How America lost the America’s Cup after 132 years | The Australia II story
Vložit
- čas přidán 24. 09. 2022
- WATCH NEXT: 1988 America's Cup • Catamaran vs. Monohull...
The 1983 America's Cup saw Dennis Conner's Liberty face-off against challenger Australia 2 helmed by John Bertrand. Since winning the first America's Cup in 1851 the USA had held the Cup for a staggering 132 years. This is the story of how they lost it.
Would the America's Cup be where it is today if America hadn't lost it?
🔔 SUBSCRIBE for regular sailing tips & news: bit.ly/2OXBkeS
⛵️ SAILING TIPS FROM EXPERTS: dinghyracingtips.com/
🛒 ONLINE STORE: fastforwardsailing.myspreadsh...
Please use Paypal if you'd like to support the channel: www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted... - Sport
As a proud American and sailor, truly, of all the countries Americans typically love, Canada, England, Mexico, France, etc etc, Australia was the least stinging to lose the Cup to. It still stings, but bygummit Australia! Like losing a footrace to a brother. The Cup has always been a blend of boat and skill. Aussies had the skill and the boat and the win was well deserved.
I remember the Australian news papers’ headlines were something like:
“We keeled them…”😂
If you put your wins against USA wins as a ratio (ONE time !?!?!?!??), looks like you're terrible sailors !!!
@@geoffharestad5481
We’re also horrible at mass shootings…
@@geoffharestad5481 what about these days. USA is terrible in all types
I still remember Alan Bond standing on the peer, holding up his arms like Moses calling for the boat to be lifted out of the water to finally reveal the winged keel. Pure gold!
I was at the finish line of the last race, and it looked like Liberty had it until Australia altered course for the leeward mark. The subsequent tacking dual was epic.
46 times? Wouldn't have blamed Bertrand for giving up on covering too early, that's just an obscene workload, even just for your rail meat
@@weatheranddarkness Liberty was quicker on the upwind legs in the last race after they took out 2,000lbs of lead - there was no way you go let Liberty get a sniff of clear air.. The crew were relishing every tack to make sure they stayed in front!
I owned 12M 'Magic' for a while. These yachts are amazing to sail. Great period in sailing history
The book Born to Win John Bertrand is a great book
Being youth at that time, I looked for every edition of our german Yacht Magazin...
I remember the Australian Team offering a wrench for the N.Y. Yacht Club, to loosen the screws...🙃
If anyone could have imagined what that winged keel would evolve into.
Absolutely love these boats.
Lawyers going sailing.
1983 was a great year for me and I remember this like yesterday.
wish they still competed in these monohulls
This really should be made into a movie.
There's a 1992 American movie loosely based on Conner (incl vs Australia II) called 'Wind'.
There's also 2 full length doco's, one from 1984 called "Aussie Assault" (on youtube), the other in 2022 called 'Untold: The Race of the Century' (on Netfix).
It was.
@@petesmith9472 what is the movie 🤔
Wind (1992) is the movie, it’s sort of an alternate history of the 1983 and 1987 Cups using fictional characters in the key roles.
The Challenge (1986) was an Australian TV miniseries that was more of a straightforward adaptation with actors playing the real people.
@@zoepaulastrassfield2664 That movie was a disgrace with barely concealed allegations that somehow we cheated. A complete re-write of history that drew harsh criticism when it was released here. We beat the Yanks fair and square at their own game and they just couldn't admit it.
A great series for sure. I was glued to the screen on the last race. I still prefer the old boats with spinnakers.
Me: *watching video*
Lady at 0:30 : *stupid jingoistic quips*
Me: “Yeah, this is why they hate us in other countries, isn’t it?”
😂
The funny part is that she didn't care where the coffee she was actually drinking came from, just the cup she was drinking it from 😂
No, we admire patrioots, we only look down on self-hating gutless people like you.
Well, the whole .. "we are the greatest country in the world mindset" .. is irksome. When clearly as a nation you have some issues
@@FastForwardSailingAlso hate is a bit strong .. pity is closer .. apart from those countries where your government supported dictators of course .. they hate you
September 26th 1983, what a great time to be an Aussie, the country partied like you wouldn't believe! Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!
Beginning of the end of the 12 meter era. Such a shame, the modern AC with foiling boats is closer to Formula One than sailing. I mean, crash helmets and flipping boats at the mark?
Nothing wrong with safety or speed
@@UMBERRRTO1 I agree, but it's a non-sequitur. My point was that the modern AC boats bear more affinity to the thrills and risks of high-speed motor sports than to the art of sailing. Nothing against Formula One or other similar events; I enjoy them myself. But I am nostalgic for the supreme demonstrations of skill and determination of the 12-meter era, with lovely seaworthy boats that weren't prone to pitch-pole in 4' seas.
@michaelbaughman8524 I think your comparison with f1 is quite fitting. And I also understand your nostalgic feelings for the classic yachts. But isn't it amazing to see how technology advances and what can be achieved on the water only using the wind as an accelerating force? I think events like the americas cup are important to show people that sailing isn't just an outdated and old fashioned way of travelling on water, it's still advancing in the 21st century and it's faster than ever.
@@Elias-eo1vh I do agree that the tech advances are truly amazing, and fun to watch too. Pretty cool that a sailboat can do almost 50 kts. But it's a different sport than "classic" yacht racing, of which the America's Cup used to be the epitome. I was just watching an old race where one boat tacked over the lay line and pointed low to gain speed and gain a leeward position to force the other boat past the windward mark - but the other skipper instantly put his helm down too and used the starboard tack to turn the tables and force the other to give way. Such tactics aren't possible with the new format.
I agree, but for a different reason, Previously, the race was something the everyday amateur sailor could easily relate to. It was close. If you watch a PGA tournie and play golf, you can relate. Same game. Now? Who can relate to watching a rocket launch?
The Americans just couldn’t dig the Aussie’s cheek, sense of humour and toughness. The American’s weakness is their self seriousness!
The winged keel was thinking outside the box win. That was the only reason they won. Nothing to do with personality.
That winning boat is on display in the WA Maritime Museum in Perth. What strikes you when you look at it up close is how rough it looked, hand made and crudely finished in places like a prototype. But wow, she was fast. The people who built it were into speed over looks.
AUSTRALIA II was being used in a competition race against STEAK n KIDNEY in a commercial venture in Airlie Beach, Queensland, Australia.
Got to sail this vessel as a tourist...grinding away...not the pleasure cruise I'd expected.
You can't have been on Australia II it is in the Maritime Museum in Perth, what you were sailing was the 1980 Cup Challenger which was called Australia
If you can find it in a library somewhere - Ben Lexcen : the man, the keel, and the cup (book)
I must have aged 10yrs during that last race. Like most of Australia we stayed up all night to watch that final thrilling tacking duel, hoping against hope that the lightly built Australia 2, with it's inverted "Spitfire-wings" keel could somehow stay together and reach the finish line in front.
The Gods must have been smiling on us that day, especially since they took A2 out for a sail the next day after winning The Cup and the mast snapped on the first tack.
That would have been the end of us but somehow it stayed together during race 7 until victory was ours. It remains, to this day, our country's finest sporting achievement.
And they still throw their toys out of the cot when things don't suit them.
8:47 That's a proper Aussie interview.
I saw this yacht at the western Australian maritime museum in Fremantle Australia
Gretel was good enough to win but like Endeavour the crew just wasn't quite good enough. But Australia 11 won with a crew that exhibited great tenacity and skill and a very good boat. And the right wind. Kookaburra III was designed for heavier winds that simply never came. If they had we would have won for sure at Fremantle. Well maybe.
Such a tragedy Bondy’s outrageous financial dishonesty destroyed the legacy of his America’s Cup success.
i've never heard an explanation of why John stopped covering Dennis in that last race. i also read years ago and it isn't mentioned nowadays that it was Tom Schnackenberg's spinnaker that won the last downwind
It’s a weird comment in the video. You don’t cover when sailing downwind. The boat behind you can blanket your wind. Covering is an UPWIND manoeuvre.
@@Lozzie74 yeah, but to the same effect, when in front in a match race, keep yourself between the finish and your competition. Don’t let them split from you downwind in case they pick up more favorable air on the other side of the course. Keep yourself between the leeward mark/finish and the competition
The spinnaker was a very modified Sobstad spinnaker which had a very narrow wind range, Dennis Connor gybed away about 8 minutes after rounding the top mark when he got a small wind shift to try and protect (what he thought) was the favoured right side of the course, Phil Smidmore the mastman on Australia II said there was more wind on the left side of the course so Australia II continued on starboard gybe and when gybed back later was neck and neck with Liberty when the boats met 2/3rd down the 4.5nm leg. The crew on Liberty were not as good at light air downwind sailing as the Australia II crew and A2 was very slightly quicker. In addition the spinnaker on A2 was slightly smaller and more suited to the winds on the downwind leg than the Liberty spinnaker..
@@skiplissiman THANKS FOR THE DETAILS
@@skiplissiman are you the Skip Lissiman who was port trimmer on A2? If so congratulations and deep respect on the achievement.
I went to Australia to travel and went across the desert to Fremantle for that one. I was a young sailor at the time.
Bit of a shame they never won it since. The Aussies, I mean. That Slingsby bloke seems to know his way around a race track.
..you’re such an Aussie fanboy..
Bit like taking a virgin
we I believe were on track in 1995 to potentially win it but then the Fast One Australia boat led by the great John Bertrand sunk and so did the chances. But lets never forget in 1995 we were the only one's truely able to match and beat Team New Zealand
@@bmrcoachingacademy8531 In the newspapers at the time, everyone thought 1995 would be a climactic Conner vs Bertrand rematch- in part because Team New Zealand had spread rumors that Black Magic I and II were flawed to encourage others to underestimate them. OneAustralia probably were the strongest challenger aside from Team NZ, so it was a reasonable assumption to make!
@@kaiyves957 pretty much think that is what I was saying but thanks for stating the obvious
As a young kid i woke up early in Australia to watch the deciding race on the black and white tv my parent's gifted me. Was not allowed to watch it after bed time or i would lose the tv. Was glad i risked it.😛
Did anyone know that Alan Bond's wife Rolex watch was stolen & he offered $10,000 for the return with no questions asked? To get John Bertrand to the press conference after he had won. He had to ride on the back of the Newport police motorcycle. The people outside the Armory & on Thames street was massive.
Yes - Eileen Bond had her watch taken off her wrist in the crowd mass outside the armoury where the press conference was and she got the watch back some weeks later. John B and the crew walked to Armoury from the dock - about 300m away and it was SCARY with the mass crowd squashing in.
i remember it .bondy made history even though he was a scoundrel. often thought we should have honoured bondy for this magnificent historical effort,by giving him a free pass for his sins .but then maybe i should have asked the people he short changed whether they agreed. still he'll go down in history for what he pulled off.bondi gave us a magnificent feeling as a country to beat the yanks .it just felt SO good.
bob hawke who was PM at the time was a bit of a hero as well because he was in the Guinness book of records for sculling beer .being in senior school and competitive on sat night after the pictures at school we'd duck out and run down to the pub with o stop watch to try and beat his record .we couldn't get near it but were well and truly pissed from our effort
Grew up watching the twelves but it looks like slow motion now.
Are there comfort stations available ?
It's called an ocean...
I think it was Australia II, Hawthorn in the VFL GF and Pat Cash at Wimbledon. 🇦🇺👍🍺
It predates cricket? Yes, as an international sporting event.
I was steering a yacht last year in a race and it had a winged keel. They are different and you do have to adjust your technique. 🐟
Was this the first real “bow down” boat to get the lift?😊
Connor lost that regatta in several races. The Australians were remarkable and capitalized on every mistake. Why did Connor fail to cover Aus on the Downwind leg in the 7th race is the question???? Arrogance led to his loss
No - Liberty's crew lack of light air downwind skills lead to the loss - Dennis mistakenly believed Australia II was a rocket downwind when it was slow (against the other challengers) and in Aug 1983 the crew spent 2 weeks solid turning that downwind weakness into a strength
They wanted both boats to be fair!! Just like when Dennis turned up in a catamaran against a monohull!!!
I kinda like Dennis but the double standards are crazy. Got a video coming up on 1988 this weekend
And then Dennis showed up in a multihull.
As it happens, just released a video on that czcams.com/video/Zw_5FxQzW6I/video.html
These boats were the best. Modern multi hulled AC boats are just not the same
Amen
No-one has lived off a last name more than Halsey
"Americans can be very chicane" Thomas Jefferson.
I've watched this show several times over the years, living in several different states.... this is really a fun tale. hip hip hurray!! Aussie spirit!
Do not forget that your sailmakers were KIWIs
Yes, Tom Schnackenberg in particular was behind the scenes of a lot of America's Cup victories
True. But it’s like saying kiwi bricklayers slapped concrete into the Opera House.
@@petesmith9472 no, more like saying that Kiwis built the Repco engines for Jack Brabham !!!
This is not How America lost the Cup, this is How Australia won the Cup thats what the title should be, let me guess this has been posted by and American
Nope a Brit. 😉 I get what you are saying and realised it when planning the title but it just wasn't as catchy.
@@FastForwardSailing lol what ever you reckon, I just think the title cheapens what the Australians did, they won this Cup
@@bmrcoachingacademy8531 I totally get your point. The second part of the title does imply it was the efforts of Aus. But I think of all my video titles in terms of what would get a person who doesn't know much about the cup interested. That after all is a big part of the purpose of sport
@@FastForwardSailing yeah whatever
@@bmrcoachingacademy8531You stOLE oUR MOMENT. THE TIETLE MAKES me so SAD for all of the sacrifices of the auSTRLAIALANS. I'm going to CRY.
As a long-time fan of America's Cup racing, this video is a bit disappointing for me. I really wanted to learn how the "slow" Liberty got to a 3-1 lead to begin with, if it was at such a disadvantage design-wise.
Yet her 2nd and 3rd wins were glossed over! And so were the 2nd and 3rd wins of Australia II! This should have been the meat of the video, instead... nothing! Why? You found so much archive footage, surely you could have given us some explanation (and footage) of what led to victory in these 4 races.
I am not sure if you listened to the Louis V lead up races and all of the cup races but the 3-1 lead was achieved because of continuing gear breakage and tuning faults….once the gear was fixed Australia was unbeatable
Got beat
Doesn’t make for as good a title 😉
Beat it beat it u all got to do is beat it...John Hancock
I never realised Warren called it at 4-3. Always great to beat the Yanks, especially when they start using their “tactics” as usual😂
It's pretty simple really, the Seppo's could no longer cheat...
predates cricket are you sure mate love the uk
If only it was in todays filming quality. Funny the whinging protests back then vs what's raced these days.
@2:20 Alan Bond (& Japanese Investors) 20,000 acre estate 'Yanchep Sun City' that he never ended up completing due to running out of money.
Today, Yanchep is a massive and thriving community.
Shouldn't it be .. How Australia won the America's Cup.
Aussies won ,
You lost it because the other team was better. Nothing else.
The Aussie boat was better, to be sure. Dennis outsailed Aus2 pretty handily though, and I was there all summer to see it. But the little boat bailed out Bertram on a few, key occasions. The rub, the asterisk, is that it now comes to light that a lot of the design of the keel was accomplished in Netherlands, by the Dutch. At least according to one of the Dutch engineers at the tow tank. If true, the '83 Cup Races were a sham and a farce. IMO the Club conducted itself honorably under the circumstances.
Yep, the Sepos sook and cry, try to make out that they were only beaten by the boat, but given the outright cheating for which the NYCC was famous for, changing rules mid stream, the Sepos are just sooks. I was there, Bertrand outsailed the Sepos just as much as thet did him. The dutch didn't invent the keel, it was an Aussie design. We spanked the Sepos. They are the mudguards of the world. Biggest sporting cheats in the world, just ask Lance or Floyd Landis!
Won it back in 87
"the other team was better. Nothing else."
'Better keel' is not 'nothing'. It was pretty much THE reason.
@@dap777754fair point.
So he lost crowd about it , tried to cheat to win and still lost how was that remote ok
"Tried to cheat to win"? Hmmm "The election was stolen. Let's have an unsurrection. I am ENTITLED to win". Sound familiar?
Dennis was not feeling good about the NYYC. They showed no support & especially after he lost. The money was coming from a San Diego couple, who was also on the San Diego YC board. The Jewetts were backing Dennis up & did so in the Rematch in Perth. Where did the AC go after the race? That's right, San Diego. I believe Dennis lost the race because the NYYC let him down. What do they always teach you when sailing in a competition? Cover, cover, cover your opponent & he did not! This is not fleet racing but dueling & he should have never let Australia sail away as he did.
Interesting fantasy comment
Oude mannen met geld😂.
De folieboten ,kost ook veel maar daar moet je ook nog een kunsje doen.
Zonder buikje en onderkin.
Sport 🎉😊
No, Dennis Connors was as usual an arrogant price and screwed up.
Australia has lost interest in the Americas Cup.
It was a contest between a nation's sailors and boat design funded by yachting obsessed multi millionares.
Now it's like F1 auto racing on water where the boats and crews represent a country in name only.
NZ started this trend by attempting to be more litigious than the Americans!!!
Australia can’t get it back off the Kiwis….not even close.
we haven't been in it for a while so bit hard, mind you plenty of Aussie sailors are part of the teams.
So tell me who drives the US boat? And half of the other boats? an Aussie that's who.
I have never believed Australia won . I've always believed America lost , but why. While the cup was in American hands, it was held in New York. But Dennis Conner ( and others) wanted the cup in San Diego. So he lost to Bond, cup goes to Australia ( now out of New York) then next race Dennis wins and takes cup back to America but this time San Diego.
When you say America are you talking about Mexico?
Or Canada, or Brazil, or Argentina, or Peru etc. They are all Americans.
yeah right , those wetbacks stole the keel and 4 brass cleats .....