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Scuttlebutt Photos:

Memories from the 1983 America's Cup

Tom Ehman: "During that (final) race I was watching from the bow of the Jury Boat (NYYC's America's Cup Committee boat). One did not need a PJ Montgomery commentary to realize, in the first minutes of that (last) run, that AUS II was sailing significantly lower and faster than Liberty. Nonetheless, Liberty did cover AUS II. Indeed, the argument could be made that Liberty should have split big-time from AUS II early in the leg in an attempt to find better pressure or angles. But Dennis & Co. did the conservative and proper thing -- they covered." - Excerpt from Scuttlebutt 1566. Click here and scroll down for Tom's full story.

Edward Trevelyan: "While the position change occurred on the final run, from my perspective as Liberty's port side genoa trimmer, the beginning of the end may have occurred on the previous upwind leg, where I believe we took some risks in hope of establishing a good cushion by the top mark. There's no doubt that the 'mystique' of the boat (carefully nurtured by John Bertrand, as pointed out in his book) was a factor in the perception that risk taking was necessary." - Excerpt from Scuttlebutt 1567. Click here and scroll down to the Letters Section for Edward's complete comments.

Photo and caption by Larry Moran

The patent drawings on which Australia II's keel design was partially based. The photograph was shown to me aboard the Black Swan, Australia II's tender, by Ben Lexcen, the yacht designer. During practice, Sir Alan Bond had John Bertrand load me aboard the "Rubber Ducky" and off we went, to the yacht, then round and round her to take photos, with skipper Bertrand at the helm (photo and caption by Larry Moran).



Australia II's keel at the time of its unveiling; when her shroud of secrecy was removed. I was staying aboard a yacht owned by the owner of Newport Offshore, just 50 feet away from Australia II (photo and caption by Larry Moran).


Australia II under sail while sail testing (photo and caption by Larry Moran).



Australia II winning race over Liberty (photo and caption by Daniel Forster).



Final cannon of 1983 America's Cup, showing both Australia II and Liberty at finish of the seventh race (photo and caption by Larry Moran).

Curmudgeon's Comment: Not too many spectators back in 1983.

                                                                                                                                                                         
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