Syd Fischer’s maxi Ragamuffin-Loyal has been cleared of any wrongdoing after jumping the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day.

The International Jury ruled yesterday that Ragamuffin-Loyal was not at fault when she failed to restart after crossing the line early.

The International Jury found that race officials failed to notify Ragamuffin-Loyal after five minutes that they had jumped the start, leaving

the crew unaware that they should have returned and restarted.

With the crew facing virtual disqualification if the jury had ruled against them, Ragamuffin-Loyal’s David Witt said, “justice has been done”. He said the crew had been unaware they had crossed early.

The Race Committee brought the redress action to the International Jury on behalf of Ragamuffin-Loyal.

Meanwhile, Jason Van der Slot, the skipper of Calm, was yesterday banking on a south-westerly change to drive home his team’s hopes they can claim the overall win and upset Wild Oats XI’s bid for another treble.

The TP52 must finish before 01.31 hours (Australia time today) if the crew is to have a chance of claiming the Tattersall’s Cup for the handicap winner.

The team’s estimated time of arrival was around 03.30 hours yesterday, but Van der Slot reckoned they’ll pick up pace as they edge down the Tasmanian coast.

“We’re quite comfortable at the moment,’’ he said.

“Loki and Black Jack are probably about 30 to 40 miles in front of us now, so we think we’ve got that covered.

“With regards to say Wild Oats XI, if the south-wester comes in around Tasman Island we can get some speed up and we might be able to grab hold of those and have the outright handicap honours.

“At the moment we’re just sailing as we normally do. It’s not playing on our mind at all.”

Wild Oats XI broke their own race record on Thursday, finishing in one day 18 hours 23 minutes and 12 seconds.

Wild Oats is with a good shot of repeating its 2005 treble, when claiming line honours, the race record and handicap win.