Nine Dragons looked in fine form in second place on line, but as the chute went up shortly after the start, a dreaded wine glass let them down, and four chasers behind the DK46 found the overtaking lane too irresistible.

Fighting their way down the Harbour in the tricky conditions was no picnic. "It was no better when we first got offshore either – it was horrible - 3 knots and lumpy and bumpy," Balance's owner said

"But no more than 500 metres away, we pretty much had a southerly of up to 15 knots. We couldn't believe our luck and it certainly wasn't what anyone expected. But coming home through the Heads, it was sloppy again.

Just 10 entries on the start line today. With many competitors still on holidays, only the diehards made the race. The last boat, Jackpot, finished in time to avoid a threatening thunderstorm that hit Sydney Harbour just before 5pm.

"I'm just glad we all got in before the storm hit – I guess the others in the fleet who went to Hobart were thinking the same – who wanted another dose of our first night at sea in that race!"

At 6.15pm, Clitheroe was wondering if he'd dreamed the storm up. "I'm sitting at home and it's as still as anything and no more sign of the storm," he said.

Race 8 of the Ocean Pointscore Series is the Sydney Newcastle race starting on Feb 20 at 9am. It is a Category 3 race and casual entries are welcome. Enter on line at www.topyacht.com.au/db/aus/entry_menu.php?EventID=498

For full race results and provisional Ocean Point Score standings visit www.cyca.com.au/sysfile/downloads/2016_summer/Ocean_Pointscore/series.htm