''Australia'' (KA–5) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup racing yacht that twice challenged unsuccessfully for the

America's Cup The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...

in 1977 and 1980. Designed by Ben Lexcen in association with the Dutch designer Johan Valentijn for

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s, and what was at the time ...

, ''Australia'' failed to win a single race against the 1977 defender, '' Courageous'' (US-26), but won one race against the 1980 defender, ''

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

'' (US-30). ''Australia'' resides in Sydney, Australia.

Design and Construction

''Australia'' was designed during 1976 by Ben Lexcen in association with the Dutch designer Johan Valentijn. Both men spent seven months experimenting with 1/9th scale models in the University of Delft test tank in the Netherlands. ''Australia'' is a conventional design and has been described as a "Courageous-style boat". It has v-shaped mid-ship sections, a low freeboard, large bustle and a low aft run finishing in a wide U-shaped

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

. Its fore overhang is very narrow and round shaped in its lowest part. The cockpits are shallow, keel is thin and the ballast is placed very low. The elliptical mast is made in extruded aluminium. ''Australia'' was approximately lighter than '' Courageous'' and it was hoped that by lowering the freeboard and taking a penalty on length, ''Australia'' would prove faster than the US boat. ''Australia'' was built by Steve Ward in Perth and launched in February 1977. ''Australia'' then sailed in sea trials against

's 1974 challenger, ''

Southern Cross Crux () is a constellation of the southern sky that is centred on four bright stars in a cross-shaped asterism commonly known as the Southern Cross. It lies on the southern end of the Milky Way's visible band. The name ''Crux'' is Latin for c ...

'' (KA-4), off Yanchep in Western Australia. The older boat remained a trial horse for ''Australia'' during the 1977 America's Cup series.

1977 America's Cup challenge

For the

1977 America's Cup The 1977 America's Cup was held in September 1977 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, '' Courageous'', skippered by Ted Turner, defeated the Australian challenger, ''Australia'', skippered by Noel Robins, in a four-race sweep. ''Courageous ...

, ''Australia'' went to

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

and raced against the 1970 Australian challenger, ''

Gretel II ''Gretel II'' (KA-3) is an International 12-metre class racing yacht built for the America's Cup challenge series in 1970. She was designed by Alan Payne and built by W.H. Barnett for Australian media tycoon Sir Frank Packer. Packer had fir ...

'' (KA-3), the Swedish entrant, '' Sverige'' (S-3), and the French challenger, ''

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

'' (F-1), led by Baron Bich. Eventually, ''Australia'' won the right to challenge for the Cup by defeating ''Sverige'' 4–0. However ''Australia'' lost to the US defender, ''Courageous'', 4–0. Ben Lexcen, who initially stayed in Australia during the challenge, went to Newport and was disappointed to find that ''Australia'' had a poor-quality mast from ''Southern Cross'' and that ''Australias sails were flat, heavy and of poor quality. ''Australia'' was never competitive and ''Courageous'' won the series easily.

1980 America's Cup challenge

Initially, Alan Bond suggested dropping ''Australia'' and designing a new boat for the 1980 series. Ben Lexcen, however, was convinced that ''Australias hull – with a few modifications – was a good design and that its performance would improve with a new rig and sails. The hull had its keel made sharper at the bottom, and the bustle was lowered slightly and made larger to help improve the steering. ''Australias competitors for challenging the Americans were: ''Sverige'', back for a second time; '' France III'' (F-3), a new yacht for Baron Bich, and the British challenger ''Lionheart'' (K-18). ''Lionheart'' was a fast boat, partly because it was fitted with a "bendy" mast which hooked aft several feet at its tip giving it 10 per cent extra unmeasured sail area on its main sail. In light winds, that gave the British boat a strong advantage. Seeing the British boat's speed, the ''Australia'' camp decided to copy the mast. The "bendy" rig added to Australia's speed and it became a very competitive boat defeating the US defender ''

'' (US-30) in the second race of the series. However, the late adoption of the "bendy" mast meant that the crew of ''Australia'' were experimenting with the newly cut sails and lacked the necessary confidence in them to win. In any case, the "bendy" mast was only effective in light winds. In the final two races, the wind blew hard enough to cancel out whatever advantage it gave ''Australia'' and ''Freedom'' won the series convincingly 4–1.

After 1980

Following the 1980 challenge, ''Australia'' was sold to the British "Victory" syndicate headed by

Peter de Savary Peter John de Savary (11 July 1944 – 30 October 2022) was a British businessman. The bulk of his business career was spent in the shipping, oil and property sectors. He once owned or managed 13 shipyards around the globe and had global oil-tr ...

. Renamed ''Temeraire'', the boat became a trial-horse for ''

Victory 82 The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a ...

'' (K-21) and ''

Victory 83 ''Victory '83'' is a 12-metre class yacht that competed in the 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup The 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Newport, Rhode Island, United States in 1983. The winner, Australia II, went on to challenge for the 1983 America's C ...

'' (K-22) for the

1983 America's Cup The 1983 America's Cup was a 12-metre class yacht race which pitted the defending New York Yacht Club's ''Liberty'' against the Royal Perth Yacht Club's challenger, ''Australia II''. The September 1983 match race was won by ''Australia II'' ...

that was ultimately won by ''

Australia II ''Australia II'' (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful ...

'' (KA-6). In 1985, ''Australia'' returned to Sydney after being bought by Syd Fisher in 1985 to be the trail horse for Fisher's "East Australia America's Cup Defence" syndicate defender, '' Steak and Kidney'' (KA-14). ''Australia'', as with '' Steak and Kidney'', was eventually refitted, passing survey, as a day sailing charter boat in 2004 and was acquired, along with ''Steak N Kidney'', by the Australia 12m Historic Trust in 2011. Today, ''Australia'' is located near Drummoyne, in Sydney, alongside Steak N Kidney.

References

{{Australian 12-metre class yachts 12-metre class yachts America's Cup challengers Ships of Australia Sailing yachts designed by Ben Lexcen 1970s sailing yachts Sailing yachts built in Australia Louis Vuitton Cup yachts 1977 America's Cup 1980 America's Cup 1977 ships