NOTE: (This article was supposed to have been written in September with a request to TPTB to publish on September 26. But, well, life, etc. Thus, almost two months later, I submit this memory of one of the most emotional days in Australian sport).

At 5:22pm Eastern American Time, September 26, 1983, two 12-meter racing yachts were engaged in a sailing duel on Rhode Island Sound. Half a world away, a nation watched their TVs in the early hours of September 27. They were waiting for the moment that a small puff of white smoke emerged from the mouth of a ceremonial cannon on the stern of a motor cruiser anchored in the Sound.

The road to that moment had been decades in the making. In 1851, members of the newly formed New York Yacht Club sailed their yacht America to the United Kingdom hoping to make some money winning regattas. On August 22 of that year, America beat all other competitors in the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Isle of Wight Regatta.

“America” winning the RYS Regatta, 1851.

“America” was awarded what became known as the America’s Cup (or the Auld Mug). Thus began the longest winning streak (by time) in sports’ history.

The_America’s_Cup (the Auld Mug)

Beginning in 1870, the NYYC defended the Auld Mug against 24 challenges. The class of yacht and the format of the series changed over time. Sometimes it was best of five, sometimes best of three. In 1956, the NYYC changed the format to 12-meter yachts racing in a best-of-seven series. From 1958 to 1980, there were eight challenges to the NYYC. The NYYC won all challenges, losing only two races total out of thirty-four. In those eight regattas, Australian yachts represented the challengers on six occasions (see here for a little bit on the challenger formats). But on only two occasions did the challengers win a single race. Of course, if you were in Australia, you knew the Yanks were cheating.* This was most obvious in 1980. That year, the NYYC beat the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Australia 4-1. After two races, the series was tied 1-1. In one of the subsequent races, an Australian crewman fell overboard costing them the win. Obviously the yacht had been sabotaged by the Yanks. In another race, Australia won, but the victory was overturned on appeal – the appeal being heard by the NYYC.

Undeterred, the same Australian syndicate returned in 1983 with a new yacht named Australia II.

Australia II (KA-6)

This time, however, they’d done something revolutionary. Designer Ben Lexcen had come up with a winged keel for the new yacht. The NYYC, being true sportsmen, sought on multiple occasions to have this new design ruled illegal. Surprisingly all these efforts failed.

The Winged Keel

In the challenger trials, Australia II pretty much blew the opposition out of the water. They won the final round against a British challenger 4 races to 1. In the cup itself they came up against Liberty, skippered by Dennis Connor. Even with all the brouhaha over the keel, at first it seemed to make little difference. Liberty won the first two races fairly easily. Then Australia II won the third by the outrageous margin of 3 minutes plus. Dreams of justice and redemption burst in Australian hearts. This, of course, was a little weird. Australians generally despise the wealthy – there was something very odd about millions of middle- and working-class Australians longing for an Australian millionaire to defeat an American millionaire in a sport that, usually, no one cared about. But, there it was.

Dreams were quickly dispelled. In the fourth race, Liberty won by a comfortable margin. But, then, something odd happened: Australia II won Race 5. For the first time since the 1956 changes there was going to be a Race 6. It was duly won by Australia II, by an even bigger margin that it had won Race 3.  Odd became unprecedented: a winner-take-all Race 7.

The national atmosphere was quite unreal. A song released by Glenn Shorrock (former lead singer of the Little River Band) titled “We’re Coming to Get You” had become a bestseller. The Boxing Kangaroo fight flag entered Australian legend, a place it occupies to this day. At the VFL Grand Final that afternoon, singer John Farnham led 100,000 footy fans in a “We’re With You Australia II” chant. Anti-climatically, the wind was not strong enough that day for the race to proceed. Instead it was to be sailed September 26 in Rhode Island (starting late that night Down Under, scheduled to finish early morning September 27).

Millions of Australians–including me and a mate–sat up to watch what we hoped would be history. The race started fairly even but, gradually, Liberty pulled ahead. My mate fell asleep but I stuck it out as the two yachts raced down to the final marker for the turn to the home leg – Liberty leading and seeming ready to, once again, destroy hope. Then, as the TV cameras began to pan out, myself and every Australia realized what was happening. Liberty, while ahead, was inside the marker buoy, meaning she would have to tack in order to come around the buoy as required. This meant Australia II could continue with full sail while Liberty would have to turn at right angles.** Could the righteous ones take the lead during that moment? Drum roll….

Indeed they could! Australia II headed up the final leg with a lead. Liberty, desperate, began a tacking duel, almost sailing into the spectator fleet (Australia II had to cover, just in case Liberty found a fresh breeze). After almost fifty tacks, skipper John Bertrand, judging his lead insurmountable, broke off the duel and headed for then finish line. Liberty followed, hoping for a miracle (or you know, an act of sabotage by the NYYC – EVERY Australian knew that could happen).

Then, in the early hours of September 27, 1983 in Australia, September 26 on Rhode Island Sound, Australia II rounded the NYYC’s committee boat and a small puff of white smoke came from that cannon. The NYYC’s 132-year winning streak – the longest in history – was ended.

 

It set off a wave of celebration across Oz akin to the end of a war. It’s considered one of the greatest moments in Australian sporting history. The Prime Minister appeared on TV declaring that any boss who fired someone for not showing up to work that day was “a bum.” Here’s one TV report on the win. It was celebrated in pubs, clubs, streets, everywhere. It became part of the cultural fabric of the nation.

Of course, an Australian triumph in 1983 could only be celebrated by one song (sorry Mr. Shorrock).

* Claims about cheating by the NYYC have been deemed partly true by fact-checkers.++

**Any historical details that differ with my 40-year old recollections are, of course, wrong.

++ Claims that cheating claims are partly true have been judged totally false by Glibertarians.com

Apologies to dbleagle for all the terminology errors in this story.