Doubts cast on Australia’s win in ‘83 America’s Cup

In 1983, Australia became the first non-American country to win the America’s Cup in 132 years.

But doubts are now being cast on that victory.

A Dutch naval architect claims he designed a key part of the Australian yacht that won the America’s Cup.

The problem is under the rules. The designers have to be from the country the vessel represents.

Peter van Oossanen claims he designed the Australia II’s famous winged keel, which generates lift to counter the force of the wind.

Van Oossanen says he signed a confidentiality agreement because the principal designer, Ben Lexcen, knew it was a breach of the rules.

But the surviving members of the Australia II team are rallying together to defend Lexcen, including producing documents they say proves Lexcen was the principle designer of the winged keel.

“I would have been happy to have taken this information to the grave knowing that all the inside people were well aware of my role and the role the Dutch played in general,“ said van Oossanen. But when I found that they were wanting not to acknowledge that any further and instead come out publicly saying things that they were saying, I was rather upset.“

“Benny (Lexcen) used different consultants from different parts of all different areas of technology and Peter van Oossanen was one of them and a very important part of that overall equation,“ said John Bertrand, skipper of the Australia II. “But he certainly wasn’t the principal designer of Australia II and that was really the key requirement of the America’s Cup.“