Ragtime to race in HSBC Premier Coastal Classic

by Zoe Hawkins on 10 Oct 2008
Ragtime – the 60 footer built for Sir Tom Clark in 1964 under the name of Infidel – has made an epic 7,000 mile southwards journey to New Zealand, only to turn around and nearly immediately depart on another epic journey in the opposite direction, a 119 nautical mile sailing marathon between Auckland and Russell in the Bay of Islands.

It was 1964 when the Ragtime (nee Infidel) was built by John Spencer for the late Sir Tom Clark and since then she has accumulated more than 100,000 blue water miles. Based in the Based in the Northern Hemisphere since 1970, when she was sold to make way for Clark's new 73ft ocean racing 'maxi' Buccaneer.

That deal was brokered by leading New Zealand sailor Chris Bouzaid, for the princely sum of $29,000 (NZD and USD were almost the same, then) which included a new Hood mainsail, genoa and IOR spinnaker, and for Bouzaid to fly to USA to assist with commissioning.

Since then Ragtime has sailed more Transpacific Los Angeles to Honolulu races than any other boat and winning four of them between 1971 and 1974.

But Ragtime, who came to the Southern Hemisphere via a race from California to Tahiti, and to New Zealand just for the HSBC Premier Coastal Classic, is not going to be content with simply putting in an appearance. The boat, which has pre-applied for Cat 3, IRC and PHRF prior to its arrival here, is demonstrating great potential even against boats more than 40 years her junior.

this year Ragtime won the 3,571 nautical mile Tahiti Race, on corrected time, finishing in just over 14 days and 16 hours. Her performance is due to a new carbon fibre rig and high-tech sail wardrobe. The yacht's plywood hull has also been reconstructed and a new keel configuration added to give her greater stability.

The boat, which is owned by American Chris Welsh is moored at Long Beach, CA. She will stay in New Zealand until February.

The HSBC Premier Coastal Classic is the biggest coastal yacht race in New Zealand, and one of the biggest in the world. It started life 26 years ago as a drag race between Auckland and Russell for just a few boats, and over the years attracted a bigger and more diverse fleet, consisting of grand prix racers, America’s Cup boats, and small family cruisers.

Organised by the New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club, it is a race designed for speed: except for at the beginning and the end of the race, there are few opportunities to use tactics to overtake, and success can often depend on getting a good tactical start.

The race can take as little as seven or eight hours for the very fastest boats, or as long as two days for the slowest boats in light conditions.

As well as welcoming back principle sponsor HSBC, the HSBC Premier Coastal Classic is supported by some of New Zealand’s pre-eminent marine companies: Donaghys Southern Ocean, Harken, Line 7, Cookson Boats and Sail NZ, as well as the Duke of Marlborough Hotel, Steinlager, Mount Gay Rum, the Sunday Star Times, Trade-A-Boat magazine, De Walt, Dirty Dog and Yamaha Motors NZ.

For those watching the race start from ashore, prime vantage points are Devonport Wharf, North Head, Orakei Wharf and the race website, www.coastalclassic.co.nz which will be updated regularly with photos, commentary and radio positionings throughout the race.