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Valencia - 10.02.2006

1992 - America3 - USA 23

“We have confidence in our science and we want to win, so we’ll make the changes.” That was the decision made by Bill Koch days before the first race of the 28th America’s Cup that would see his America3 (‘America-cubed’) team set against the impressive Il Moro di Venezia V (ITA-25).

His designers and engineers suggested changing the configuration of the appendages (keel and rudder) on America3 (USA 23). Their tests and the computer analyses showed a weakness in light winds. The proposed solution was audacious as Koch’s boat had won the defender selection series over Stars & Stripes (USA-11). The designers wanted to reduce the wetted surface of the keel blade by making a new steel blade and also to fit a smaller carbon rudder. This move was in the opposite direction to that made by the Italian challenger which had been fitted with a bigger carbon rudder and keel blade. For America3 the trade-off was to lose stiffness and stability, but the forecasts were predicting light wind for the races, so the decision was made. Bill Koch would see his confidence in the science rewarded when racing started.
 
The America’s Cup Match in 1992 was the first to be raced with the new America’s Cup Class boats. To be competitive it was necessary to reinvent, to innovate, to master new materials, to develop new research programs, to test and to learn how to sail these enormous big new boats. All of this would cost money.
 
In this game, Bill Koch was the right man at the right time. A scientist by training, he had already demonstrated the efficiency of his method when he had dashed into the Maxi World Championship, winning the title in 1990 and 1991 with Matador2. In deciding to undertake the America’s Cup defence, the Texan created the America3 Foundation which would deliver four boats, all within one year.
 
Jayhawk (USA-9) was launched on May 1, 1991 just before the IACC World championship in San Diego. Defiant (USA-18) was delivered shortly afterwards. Then came America3 (USA-23), a boat designed for the light winds prevalent off San Diego and launched in February 1992. Finally, Kanza (USA-28), a boat designed for slightly stronger, steadier winds, was handed to the team at the end of February 1992.
 
To develop the four boats, Koch and his team went through:
- 75 designs, 135 appendage configurations (keel blades, trim tabs, bulbs, winglets and rudders), optimisation of 4 drawings;
- 256 days of sailing with one or two boats, to test hulls, booms, masts, rudders, keel blades, bulbs, fins, trimmers and sails;
- 102 tow tank tests, 37 tested models;
- 343 wind tunnel tests, 132 tunnel configurations;
- Design, engineer, build, test and improve 250 sails
- 2473 metres of carbon IACC masts, 9 booms, 12 spinnaker booms, 8 rudders, 9 keel blades, 15 bulbs, 10 trim tabs
 
Compared to this torrent of action, the campaign by Team Dennis Conner seemed a bit meek, although on the result sheets it was far from a clear contest. Stars & Stripes (USA-11), the sole ACC boat for Conner’s team was designed by Dave Pedrick, Alberto Calderon and Bruce Nelson, and was skippered by Dennis Conner. The team made a good showing during the defender selection trials for the 1992 America’s Cup. These trials were a unique occasion to watch all of the ACC boats built by the Americans between 1991 and 1992.
 
During the first Round Robin, Jayhawk and Defiant raced against Stars & Stripes. Defiant won six races, Jayhawk did not win a single race and Conner’s Stars & Stripes won three times against three losses. America3 raced in the second Round Robin while Jayhawk was confined to the dock. Designed for light airs, America3 was clearly different compared to the other 27 beamy ACC boats sailing at the time. America3 was the most narrow at the beam (deck and load flotation), the first to introduce this design feature that would become more and more pronounced with each subsequent edition of the Cup.
 
During the second round, America3 won five races, beaten just once by Defiant. During the third round, America3 stayed on course and added seven more victories. Stars & Stripes succeeded in beating it once. However the fourth round was far more balanced. Defiant wihdrew from the races, giving its place to Kanza. America3 suffered three losses, falling twice to Conner, and once to Kanza. Koch did however earn five victories, three over Kanza and two over Stars & Stripes.
 
During the finals America3 won seven races over Stars & Stripes in 11 starts. Bill Koch's balance sheet was very positive. In 22 races, his boat had beaten Dennis Conner’s on 15 occasions.
 
Altered just before the 1992 America’s Cup races, America3 was a successful defender, keeping the Cup for the Americans. Koch’s scientific method had worked, even if it wasn’t infallible. Indeed, the defeated Italian challenger, Il Moro di Venezia, skippered by Paul Cayard, won one race, by three seconds, and was never outstripped extravagantly in any of the four races won by America3, falling by 0:30, 1:58, 1:04 and 0:44.
 
America3 went back for the 1995 America’s Cup during the second Bill Koch campaign, this time with the ‘all-women’s’ team. It was sailed as a training boat by the female crew and then raced during three rounds of the defender selection trials. In 1995 America3 was led by Dawn Riley and Leslie Egnot and won three races against the two new-generation boats sailed by Paul Cayard (Young America USA-36) and Dennis Conner (Stars & Stripes USA-34) before being replaced by Mighty Mary (USA-43) in the final round.
 
Four years later, America3 was bought by the Italian Patrizio Bertelli for his Prada Challenge to sail as a training boat and trial horse for Luna Rossa (ITA-45) and (ITA-48) during the 2000 America’s Cup campaign in Auckland.
 
It was then bought back by Bill Koch who also acquired Il Moro di Venezia. Koch restored both boats to their original configuration and sailed them for the America’s Cup Jubilee at Cowes, in August 2001. Still owned the Texan, Il Moro and America3 were presented in 2005 at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, during an exhibition entitled: "Things I Love". The exhibition was dedicated to Bill Koch’s art and antique collection.
 
J.T.
Photo credit: Gilles Martin-Raget

1992
Sail number: USA-23
USA
 
Yacht club: San Diego Yacht Club, San Diego, California, USA
Successful defender of the 1992 America’s Cup Match
 
Owner: America3 Foundation, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. William Ingraham Koch, President. Chairman: Louis W. Cabot. Executive Vice President: Vincent Moyersoms.
 
International America’s Cup Class IACC Sloop
 
Technical Operations: Vincent Moyersoms
Design team director: Jerry Milgram
Design team members: Buddy Duncan, Penn Edmonds, Fernando Frimm, Phil Kaiko, Daniel LaMere, Doug Peterson, Jim Pugh, John Reichel, Jim Taylor
 
Design and testing facilities: Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Responsibilities: Hull shape, tank testing of hulls, appendages CFD, sail CFD
 
Technology: Heiner Meldner, technical director.
Standford University: Composite material development for yacht and sails, structure FEA, wind tunnel testing of appendages.
 
Construction: Peter Wilson, construction manager and Dirk Kramers, chief engineer.
 
Hull builder: Goetz Custom Sailboats, Inc., at Bristol, Rhode Island
Mast: Offshore Spars, Inc., at Warren, Michigan (construction)
Tube: Hercules Aerospace, at Magna, Utah
Rigging: Navtec, Inc. (Littleton, MA) & Aramid Rigging, Inc. (Portsmouth, RI)
Boom & spinnaker pole: Hall composites, Bristol, RI
Winches: Lewmar Marine, Havant, UK
Hydraulics: Navtec, Inc., Littleton, MA
Running rigging: New England Ropes, Fall River, MA
Keel blade & trim tab: Allied Engineering, Alameda, CA
Keel bulb: Douglas Brouwer, Santa Cruz, CA
Rudder: Lindsay Boatbuilders, Gloucester, MA
Deck hardware: Harken Yacht Equipment (Pewaukee, WI) & C.A.M. Machine Corp. (Bristol, RI)
Steering system: C.A.M. Machine Corporation
 
Instrumentation: Bill Unkel, instrumentation team leader
 
Electronics: Brookes & Gatehouse, Lymington, UK
 
Sail program: Bill Shore, sail program director
Sail designers: Per Anderson, David Hirsch, and Peter Wheeler
 
Sailmakers: Halsey Sails (Mystic, CT), North Sails, Inc. (Milford, CT) and Sobstad, Inc. (Annapolis, MD)
 
Shore Team: Peter Grubb, shore team manager
 
Year of building: 1991 - 1992
Launched: February1992
Homeport: San Diego.
 
Skipper: William “Bill” Koch.
Afterguard: Dave Dellenbaugh (tactician), Buddy Melges (helmsman), By Baldridge or Bill (navigator)
Crew: 16.

Data:
 
Construction –
 
Carbon fiber (hull, spars, keel blade – the first one -, trim tab and rudder)
Steel (last keel blade)
Bulb: lead
 
Dimensions –
 
L.O.A.: 23.77 m
L.W.L.: 18.31 m
Beam: 5.45 m
Draft: 3.96 m
Sail area: 295.60 m2
Displacement: 21.970 tons
Mast: 33,50 m
Rating: IACC
 
Observations –
 
The America3 campaign built four boats: Jayhawk USA-9, Defiant USA-18, America3 USA-23 and Kanza USA-28.
 
1992
Defender selection trials (from January to April): Stars & Stripes USA-11, Jayhawk USA-9, Defiant USA-18, Kanza USA-28 & America3.
In the defender finals, 11 races were sailed. America3 won 7 races and Stars & Stripes was eliminated.
 
On 30 April 1992, America3 was selected as official defender of the 1992 America’s Cup.
 
The 1992 America’s Cup races: 9 to 16 May 1992 at San Diego, California –
Best four out of seven races.
America3 raced against the challenger Il Moro Di Venzia V ITA-25
 
            Races: five sailed.
 
            Race Course: 22.6 miles off San Diego.
            Leg one: windward
            Leg two: back downwind
            Leg three: windward
            Leg four, five and six: broad reach, reaching and broad reach
            Leg seven: windward
            Leg eight: downwind
 
            Results:
 
America3 beat Il Moro Di Venzia V by four wins to one!
 
            - 9 May 1st race: America3 beat Il Moro Di Venzia V by 30 seconds.
            - 10 May 2nd race: Il Moro Di Venzia V beat America3 by 03 seconds.
            - 12 May 3rd race: America3 beat Il Moro Di Venzia V by 1 minute 58 seconds.
            - 14 May 4th race: America3 beat Il Moro Di Venzia V by 1 minute 04 seconds.
            - 16 May 5th race: America3 beat Il Moro Di Venzia V by 44 seconds.
 
1994
America3 raced the second Bill Koch America’s Cup campaign. It was in use by the America3 all women’s team, sailed by a female crew. It was first raced as a training boat then sailed in the 1994 IACC World Championship in San Diego where the women finished second!
 
1995
Skippered by Dawn Riley and helmed by Leslie Egnot, America3 raced in the first three selection trials for the defence, sailed between January, 13th and February 24th, 1995. It raced against Young America USA-36 skippered by Paul Cayard and Stars & Stripes USA-34 skippered by Dennis Conner. Surprisingly, the “old” USA-23 defeated Dennis Conner and his USA-34 in the first race by 1 minute and 16 seconds.  
 
But it was the only victory for the women in this first round. The same story was repeated in the second Round Robin: this time America3 won the first race against Young America USA-36. The story was the same in the third Round, America3 defeating Dennis Conner. In three Rounds, USA-23 raced 16 times but won only three contests. Mighty Mary USA-43 replaced it but the women crew didn’t win the defender trials.
 
1999-2000
America3 was bought by the Prada Challenge in order to sail in Auckland as a trial horse for Luna Rossa ITA-45 and ITA-48.
 
2001
Bill Koch who restored it in its original 1992 configuration regained ownership of America3. It sailed in the America’s Cup Jubilee races at Cowes, in August 2001.
 
2005
From August 31st to November 13th, 2005, America3 was on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Art.
 
2006
America3 is still owned by Bill Koch. Its homeport is Portsmouth, Rhode Island.
 
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