35
SVN Solovelanet Global
O
n September 27th, 1983 in New-
port, Rhode Island a light breeze was
blowing, as the local crowd awaited the
foregone conclusion of the America's
Cup. But the history of world sailing
suddenly changed, as a132 year record of US vic
-
tories was broken by the Australia II, a victory that
also lead to a revolution in boat design. A few hours
after winning the cup, Ben Lexcen, the designer of
Australia II, and Alan Bond, the patron of the Au
-
stralians, revealed to the world the mysterious keel
that had made the white-yellow boat invincible in the
Newport breeze: although similar to a traditional L-
shaped keel, this one had two side wings, something
never seen before.
A lot of water has passed under the hulls since that
day in late September 1983, and the memory of the
Australia II may have faded somewhat from the pu
-
blic imagination, but no one can question the incre-
dible boost the victory gave to studies in fluid me-
chanics for keel profiles.
by Jean Bonnet
