''Ragamuffin 100'' (formerly ''Loyal'', ''Maximus'') is a 100 ft

maxi yacht A maxi yacht usually refers to a racing yacht of at least in length. Origin The term ''maxi'' originated with the International Offshore Rule (IOR) rating system, which in the 1970s and 1980s measured offshore racing yachts and applied a single ...

which was built by TP Cookson for Charles St. Clair Brown; The boat was designed by

Greg Elliott Greg Elliott is a New Zealand sailing yacht designer. He is most notable for the Elliott 6m, an Olympic-class keelboat selected for the women's match racing event for the 2012 Olympics. He has designed yachts that have won all four Blue Water Cla ...

and Clay Oliver and launched in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in February 2005. Her carbonfiber design has a very high

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...

, she is rigged with a carbonfiber rotating mast and has a

canting keel A canting keel is a form of sailing ballast, suspended from a rigid canting strut beneath the boat, which can be swung to windward of a boat under sail, in order to counteract the heeling force of the sail. The canting keel must be able to pivot to ...

. Due to the unprecedented performance of the boat when built, the design includes several safety features including crash bars and a high deck sides to reduce high-speed deck wash. She can function without any auxiliary power.

Career

''Maximus''

''Maximus'' won the Grand Prix division top prize on the Rolex Transatalatic Challenge after a dramatic battle against Mari-Cha IV another

designed racing yacht. While Mari-Cha IV took line honours, ''Maximus'' made it an exceptionally close race, especially considering it is 40 ft shorter than Mari-Cha IV. After the Transatlantic crossing ''Maximus'' stayed for the 2005 summer sailing season in the UK during which she was sponsored by ICAP. She won

line honours Line honours is the term given to the first boat to cross the finish line of a yacht race. This is in comparison to the handicap honours or corrected time winner, which is theoretically equally accessible to all boats as slower boats have a lower h ...

in the

Fastnet Race The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France. The race is named after the Fastnet ...

with a time of 68 hours 2 minutes 7 seconds, though ''Iromiguy'' won on corrected time. Despite the very calm conditions, her tall rotating rigging allowed higher wind speeds some distance above the water's surface to be accessible, giving her an advantage over rivals. ICAP sponsored ''Maximus'' again for the 2006 season.

''Investec LOYAL''

''Maximus'' was put up for sale in 2006 for $6,152,355. She was acquired by accountant Anthony Bell and renamed ''

Investec Investec is an Anglo-South African international banking and wealth management group. It provides a range of financial products and services to a client base in Europe, Southern Africa, and Asia-Pacific. Investec is dual-listed on the London ...

LOYAL''. In a performance described as "off the pace" by Bell, she finished fourth in the 2009 Sydney to Hobart Race. However, she came second to ''

Wild Oats XI ''Wild Oats XI'' is a maxi yacht, most famous for being the former race record holder and a nine-times line honours winner of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race. Launched in 2005, she was owned by Bob Oatley (Oatley's estate since his death in ...

'' in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. She underwent modifications by designer ''

'' and then went on to beat ''

'' to claim

line honour Line honours is the term given to the first boat to cross the finish line of a yacht racing, yacht race. This is in comparison to the handicap honours or corrected time winner, which is theoretically equally accessible to all boats as slower boats ...

s in the 2011 Sydney to Hobart in a very close race.

''Ragamuffin Loyal''

The boat was purchased in 2012 by veteran skipper Syd Fischer to become the latest version of Fischer's ''Ragamuffin'' named yachts. ''Ragamuffin Loyal'' finished second in line honors to ''

'' in the 2012 Sydney to Hobart. In 2013 she was renamed ''Ragamuffin 100''.

''Ragamuffin 100''

''Ragamuffin 100'' finished third in the 2013 Sydney to Hobart behind ''

'' and ''Perpetual Loyal''. After the race, ''Ragamuffin 100'' underwent a major refit, the deck was cut off the hull, and a new hull with a wider chined stern section among other changes was put in its place. The yacht finished third in the 2014 Sydney to Hobart behind ''Wild Oats XI'' and

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

's ''

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

''. ''Perpetual Loyal'' was forced to retire after sustaining hull damage. In the 2015 Sydney-Hobart she again finished second across the line, some 11 hours behind ''Comanche''. All three of the lead boats suffered some damage.

''Scallywag''

''Ragamuffin 100'' was then bought by Seng Huang Lee in 2016 and renamed her ''Scallywag''.

References

{{Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race winning yachts (line honours) 2005 ships Individual sailing vessels Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race yachts Sailing yachts of New Zealand 2000s sailing yachts Sailing yachts built in New Zealand Fastnet Race yachts