Benjamin Lexcen AM (born Robert Clyde Miller, 19 March 1936 – 1 May 1988) was an Australian yachtsman and marine architect. He is famous for the

winged keel The winged keel is a sailboat keel layout first fitted on the 12-metre class yacht ''Australia II'', 1983 America's Cup winner. Design This layout was adopted by Ben Lexcen, designer of ''Australia II''. Although Ben Lexcen "had tried the winged ...

design applied to ''

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 ...

'' which, in 1983, became the first non-American

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

to win the prestigious

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 132 years.

Early life

Born in the small town of

Boggabri, New South Wales Boggabri ( ) is a small town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is part of Narrabri Shire and lies between Gunnedah and Narrabri on the Kamilaroi Highway. At the , the town had a population of 856 people. The original town site ...

on 19 March 1936. After his parents, labourer Edward William Miller and Ethel Doreen, née Green abandoned him as a child he stayed briefly at Boys' Town, Engadine, before going to his grandfather at Newcastle. He left school at age 14 to pursue a locomotive mechanic's

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners ...

but soon found his attention turning to sailboats. At 16, he designed his first sailboat ''The Comet'' with his friend William Bennett in Hamilton, NSW, and began to make a name for himself in local competition. Miller did his sailmaking apprenticeship with Norman Wright in Queensland. Miller's designs were highly innovative. His entry, "Taipan" in the 1960 18Footer World Championship started the modern era of the class and Miller won the World Championship in 1961 with the successor, "Venom". With friend Craig Whitworth, he founded a boatbuilding, sail-making and ship-chandlery firm (Miller and Whitworth) and designed boats part-time as well. One of his lasting early successes was the design that became the International Contender. It was selected in 1967, in multi boat trials, as a potential Olympic successor to the Finn dinghy. The Contender was awarded International status in 1968 and now has fleets in more than twelve countries throughout the world. His keelboat designs of the early 1970s featured clean, easily driven hulls and relatively small sail area. He had great success with a series of these designs starting with the innovative "Ginkgo". Miller competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics representing

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

with

Denis O'Neil Denis O'Neil (born 11 February 1936) is a sailor from Australia. O'Neil represented his country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Kiel. O'Neil took 16th place in the Soling with Robert Miller as helmsman and Ken Berkeley as fellow crew member. ...

and

Ken Berkeley Klaas "Ken" Berkeley (14 October 1929 – 30 July 2018) was a sailor from Australia. Berkeley represented his country at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Kiel. Berkeley took 16th place in the Soling with Robert Miller as helmsman and Denis O'Nei ...

as fellow crew members.

America's Cup

Miller was commissioned by

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 ...

to build ''Apollo'', an ocean racer. This partnership continued when Bond first challenged for the

in 1974 with the Miller-designed

12-metre class The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

yacht ''

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 ...

'', named for the southern hemisphere

constellation A constellation is an area on the celestial sphere in which a group of visible stars forms Asterism (astronomy), a perceived pattern or outline, typically representing an animal, mythological subject, or inanimate object. The origins of the e ...

. Their challenge for the Cup was unsuccessful but Miller was kept on as the designer for future yachts, all of them designed to the

rules as used for

competition at the time. During the first years of his partnership with Bond, Miller withdrew his partnership from his sail-making company but the company retained its name of Miller and Whitworth. Soon after the 1974 Cup challenge, Miller changed his name to avoid confusion with his former company. Keen to prevent the possibility of there being any confusion surrounding his name and business interests in the future, he asked a friend who worked for

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

to find out the least-used surname within their membership. The result was Lexcen. "Ben" was the name of his dog. Bond challenged for the 1977 America's Cup using the Lexcen and Johan Valentijn designed 12M ''

'' against media mogul

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

and again with a Lexcen modified ''Australia'' in 1980 against

Dennis Conner Dennis Walter Conner (born September 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America's Cup. Sailing career Conner was born September ...

, losing both times. Australia II winged keel

After the 1980 challenge Lexcen realised that to win against the defenders, with their 100+ years of America's Cup experience, they would need a superior boat. His next design featured a host of advanced design features, not the least of which was a revolutionary winged keel, intended to lower the drag and to make the boat more stable and maneuverable in the water. The keel design reduced tip vortex, a turbulence resulting in conventional keels from the pressure differential between the windward (low pressure) and leeward (high pressure) sides. Australia II's design was to prove highly controversial, protested because some part of the design was done before and during the testing of the keel in a Dutch tank testing facility. ''Australia II'' was a revolutionary design approach with her winged keel and hull design featuring the shortest waterline length ever measured on a 12-metre. To yachtsmen accustomed to seeing racing yachts out of the water, Australia II is striking. Its conventional long slim topsides flare down to a short waterline hinting at the dramatic, minimal, slippery underwater hull shape which was fast to turn as well as easily driven and quick to accelerate. Ben often remarked that Australia II is a whole boat, not just a keel. The

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

, holders of the Cup, formally protested both that Australia II was not a legal 12 metre boat, and that the design itself was not of Australian origin. The ruling arrived at on the boat confirmed that ''Australia II'' complied with both the

and the

rules. The questions on her design origin were not formally answered at the time, but the controversy re-emerged in 2009 (see Later claims of Dutch Design for details). Claims that Peter van Oossanen was the designer of the ''Australia II'' keel rather than Ben have been strongly rejected by John Bertrand and by John Longley, an important member of the ''Australia II'' team using documentary evidence. 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'' ...

saw Lexcen's ''

'', with John Bertrand at the helm, take on the NYYC skipper

and the defender yacht, ''Liberty''. The Australians were sure they had a fast boat. Australia II had dominated the challenger eliminations just as Liberty had dominated the closer defender trials, honing her tuning and performance. But mechanical failures on Australia II and skillful sailing by the defenders caused ''Australia II'' to fall behind, losing the first two races. ''Australia II'' stormed back to take three of the next four. Dennis Conner had creatively registered three different configurations (sail area, spar length and ballast) for Liberty and he successfully called for lay days to choose advantageous weather to suit his most competitive versions of the boat. This was the first time in history that the series depended on the result of the last race, and the pressure of defending the Cup was now firmly on Liberty. In the deciding race on 26 September, Conner prepared Liberty in her very competitive light weather configuration with big sail area and low weight. Australia II won the start and held an early lead but was overtaken by Liberty which built up a substantial margin. At the start of the penultimate leg (a square run) the breeze was very light and Liberty was vulnerable. Liberty chose a starboard tack leg and declined to cover Australia II which allowed them to run deeper and faster assisted by breeze and windshifts allowing Australia II to overtake the Americans by the leeward mark. Liberty then engaged Australia II in a spectacular tacking duel with nearly 50 tacks and a number of faked "dummy" tacks trying to break the Australians' cover. Australia II held on until both boats reached the starboard layline in amongst the spectator fleet and tacked several boat lengths ahead of Liberty and sailed to the finish to take the race. Australia II became the first challenger to wrest the Cup from the United States since its inception in 1870. Lexcen was made a Member of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for his contributions to the winning design. Lexcen was commissioned by Bond once again in 1986 to design a defender for the

1987 America's Cup The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup. The American challenger '' Stars & Stripes 87'', sailed by Dennis Conner, beat the Australian defender '' Kookaburra III'', sailed by Iain Murray, in a four-race swee ...

. He designed ''Australia III'' and '' Australia IV'' for Bond's two boat defense program. '' Australia IV'' was ultimately defeated by the Iain Murray designed and skippered ''

Kookaburra III ''Kookaburra III'' (KA 15) was the Australian 12 Metre yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Western Australia. Murray won the Defender Selection and ''Kookaburra III'' represented Australia in the America ...

'' in the Defender Trials. Steve Ward (builder of all four "Australias" maintains that Lexcen's design was not at fault but that '' Australia IV'' was uncompetitive due to last minute design modifications ordered by the upper echelons of Bond Corporation. '' Australia IV'' was originally designed to be longer on the waterline with less sail area similar to Conner's winning design. Australia competed in the Cup without a Lexcen designed boat for the first time in ten years. ''Kookaburra III'' lost in the finals to Dennis Conner and his American challenger, ''

Stars & Stripes 87 ''Stars & Stripes 87'' (US 55) was the 12 Meter challenge boat sailed by Dennis Conner in his bid to reclaim the America’s Cup from the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Australia in 1987. Design and development ''Stars & Stripes 87'' was built in ...

'', 4 races to nil.

Death

Lexcen died suddenly in

Manly, New South Wales Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the Local government in Australia ...

on 1 May 1988, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

at 52 years of age. He is buried at Frenchs Forest Cemetery located in

Davidson, New South Wales Davidson is a suburb on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Davidson is located 20 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Counc ...

Legacy

In 1989, the

Toyota Lexcen The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia endi ...

was released by

Toyota Australia Toyota Australia is an Australian subsidiary of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. It markets Toyota products and manages motorsport, advertising and business operations for Toyota in Australia. It is also responsible for Lexus vehicles in A ...

in Ben Lexcen's honour. The car was a

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...

Holden VN Commodore The Holden Commodore (VN) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 1988 to 1991. It was the first iteration of the second generation of this Holden Commodore, Australian made model, which was previously a mid-size car, as well as th ...

and was built in Australia under the

Button Plan The Button car plan, also known as the Button plan, was the informal name given to the Motor Industry Development Plan, an Australian federal (Labor) government initiative intended to rationalise the Australian motor vehicle industry and transi ...

. Production lasted until 1997. In 1988 the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

named its newly created sports scholarships the Ben Lexcen Sports Scholarships. These scholarships were the first sports scholarships to be offered by an Australian university. In 2006, Lexcen was posthumously inducted into the

America's Cup Hall of Fame The America's Cup Hall of Fame, located at the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup sailing competition. Candidates eligible for consideration include skippers, ...

References

Bibliography