Kookaburra II
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The 1987 Defender Selection Series was raced between four syndicates competing for the right to represent the
Royal Perth Yacht Club The Royal Perth Yacht Club (RPYC) is a yacht club in Perth, Western Australia. It is the third oldest yacht club in Australia after the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria and the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
as the defender of 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 ...
. ''
Kookaburra III ''Kookaburra III'' (KA 15) was the Australian 12 Metre yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Western Australia. Murray won the Defender Selection and ''Kookaburra III'' represented Australia in the Ameri ...
'' won the series and advanced to the
1987 America's Cup The 1987 America's Cup was the twenty-sixth challenge for the America's Cup. The American challenger '' Stars & Stripes 87'', sailed by Dennis Conner, beat the Australian defender '' Kookaburra III'', sailed by Iain Murray, in a four-race swe ...
. However, they failed to defend the cup from the challenge of ''
Stars & Stripes 87 ''Stars & Stripes 87'' (US 55) 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 ''Stars & Stripes 87'' was built in 19 ...
''.


The Syndicates


America's Cup Defence Ltd (''Australia II, III'' and ''IV'')

The highest profile syndicate was the professional and well funded
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 ...
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 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 Colin Kenneth Beashel (born 21 November 1959) is an Australian sailor who crewed on the winning America's Cup team Australia II in 1983 and competed at six Olympics between 1984 and 2004, winning bronze in 1996. He became, jointly with Brazilia ...
,
Hugh Treharne Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...
, Gordon Lucas and Carl Ryves, with Beashel taking the skipper role in the finals. Beashel and Treharne had extensive previous 12-metre experience.
Grant Simmer Grant Simmer (born 1957) is an Australian sailor (sport), sailor and yacht designer who has competed in multiple America's Cups. He sailed as navigator on ''Australia II'' when it won the 1983 America's Cup. He stayed with Alan Bond's syndicate ...
was the navigator. The crew included Dean Phipps. Some commentary has stated that John Bertrand had fallen out of favour with the Bond syndicate because of the publication of his book ''Born to Win''. This cannot be the case as his book clearly states Bertrand's decision to transition from sailing to a business career in the book obviously before it was published. Bertrand was a media commentator for Alan Bond's network during the televised races. 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 by boatbuilder Stephen Ward and 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 ...
, the same team which had produced ''Australia II''. The launch culminated in a sedate sail in the Swan River watched by thousands of spectators on the river foreshore.


South Australia Challenge (''South Australia'')

The South Australian government provided a , equivalent to in , 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 Philip Thompson was appointed helmsman and, following poor early showings, became the replacement skipper with John Savage in the afterguard. Irish offshore yachtsman
Joe English (sailor) Joe English (20 March 19564 November 2014) was an Irish yachtsman, professional sailor and sailmaker. He competed at multiple world championship-level sailing (sport), sailing events, including America's Cup, the Whitbread Round The World Race ...
joined as main sheet trimmer. South Australia was too small for the strong wind conditions and was eliminated after series B.


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 Parry Kevin John Parry (1933 – 26 November 2010) 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. The defence cos ...
. Taskforce '87 built three boats, ''
Kookaburra Kookaburras (pronounced ) are terrestrial animal, terrestrial tree kingfishers of the genus ''Dacelo'' native to Australia and New Guinea, which grow to between in length and weigh around . The name is a loanword from Wiradjuri language, Wira ...
'' (KA-11), Kookaburra II (KA-12) skippered by
Peter Gilmour Peter Gilmour (born 25 January 1960) is an Australian sailing skipper. 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. He currently res ...
and ''
Kookaburra III ''Kookaburra III'' (KA 15) was the Australian 12 Metre yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Western Australia. Murray won the Defender Selection and ''Kookaburra III'' represented Australia in the Ameri ...
'' (KA-15) skippered by Iain 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 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 ...
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 is a British dish. It is a savoury pie filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney (which may be beef, lamb, veal, or pork) and onion. Its contents are generally similar to those of steak and kidney pudding ...
, popular in Australia and to the
rhyming slang Rhyming slang is a form of slang word construction in the English language. It is especially prevalent among Cockneys in England, and was first used in the early 19th century in the East End of London; hence its alternative name, Cockney rhymin ...
for the City of
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 ...
) was launched relatively late in the campaign at a ceremony at the
Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...
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 The Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS) is a yacht club located in North Sydney, Australia in the suburb of Kirribilli. The squadron was founded in 1862. It has occupied its grounds in East Kirribilli, near Kirribilli House, since 1902. Hist ...
was the syndicate's sponsoring club, and Gary Sheard, an Olympian in
Soling The Soling is an Keelboat, open keelboat that holds the World Sailing "International class" status. The class was used from the Sailing at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1972 Olympics until the Sailing at the 2000 Summer Olympics, 2000 Olympics as "Sa ...
s was the initial skipper, Fred Neil took over as skipper in the early rounds of the eliminations. Following the elimination of South Australia, after series B, Philip Thompson was appointed the new skipper. Steven Kemp was the tactician and Robin Doussen the navigator, Joe English was later recruited during the semi-finals after South Australia was knocked out in series 3. A new, very powerful keel now made Steak'n Kidney a very fast and she began winning races. The extra power was overloading existing rigging and sails, races were lost due to breakdowns, not speed. Needed points to qualify as defender were also lost. Her last Defender series race, against the eventual Defender Kookaburra III, she won by 1 minute 36 seconds. She went onto the 12-meter world championships in Sardina, Italy, later that year and won a head to head match race against Dennis Connor with Stars and Stripes, the winner of the 1987 Americas Cup.


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 west-north-west of the harbour in
Gage Roads Gage Roads is an outer harbour area of Fremantle Harbour. It is situated in the Indian Ocean offshore from Fremantle, Western Australia, and incorporates a deep water sea channel. Gage Roads serves both as a shipping lane and as an anchorage fo ...
Every boat raced each other twice in the first 3 series. The six competing boats from four syndicates were '' Kookaburra II'' (KA-12), ''
Kookaburra III ''Kookaburra III'' (KA 15) was the Australian 12 Metre yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Western Australia. Murray won the Defender Selection and ''Kookaburra III'' represented Australia in the Ameri ...
'' (KA-15), ''
Australia III Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
'' (KA-9), ''
Australia IV ''Australia IV'' was a 12 Metre class yacht that competed in the 1987 Defender Selection Series. After elimination, she and her sister ship ''Australia III'' were sold to businessman Masakuzu Kobayashi. She was renamed ''Bengal III'', painted ...
'' (KA-16), '' Steak 'n' Kidney'' (KA-14) and ''
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
'' (KA-8).Sail numbers 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.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Defender Selection Series 1987 America's Cup 1987 in sailing 1987 in Australian sport 12-metre class Sailing competitions in Western Australia Defender Selection Series