''Australia'' (KA–5) is an Australian 12 metre racing yacht that twice challenged unsuccessfully for the

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 ...

1977 Events January * January 8 – 1977 Moscow bombings, Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (no ...

and

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 ...

. Designed by

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 ...

in association with Dutch designer Johan Valentijn for

Alan Bond Alan Bond (22 April 1938 – 5 June 2015) was an English-born Australian businessman noted for his high-profile and often corrupt business dealings. These included his central role in the WA Inc scandals of the 1980s; the biggest corporate co ...

, ''Australia'' failed to win a single race against the 1977 defender, '' Courageous'' (US-26), but won one race against the 1980 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 ...

'' (US-30). ''Australia'' resides in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia.

Design and construction

''Australia'' was designed during 1976 by

in association with the Dutch designer Johan Valentijn. Both men spent seven months experimenting with 1/9th scale models in the University of Delft test tank in the Netherlands.KA-5 Australia
Australian Twelves Association ''Australia'' is a conventional design and has been described as a "Courageous-style boat". It has v-shaped mid-ship sections, a low freeboard, large bustle and a low aft run finishing in a wide U-shaped transom. Its fore overhang is very narrow and round shaped in its lowest part. The cockpits are shallow, keel is thin and the

ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within ...

is placed very low. The elliptical mast is made in extruded aluminium. ''Australia'' was approximately lighter than '' Courageous'' and it was hoped that by lowering the freeboard and taking a penalty on length, ''Australia'' would prove faster than the US boat. ''Australia'' was built by Steve Ward in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

and launched in February 1977. ''Australia'' then sailed in sea trials against

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

challenger, ''

Southern Cross CRUX is a lightweight x86-64 Linux distribution targeted at experienced Linux users and delivered by a tar.gz-based package system with BSD-style initscripts. It is not based on any other Linux distribution. It also utilizes a ports system to ...

'' (KA-4), off

Yanchep Yanchep is a coastal town north of Perth, Western Australia, north of the Perth CBD. It is a part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. Originally a small crayfishing settlement, it was developed by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 19 ...

in Western Australia. The older boat remained a trial horse for ''Australia'' during the 1977 America's Cup series.

1977 America's Cup challenge

For the 1977 America's Cup, ''Australia'' went to Newport and raced against the 1970 Australian challenger, ''

Gretel II ''Gretel II'' (KA-3) is an International 12-metre class racing yacht built for the America's Cup challenge series in 1970. She was designed by Alan Payne and built by W.H. Barnett for Australian media tycoon Sir Frank Packer. Packer had first ...

'' (KA-3), the Swedish entrant, '' Sverige'' (S-3), and the French challenger, ''France'' (F-1), led by Baron Bich. Eventually, ''Australia'' won the right to challenge for the Cup by defeating ''Sverige'' 4–0. However ''Australia'' lost to the US defender, ''Courageous'', 4–0.

, who initially stayed in Australia during the challenge, went to Newport and was disappointed to find that ''Australia'' had a poor-quality mast from ''Southern Cross'' and that ''Australias sails were flat, heavy and of poor quality. ''Australia'' was never competitive and ''Courageous'' won the series easily.

1980 America's Cup challenge

Initially, Alan Bond suggested dropping ''Australia'' and designing a new boat for the 1980 series. Ben Lexcen, however, was convinced that ''Australias hull – with a few modifications – was a good design and that its performance would improve with a new rig and sails. The hull had its keel made sharper at the bottom, and the bustle was lowered slightly and made larger to help improve the steering. ''Australias competitors for challenging the Americans were: ''Sverige'', back for a second time; ''France III'' (F-3), a new yacht for Baron Bich, and the British challenger ''Lionheart'' (K-18). ''Lionheart'' was a fast boat, partly because it was fitted with a "bendy" mast which hooked aft several feet at its tip giving it 10 per cent extra unmeasured sail area on its main sail. In light winds, that gave the British boat a strong advantage. Seeing the British boat's speed, the ''Australia'' camp decided to copy the mast. The "bendy" rig added to Australia's speed and it became a very competitive boat defeating the US defender ''

'' (US-30) in the second race of the series. However, the late adoption of the "bendy" mast meant that the crew of ''Australia'' were experimenting with the newly cut sails and lacked the necessary confidence in them to win. In any case, the "bendy" mast was only effective in light winds. In the final two races, the wind blew hard enough to cancel out whatever advantage it gave ''Australia'' and ''Freedom'' won the series convincingly 4–1.

After 1980

Following the 1980 challenge, ''Australia'' was sold to the British Victory syndicate headed by

Peter de Savary Peter John de Savary (11 July 1944 – 30 October 2022) was a British businessman in shipping, oil and property. He once owned or managed 13 shipyards around the globe and had global oil-trading and refuelling businesses. He was the Chairman of ...

. Renamed ''Temeraire'', the boat became a trial-horse for ''Victory 82'' (K-21) and ''

Victory 83 ''Victory '83'' is a 12-metre class yacht that competed in the 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup. References 12-metre class yachts Sailing yachts of the United Kingdom Louis Vuitton Cup yachts {{ship-stub ...

'' (K-22) for the

1983 America's Cup The 1983 America's Cup was a 12-metre class yacht racing series which pitted the defending New York Yacht Club's ''Liberty'' against the Royal Perth Yacht Club's challenger, ''Australia II''. The September 1983 series of match races was won ...

that was ultimately won by ''

Australia II ''Australia II'' (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successf ...

'' (KA-6). In 1985, ''Australia'' returned to Australia after being bought by

Syd Fischer Sydney Fischer (4 March 1927 – 23 February 2023) was an Australian businessman, property developer and sailor. He was also a rugby league player with Manly Warringah. Most noted for his sailing, Fischer was described as Australia's most suc ...

in 1985 to be the trail horse for Fisher's "East Australia America's Cup Defence" syndicate defender, '' Steak 'n' Kidney'' (KA-14). ''Australia'', as with ''Steak 'n' Kidney'', was eventually refitted, passing survey, as a day sailing charter boat in 2004 and was acquired, along with ''Steak 'n' Kidney'', by the Australia 12m Historic Trust in 2011. After a major refurbishment, it was put up for sale in 2019.The one before the big one
''Sail-World'' 15 October 2019 As at April 2025, it was moored in

Lavender Bay Lavender Bay is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore (Sydney), North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Lavender Bay is located three kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Austral ...

opposite

McMahons Point ferry wharf McMahons Point ferry wharf is located on the northern side of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour serving the North Sydney Council suburb of McMahons Point. It is served by Sydney Ferries Parramatta River ferry services, Parramatta River and Pyrmont B ...

References

External links

{{Australian 12-metre class yachts America's Cup challengers Louis Vuitton Cup yachts Sailing yachts built in Australia Sailing yachts designed by Ben Lexcen 12-metre class yachts 1970s sailing yachts 1977 ships 1977 America's Cup 1980 America's Cup