Australia to seize 1983 America’s Cup glory?
In more America’s Cup controversy, check out the latest to make headlines…
A BOAT designer has blown the whistle on a “lie” that allowed Australia to seize glory in the 1983 America’s Cup – the claim that Ben Lexcen invented the famous winged keel that propelled Alan Bond’s yacht to victory.
Peter van Oossanen, the Dutch naval architect who worked with Lexcen on Australia II, has said he can confirm what the Americans alleged – but could not prove – 26 years ago. The true designers of the peculiar upside-down keel, with its critical winglets, were himself, his Dutch team and the Dutch aerodynamicist Joop Slooff. Lexcen, he says, played only a “minor” role, contributing perhaps 5 or 10 per cent. Strictly speaking, there is an argument that Australia II should have been disqualified because the rules stipulated that competing yachts be designed by residents or citizens of the country they represented.
