1987 Defender Selection Series
Encyclopedia
| 1987 Defender Selection Series Fremantle, Western Australia |
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| Winner | Kookaburra III Kookaburra III Kookaburra III was the Australian 12 Meter yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Australia. She won the Defender Selection and represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner and his Stars and Stripes... |
Royal Perth Yacht Club
The Royal Perth Yacht Club is a yacht club in Perth, Western Australia. -Early history:The "Perth Yacht and Boat Club" in 1880 was able to build a jetty at the foot of William Street in Perth Water. Perth Yacht Club received the Royal Charter in 1890. The club shifted to Crawley in 1953 when the...
as the defender of the America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
. Kookaburra III
Kookaburra III
Kookaburra III was the Australian 12 Meter yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Australia. She won the Defender Selection and represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner and his Stars and Stripes...
won the series and advanced to the 1987 America's Cup
1987 America's Cup
The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-seventh challenge for the America's Cup and the first time for 132 years that it had not been defended by the New York Yacht Club....
, however they failed to defend the cup from the challenge of Stars & Stripes 87
Stars & Stripes 87
Stars & Stripes 87 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:...
.
America's Cup Defence Ltd (Australia II, III and IV)
The highest profile syndicate was the professional and well funded Alan BondAlan Bond (businessman)
Alan Bond is an Australian businessman noted for his criminal convictions and high-profile business dealings, including what was at the time the biggest corporate collapse in Australian history. Bond was born in the Hammersmith district of London, England, and emigrated to Australia with his...
group which had won the 1983 Cup and which had a wealth of experience, having been to Newport as challengers in 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1983. The team won the 1986 World 12-metre championships in convincing style with Australia III. Close Bond associate Warren Jones was the syndicate director and veteran 12-Metre helmsman John Longley managed the day-to-day business. Four helmsmen were used in rotation: Colin Beashel, Hugh Treharne, Gordon Lucas and Carl Ryves, with Beashel taking the skipper role in the finals. Beashel and Treharne had extensive previous 12-Metre experience.
Australia IIs skipper John Bertrand had published a controversial biography in mid-1985 titled Born to Win which, according to the book, told how he was almost predestined to win the Cup, and it was his motivational skills which were largely responsible for victory. The apparent self-promotion caused Bertrand to become out of favour with the Bond syndicate and he had minimal involvement with the 1987 defence other than as a media commentator.
Two sister boats to Australia II were built, Australia III (KA-9) which was launched on 27 September 1985 and much later Australia IV (KA-16). Australia IIIs launch was a stage managed event with a lavish ceremony at Royal Perth Yacht Club which included Bond's wife Eileen naming the boat. It was built at Cottesloe
Cottesloe, Western Australia
-Transport:Cottesloe is served by Swanbourne, Grant Street, Cottesloe, Mosman Park and Victoria Street railway stations on the Fremantle line. Various bus routes along Stirling Highway and through the suburb's western and eastern sections link Cottesloe to Perth and Fremantle. All services are...
by boatbuilder Stephen Ward and designed by Ben Lexcen, the same team which had produced Australia II. The launch culminated in a sedate sail in the Swan River
Swan River (Western Australia)
The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....
watched by thousands of spectators on the river foreshore.
South Australia Challenge (South Australia)
The South Australian government provided a $1M subsidy to a syndicate of businessmen led by Adelaide advertising executive Roger Lloyd who contracted Lexcen to design a boat called South Australia (KA-8). The group included support from 150 companies. For $600,000 the group received a new boat which was also built at Ward's boatyard with a similar design to Australia II. As well as design and construction, the syndicate had also contracted with the Australia II team to provide basic crew training. As soon as South Australia was launched, trials between it and Australia II were held and the results considered before the design of Australia III was finalised.National small boat champion Fred Neill initially skippered South Australia with 12-Metre veteran Sir James Hardy. Hardy later stood down as skipper but stayed on with the syndicate. New South Welshman
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Phil Thompson was appointed helmsman and, following poor early showings, became the replacement skipper.
Taskforce '87 (Kookaburra I, II and III)
The third syndicate was a well funded group known as Taskforce '87 and headed by Perth businessman Kevin ParryKevin Parry
Kevin John Parry was a businessman from Western Australia, most noted for his backing of the Taskforce '87 syndicate which unsuccessfully defended the 1987 America's Cup in Fremantle, Western Australia...
. Taskforce '87 built three boats, Kookaburra
Kookaburra
Kookaburras are terrestrial kingfishers native to Australia and New Guinea. They are large to very large, with a total length of . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri guuguubarra, and is onomatopoeic of its call...
(KA-11), Kookaburra II(KA-12) skippered by Peter Gilmour
Peter Gilmour
Peter Gilmour is an Australian sailing skipper of great note. He is an America's Cup veteran and was named Western Australian Sportsman of the Year in 1987. He is also the only 4 time World Match racing Tour Champion...
and Kookaburra III
Kookaburra III
Kookaburra III was the Australian 12 Meter yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Australia. She won the Defender Selection and represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner and his Stars and Stripes...
(KA-15) skippered by Iain Murray
Iain Murray (sailor)
Iain Murray is an Australia sailor. He is most noted for his appearances in 12-Metre Class yachts in the 1983 and 1987 America's Cup regattas, but is also a champion 18ft Skiff skipper. The modern version of the 18ft Skiff was designed by Murray...
. The afterguard of the Kookaburra boats were combined for the Cup finals, with Gilmour acting as skipper in the pre-race through the start, while Murray would take the helm for the race itself. Gilmour would then move over to mainsheet trimmer. The Kookaburra boats were designed by John Swarbrick and Iain Murray.
Eastern Australian Defence Syndicate (Australia I and Steak 'n Kidney)
The eastern states team headed by Syd FischerSyd Fischer
Syd Fischer, OBE is an Australian businessman and property developer and sailor.Most noted for his sailing, Fischer is described as Australia's most successful offshore sailor...
purchased Australia I (KA 5) as a trial boat while a new boat designed by Peter Cole was built. Steak 'n Kidney (KA-14, named after steak and kidney pie
Steak and kidney pie
Steak and kidney pie is a savoury pie that is filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney , fried onion, and brown gravy...
, popular in Australia and to the rhyming slang for the City of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
) was launched relatively late in the campaign at a ceremony at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in April 1986.
The design was selected by Cole after testing 22 hull shapes and 11 winged keel variations at the Netherlands Ship Model Basin during 1985. The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron is a yacht club located in North Sydney, Australia in the suburb of Kirribilli.The squadron was originally founded in 1862...
was the syndicate's sponsoring club, and Gary Sheard, an Olympian in Soling
Soling
A Soling is a class of open keelboat designed by Jan Linge of Norway in 1965. In 1968, it was chosen from among many other boats to be the men's triple-handed boat for the 1972 Olympics...
s was skipper.
The Series
The defender series races were sailed on the America's Cup course with the top four boats of Series A, B and C going to the Series D semi-finals. The top two boats entered the finals and the winner entered the America's Cup series as the defender. The buoy is a permanent navigation marker used for shipping in and out of Fremantle harbour and is located 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) west-north-west of the harbour in Gage RoadsGage Roads
Gage Roads, is the sea channel in the Indian Ocean offshore from Perth, Western Australia. It was the location of the America's Cup defence in 1986/7, and serves as a shipping lane and anchorage for most sea traffic heading towards the seaport of Fremantle....
Every boat raced each other twice in the first 3 series.
| Series A: | 18 to 30 October |
| Series B: | 9 to 21 November |
| Series C: | 2 to 20 December |
| Series D: | 27 December to 28 January |
| Finals: | 14 to 27 January |
The six competing boats from four syndicates were Kookaburra II (KA-12), Kookaburra III
Kookaburra III
Kookaburra III was the Australian 12 Meter yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Australia. She won the Defender Selection and represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner and his Stars and Stripes...
(KA-15), Australia III (KA-9), Australia IV (KA-16), Steak'n'Kidney (KA-14) and South Australia (KA-8).
The defender semi-finals were held from 27 December to 9 January between Kookaburra II, Kookaburra III, Australia IV and Steak'n'Kidney after which Kookaburra II and Steak'n'Kidney were eliminated. The final of the defender selection series was held from 14 to 20 January January. Kookaburra III was selected as the official defender.