The 1980

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

was held in September 1980 at

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. The US defender, ''

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

'', skippered by

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 ...

, defeated the Australian challenger, ''Australia'', skippered by James Hardy, four races to one. This was the last successful defense of the cup by 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. ...

and the last defender designed by the naval architectural firm

Sparkman & Stephens Sparkman & Stephens is a naval architecture and yacht brokerage firm with offices in Newport, Rhode Island and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. The firm performs design and engineering of new and existing vessels for pleasure, commercial, and milit ...

. It was the sixth unsuccessful challenge by Australia and the third by Alan Bond. ''Freedom'' had beaten '' Courageous'' and ''

Clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. The term was also retrospectively applied to the Baltimore clipper, which originated in the late 18th century. Clippers were generally narrow for their len ...

'' to become the defender. ''Australia'' had beaten '' France III'', '' Lionheart'' and '' Sverige'' to become the challenger.

Crew

's'' crew included skipper

, navigator Halsey Herreshoff, tactician Dennis Durgan, trimmer

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

, grinders Rives Potts and Kyle Smith, mastman Robert "Bobbie" Campbell, pitman Donald Kohlmann, bowman Lexi Gahagan, Jonathan Wright and

Tom Whidden Thomas A. Whidden (born 1948) is one of the most-acclaimed sailors of all-time. He is a member of both the America's Cup Hall of Fame and the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Whidden joined North Sails, the world's largest sailmaker, in 1986, just ...

. ''

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

's'' crew included skipper James Hardy, Noel Robins, tactician

Ben Lexcen Benjamin Lexcen Order of Australia, 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 design applied to ''Australia II'' which, in 1983, became the fir ...

, port trimmer John Bertrand, Scott McAllister, John Longley and Kenneth Judge. Bertrand, John ''Born to win : a lifelong struggle to capture the America's Cup'' (as told to Patrick Robinson). Sydney : Bantam Books, c1985. . p.65

Results

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References

{{America'sCup

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

1980 in American sports 12-metre class Ame