Australia II takes sailing's America's Cup

The America's Cup, a yacht sailing contest which had been in existence for over a century (to little publicity, at least in the UK) sprang into public consciousness in 1983, when the Australian vessel Australia II emerged as a serious contender for the trophy, defeating all challengers to take on the American holders, represented in 1983 by the Liberty vessel.

The trophy was named the America's Cup in honour of the schooner America, which won a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851 to take the trophy, presented by The Royal Yacht Squadron of the UK. Ever since, it had been in the possession of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and, so the story goes, the trophy was actually bolted in place at NYYC, so confident were they that they could defend it against any challenger.
Australia II, representing challengers the Royal Perth Yacht Club, and backed by businessman Alan Bond, boasted a winged keel design that had been kept a closely-guarded secret. The design was controversial since the NYYC had claimed that it was illegal under contest rules, however it had been ruled legal by the authorities, and the vessel easily qualified through the challenger series to become the contender to take on the NYYC vessel in the final contest. The speed of the Australia II in these challenges, coupled with its secret weapon keel design, aroused media interest which made this year's America's Cup one that attracted more publicity than ever before.

The final races themselves took place between September 14th and 26th, and it was the NYYC who took the first two with Liberty, before Australia II won the third race. Liberty won again to go 3-1 up in the series, but Australia II then won the fifth race and then the sixth, to take it to a deciding race. Until then, the series had never gone to even six races, let alone a deciding seventh. A closely-fought race with several lead changes ended with Australia II winning by 41 seconds to take the America's Cup and become the first successful challenger since that 1851 race around the Isle of Wight.

There were mass celebrations throughout Australia, where the race had been televised live in the small hours, while in the United States the loss of the cup after 132 years, and the end of the longest winning streak in any sport was greeted with dismay. Liberty skipper Dennis Conner took the loss badly, stating that he had "just wanted to hide" after becoming the first US skipper to lose the America's Cup.

The loss was avenged four years later in Australia, when a fired-up US team, once again skippered by Dennis Conner, reclaimed the trophy with the vessel Stars and Stripes 87. Conner later claimed that losing the trophy in 1983 was the best thing that had happened to them since it made them realise just how much they appreciated their trophy. When they reclaimed the trophy, they were given a ticker-tape parade in New York and an audience with President Ronald Reagan.

30 years have passed since that historic win for Australia II, and there will be a new America's Cup series of races in 2013. The United States will be represented by the Golden Gate Yachting Club with their vessel Oracle Team USA 17, (with a crew including multiple Olympic gold medallist Sir Ben Ainslie from Great Britain), and they will race against The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron with their vessel Aotearoa. 


Relive that moment in September 1983 when America's Cup became Australia's Cup with this news clip from the time (2023 update - dead link replaced):