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HISTORY
In 1983
following the victory of Australia II, Dennis Conner was dropped
by the New York Yacht Club, and mounted his own Sail America
Challenge. This would prove to be
the most thorough, professional program the America’s Cup had
ever seen. Five boats would be involved. A design team lead by
John Marshall with the yacht designers,
Britt Chance, David Pedrick and Bruce Nelson built a completely
new 12 Metre boat, STARS & STRIPES ’85. She was shipped to
Hawaii for testing. Months of further
testing resulted in a new faster, radical hull, STARS & STRIPES
’86; built to take advantage of the heavy seas and winds
expected in Fremantle. All this development lead
to the final STARS & STRIPES 12 Metre boat, STARS & STRIPES ’87.
Development and testing continued until it was time to go to
Fremantle. The three new boats were
shipped to Australia. So similar was their overall performance
that the final decision of which boat should race had not been
made. Just days before the Regatta would begin
STARS & STRIPES ’87 edged out STARS & STRIPES ’86 for the honour
of competing in the 1987 America’s Cup.
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