John Alfred Spencer (6 July 1931 – 4 March 1996)[1] was a New Zealand boat designer.
[3] In the 1950s, Spencer established a boatbuilding workshop on Bute Road in Browns Bay, Auckland, where he pioneered construction techniques for lightweight flyer boats and yachts.
[4] He was a well-known designer of sailing boats of all sizes, including the Cherub, Javelin (NZ),[5] Firebug and Flying Ant classes of sailing dinghies.
His designs used thin plywood, hard chines, a vertical stem and stern and light displacement.
Ragtime was launched in late 1964 and went on to win the 1967 Auckland Class A Championship.