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"The day of her maiden voyage was a major occasion. The place was packed, and Benny (Ben Lexcen) was floating somewhere between the dock and seventh heaven. It was a heart-warming sight. Here was this huge, good-natured, slightly chaotic man, who can swear like a drunken bushwhacker, walking around as if on air, with his arms often spread wide before his new creation, as if conducting a Vivaldi concerto. In his considered view, Australia II made all other boats seems ugly."
That's John Bertrand, the skipper of Australia II, describing with the benefit of hindsight, the launching of what would become the first challenger to win the America's Cup after 132 years of futility. Although he was enthusiastic when he wrote the passage above, Bertrand was nothing of the sort when the drawings and model of Australia II were first presented to him in the spring of 1981. The design was decidedly unusual with it's upside down, winged keel, and it would take all of the enthusiasm of Lexcen and team owner Alan Bond to overcome Bertrand's initial skepticism.
To this day there remains some controversy over the origin of the famous winged keel of Australia II. The brilliant idea was to fix the 'upside-down' winged appendage to the hull of the boat. But how did it happen? In 1980, the NYYC authorised the Australians to use the Dutch testing tank at Wageningen. Lexcen spent four months there at the beginning of 1981, with Dutch engineers Peter Van Oossanen and Joop W. Sloff. Ben designed the drawings of Challenge 12, a conventional design, after having tested seven models (one-third scale), and then he moved on to Australia II (more than 400 tests, calculations of the keel in 3 D, several hundred hours of simulations). The result was surprising: the boat was faster than a conventional 12-metre and Alan Bond took the risk to build Australia II.
During her maiden sail, John Bertrand discovered the exceptional maneuverability of the boat. There were several reasons for this: the bustle had almost disappeared; the 'inverted' keel; the existence of thick fins fixed on each side of the keel and angled down at about 20-degrees (which increases the draft when heeling reducing leeway and increasing 'stiffness' - how a boat stands up to the wind). This approach appreciably decreased the wetted surface of Australia II compared to any other 12-metre. Due to this, Lexcen had created a "light" displacement boat with the shortest waterline ever measured on a 12-metre.
The performance of Australia II was also aided by the talent of New Zealand sailmaker Tom Schnackenberg who took care of the entire sail programme (40 genoas, 10 mainsails, fifty spinnakers). The crew was made up of the best sailors in Australia, with Olympic medals and previous Cup experience to their credit. It was this cocktail that explained the record: 48 wins in 55 races sailed by Australia II during the 1983 season.
In 1983, the challenger also benefited from the support of the press and the public. The chaste 'modesty' skirt of green canvas which shrouded the underbody after every race certainly incited the curiosity of everyone. Then, the early success of Australia II in the Louis Vuitton Cup only added to the craze. The late and fruitless machinations of the NYYC to demonstrate that the keel was not an Australian invention or that it did not fit the letter of the design rule only added to the mystery of the moment and strengthened the resolve of the men aboard Australia II to take the Cup away for the very first time.
Having served as trial horse for the defense at Fremantle in 1986, the boat was on display in the National Maritime Museum of Sydney. In the 1990s, the State government of Western Australia succeeded in getting Australia II back. The crew was re-united to sail her again in the historic regatta celebrating the Jubilee anniversary of the America's Cup at Cowes, in August 2001. Australia II is now among the collections of the Western Australian Maritime Museum at Fremantle!
J.T. / pr
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Year of building
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3/6/1982 |
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Launched
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6/6/1982 |
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Edition 25(1983)
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Crew
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11 |
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Hull
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Aluminium |
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Mast
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Aluminium |
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L.O.A
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19.21 |
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L.W.L
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13.1 |
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Mast
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Beam
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3.64 |
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Boom
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Sail Area
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175 |
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Displacament
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21.8 |
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Draft
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2.72 |
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Rating
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12 Meter |
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Ballast
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