Ragamuffin leaves all in her wake in warm-up for Hobart

It looked as though a giant subterranean garbage eater had an upset tummy. A parade of human refuse: branded plastics bags, polystyrene cups, special purpose strips of white paper ... price tags on human prosperity. We were sailing up the western side of Hong Kong Island, heading to the starting line for the Hong Kong to Vietnam race. On the island itself, you needed a chain saw to carve out chunks of air to breath. It was stinky and solid, so a lungs-pissed-off hacking cough arose and dominated proceedings until we got out to sea. Syd Fisher's RAGAMUFFIN 100 is a powerful beast. She's 100 feet long, 144 feet tall and carries enough sail to wrap Sydney's Boxing Day shopping frenzy.