Last year Steve Watson sailed Ragtime to 31^st overall and second in Division 3 after placing 31^st in 2023 and winning PHS Corinthian in the Rolex Sydney Hobart. Watson says, “This will be her third Sydney Hobart and we’re looking to improve on our 2024 result.” This J/130 was first owned by her designer, Rod Johnstone, who christened her ‘Ragtime’. Steve and Cindy Everett owned her next and scored good results, including third IMS overall in the 1991 Sydney Gold Coast.

Chris and Bernadette Morgan bought her and won IRC in the 2014 Brisbane to Keppel race. Now owner, Watson, recalls, “In 1994 she was refused entry to the Hobart because at the time her carbon fibre mast was considered too radical and potentially unsafe.” Ragtime will be a strong contender in the Wild Rose Pointscore, where to qualify a boat’s crew shall consist of a minimum 10% female crew.