Recognizing a lifetime of achievement

 Recognizing a lifetime of achievement

The Pindar Lifetime Achievement Award for 2025, presented by the International Association of Cape Horners, goes to Sir Robin Knox-Johnston KB CBE RD. Sir Robin, who lives in Portsmouth UK, has been inspiring sailors the world over since becoming the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world aboard his treasured 32ft 6in traditional wooden yacht Suhaili back in 1968-69.

He is still inspiring newcomers. The Clipper Round the World yacht race has introduced some 20,000 amateur crews to the sport since he co-founded the event in 1996. And this year, at the age of 86, he led old friends on a cruise to Greenland and back.

One circumnavigation was never going to be enough. Sir Robin has completed three, and also competed in the 1977-78 Whitbread Round the World Race, skippering the British maxi yacht Heath’s Condor to elapsed time victories on legs 2 and 4. - Full report

Extraordinary boats: Ragtime – The 60-year-old yacht that launched a genre is back on the water

Extraordinary boats: Ragtime – The 60-year-old yacht that launched a genre is back on the water

Extraordinary boats: Ragtime – The 60-year-old yacht that launched a genre is back on the water

Yachting World
November 27, 2025
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The painstaking two-year refit of Ragtime is complete, securing the legacy of the ultra-light displacement boat that stunned the racing world

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The restoration of an iconic racer, one that was so ground-breaking it helped create a whole genre of yachts, is no small undertaking. But that’s exactly what inadvertent owner Tina Roberts ploughed into headfirst with the two-year refit of Ragtime, the original ultra-light displacement boat from the land of the long white cloud.

Designed and built single-handedly by New Zealander John Spencer for industrialist and racing driver Sir Tom Clark in 1963/64, Ragtime was launched as Infidel and was reputedly the largest hard chine plywood keelboat in the world.

Infidel immediately upset the racing establishment, beating the Tercel brothers’ 60-footer Ranger, which had won nearly every race it sailed over three decades. So comprehensive were Infidel’s victories that it was reportedly banned from competing in regattas in New Zealand. It was also barred from entering the 1967 Sydney-Hobart Race because it was deemed too light and not seaworthy enough for the notoriously treacherous 630-mile race.


Under spinnaker, Ragtime’s low freeboard becomes evident. Photo: Steve Jost Photography
California dreaming

With nowhere to turn Infidel wound up where many wayward souls are welcomed: California. A pair of businessmen in Newport Beach purchased the yacht for $25,000 in 1969 and renamed it Ragtime.

The yacht changed owners again in 1971 and, 10 years after her launch, benchmarked the performance of the ultra-light displacement genre by defeating the 73-footer Windward Passage in the epic 1973 Transpac Race, winning the Barn Door Trophy for first-to-finish by a mere 4m 31s over the 2,225-mile course. “I remember thinking, ‘Wow, that’s an interesting boat. That’s cool,’” recalls California yacht designer Alan Andrews of his first sighting of Ragtime in the early 1970s.

“Ragtime was a big boat, most of the racing at the time was in 30- to 40-footers. She was clearly very fast, at least downwind, with the hard chines as well.”


The plywood-built hull features hard chines that run its entire length. Photo: Steve Jost Photography

Ragtime is a simple but eye-catching yacht design, with a sheerline that drops noticeably from bow to stern. The hull is constructed from marine plywood; the cabin house, which stands tall of the sheerline, of kauri wood, and when launched it displaced 10 tons. The original LOA of 61ft 8in was determined in large part because that was the amount of floor space in Spencer’s shop, yet still the bow and stern hung outside the sliding doors on either end of the shed.

The boat hull features hard chines running the waterline length of 50ft 8in. In its original form Ragtime lacked an engine and was tiller steered, two features that were changed after she reached American shores.

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Demanding first night for Sydney Hobart >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News: Providing sailing news for sailors

Demanding first night for Sydney Hobart >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News: Providing sailing news for sailors

Demanding first night for Sydney Hobart

Published on December 24th, 2025

Strong southerlies and big ocean swell are shaping as the defining features of the opening stages of the 2025 Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race which starts December 26. Given that the 628nm course is to the south, this equats to a demanding first night at sea.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) has warned crews to prepare for a sharp transition from Sydney Harbour sailing to full ocean conditions almost immediately after the start.

BOM meteorologist Edward Townsend-Medlock outlined a forecast dominated by a slow-moving high-pressure system sitting over Tasmania. While the system brings settled weather overall, its positioning puts the fleet on its eastern flank for the opening phase of the race — a scenario that delivers firm southerly winds and a long, mature swell rolling straight up the New South Wales coast.

At the start cannon, conditions inside Sydney Harbour are expected to be relatively orderly but brisk. Southerly winds in the 15–20 knot range will funnel through the harbor, enough to keep crews alert during the congested spinnaker start without creating the chaotic conditions seen in some recent editions.

6 race-ready new yachts: Performance designs built for speed

6 race-ready new yachts: Performance designs built for speed

6 race-ready new yachts: Performance designs built for speed

Toby Hodges
November 26, 2025
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Got a need for speed? The last year has delivered an explosive fleet of new performance yachts designed for one thing: getting there first.

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Got a need for speed? The last year has delivered an explosive fleet of new performance yachts designed for one thing: getting there first.

Designers are leveraging every ounce of technology, from prepreg carbon fiber construction to optimised IRC/ORC configurations, resulting in some of the most dynamic and competitive yachts we’ve seen in years.

Whether you’re looking for a double-handed weapon or a grand-prix dominating maxi, the options are faster and sharper than ever before.

We dive into the cutting edge: Discover the Neo 620 Roma, a carbon-fiber mini-maxi built for fast cruising with the weight of a pure racer, and its lighter, competition-focused cousin, the 460 Competizione.

See how the radical Wallyrocket 71 stepped onto the global stage and instantly redefined the Maxi 72 class by taking the Rolex IMA Grand Prix World Championship.

Plus, check out the new wave of sportsboats, from the featherlight, trailable Melges 19 to the pure one-design thrill of the KiSS 25.

These yachts aren’t just built to sail—they’re built to win.


Neo 620 Roma (& 460 Competizione)

This rocketship is the second Carkeek design for Italian carbon cognoscenti Neo Yachts.

The Neo 620 is its new flagship, which will muscle into the competitive mini-maxi arena.

It’s an evolution of the 570 we featured a couple of years ago (check out the video tour), and continues to sport Carkeek’s distinctive chamfered topsides, which run into a reverse sheerline, a stealth bomber-style shape first seen on racing machines such as Ràn.

The 620 has various layout options, primarily adding a third heads compartment compared to its smaller sister, and providing the option for a convertible fourth cabin space, which can be used as a nav station, for dining or sleeping – all while keeping weight to a mere 13.5 tonnes (nearly half of which is ballast in a deep keel).

Neo manages this wizardry by building the 620 in prepreg carbon fibre, fitted with a high-modulus carbon rig.

Cariboni hydraulics aid high-speed control, while it can sport a single or twin rudders, has space for a 3m tender, and includes 400lt tanks for both fuel and water.

Founded by competitive sailor and sailmaker Paolo Semeraro, Neo has now built 30 custom or semi-custom high-performance yachts since 2018.

The ‘Roma’ branding is Neo’s fast cruising line, which reflects the possibility for the wood veneered interior to be removable.

So these yachts suit those wanting to compete at high-level events with the lightest-weight boat, yet do so while protecting the timber finish and maintaining resale value.

Port And Starboard: How To Remember The Difference | Dictionary.com

Port And Starboard: How To Remember The Difference | Dictionary.com

Port and Starboard: How to Remember the Difference

May 16, 2023

🛳️ Quick summary

Port and starboard refer to directions on nautical vessels and aircraft. When facing the front of the vehicle, port refers to the left side, and starboard refers to the right side. 

Ahoy, matey! Because they don’t want to walk the plank, sailors use the words port and starboard to make sure they know which direction the captain is talking about. However, it’s easy for landlubbers to get turned around by these words.

In this article, we will define the words port and starboard as they are used in the context of nautical vessels and aircraft, explain why they are used, and give a quick tip on how to remember which word is which. 

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port vs. starboard

Port and starboard are terms used on nautical vessels and aircraft to refer to directions. When facing the front of the vessel, port refers to the left side, and starboard refers to the right side. 

Sailors use port and starboard rather than left and right to avoid confusion. People riding cars, trains, and buses usually all face toward the front of the vehicle, so they all have the same “left” and “right.” However, a sailor on a boat can face in any direction, so “left” and “right” will mean something different, depending on where the sailor is. The left and right sides of the boat itself don’t change, though, so port and starboard will refer to the same direction, no matter which direction you’re facing on a boat. The nautical terms bow and fore (front) and stern and aft (back) are used for the same reasons. 

To keep port and starboard straight, remember that port has the same number of letters as left, so they mean the same thing.

A common myth says that the word posh originated as an acronym of “port out, starboard home,” referring to the traveling habits of the wealthy. As fun as that story is, the evidence doesn’t support it.

Scuttlebutt Sailing News

 

Scuttlebutt Sailing News Friday, December 19, 2025 - Issue 6493

Rockport Marine’s R-37 ‘Lobster Yacht.’ Photo: Pim Van Hemmen.

This newsletter is provided through the support of its sponsors, delivering a digest of major sailing news, commentary, opinions, features and dock talk…with a North American focus. Today's sponsors: Quantum Sails - Rockport Marine   And to all a good night The 28th year of Scuttlebutt Sailing News is coming to a close, with this to be the final newsletter for 2025. The past couple months have been hectic as we line up advertising for next year, with only 13 newsletter ad slots remaining (click here if interested). Now our focus turns to holiday cheer, and we wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, with the newsletter to return on January 6, 2026. Crisis in American Youth Sports It was in the 1980s when youth sailing was modeled after other youth sports, and this paved the way for age-based boats and focused coaching. It also created a bubble of youth events which impacted the transition into adult sailing. The shift increased the focus on improvement while limiting exposure to other sailing opportunities, and for a lot of kids, they never found the fun in the sport. This was not a unique problem to sailing, and is the basis for why John O’Sullivan founded the Changing the Game Project. He wanted to put the ‘play’ back in ‘play ball’ and recently testified before the United States House of Representatives Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education. The hearing was titled “The Crisis in American Youth Sports and Its Cost to Our Future.” And that title says everything. This conversation was about burnout. Dropout. Rising costs. Pressure. And the millions of kids walking away from sports that were supposed to help them grow. John shared what has been seen for years through coaches, parents, and athletes across every level of sport. When competition outweighs connection, kids leave. When adults lose perspective, kids pay the price. Youth sports should be a place where children build confidence, character, and community. Instead, too many environments are pushing kids out before they ever get the chance to fall in love with the game. This update from Changing the Game Project was posted on Facebook which prompted significant commentary.

Losing interest in America’s Cup

 

Scuttlebutt Sailing Club, the official club of Scuttlebutt Sailing News, officially sanctioned by US Sailing since 2001, and officially available to all Scuttlebutt readers. SSC fulfills the racing rule which requires club membership. For details, click here. Losing interest in America’s Cup by Roger Marshall Interesting story on the America’s Cup, but I wonder who is deluding who (whom?). To quote, “it’s the last great sporting event that hasn’t been commercialized.” The America’s Cup was commercialized in the 1930’s when Sir Thomas Lipton (he of Lipton Tea), entered the fray. The America’s Cup used to be interesting in that hull shapes somewhat resembled the boats that everyday sailors sailed. Gear such as winch design, headstay foils, sail development directly trickled down to the guy who goes out for an afternoon sail. The America’s Cup was the World Series of day sailing. The Admiral’s Cup was the Superbowl of offshore sailing. The boats of the time were similar to boats the average sailor owned and could easily relate to. In those days, there were challenger trials and defender trials, all with a path to the finals. The buildup may have been slow, out of sight of most spectators, but it lasted all summer and crested in September. It was closely followed by sailors all over the world. I remember being called by a friend from Sweden during the Australia-Freedom series. He was in a restaurant and put me on speaker for all to hear. I heard the roar when I told him Australia was ahead. None of that would happen today. Today the America’s Cup caters to spectators by going around a short course that is, frankly, boring as all hell. As soon as one boat gets in front, it’s over. The boats have little trickle down for the average guy except for, maybe electronics. The America’s Cup sailors wear helmets, talk on radios, cycle or wind handlebars to charge the batteries. Where does that relate to today’s sailor? Do you put grandma on a bicycle to fuel your Sunday afternoon cruise? Do you ask your wife and kids to wear helmets and talk into microphones while eating Oreos? I can see the need for speed, after all, every America’s Cup sailor tries to make the boat go faster, be it a J Class, a 12-meter or any of the other AC boats, but frankly the spectacle has become very narrow and very boring with absolutely no buildup. Even SailGP does better, in that it has a series, a gradual build up, and a final event. But even that has become a highly specialized, made-for-TV event. That is why the America’s Cup is dying.