Untold: The Race of the Century (2022) - full transcript

The Australia II yacht crew looks back on the motivation, dedication and innovation that led to their historic victory at the 1983 America's Cup.

I've never met a world champion
that's a normal person.

You gotta be screwed up in some manner

to get out of bed
to do extraordinary things.

And I'm screwed up.

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Underneath this veneer
of being a normal, nice guy,

I have a huge ego.

There's gotta be some motivation
to drive someone to extraordinary lengths.

And the ego is part of my drive.

Good morning, the world.

We're lining up now for the start



of the seventh and vital race
in this America's Cup.

Yachting's big event is more historic

than the Kentucky Derby,
the World Series or the Super Bowl.

And for the first time in 132 years,
America may lose the America's Cup.

Now, the whole point of this
was to win the America's Cup,

which no one had ever done before.

It was the longest winning streak
in history of sport.

The United States
having successfully defended the Cup

for 132 years,
since before the US Civil War.

This country's domination
has outlasted the Confederacy,

the Third Reich, and the St. Louis Browns.

Now the Australians think
their time finally has come.

Today they sail the winner-take-all,
do-or-die, there's-no-tomorrow race.

Billed as the race of the century...



The greatest yacht race of the century.

The bottom line is the New York Yacht Club

were not in the business
of losing the America's Cup.

So we had no confusion.

We were at war.

The full-scale war is already underway.

The Australians claim they're
the target of a dirty-tricks campaign

involving espionage
and political backstabbing.

We now have the FBI involved,
spies, armed guards.

The New York Yacht Club
are absolutely determined

to do everything possible to ensure

that the Cup stays here
in the United States.

To take on the United States
was a huge psychological mountain.

The most powerful nation technically
and economically in the world...

...and a little country...

with 27 million people called Australia...

...had the audacity to think
that we could do it.

The first America's Cup that I'd heard
was the 1962 America's Cup.

Australia versus United States.

How this country was tuned into this event
halfway around the world.

These races have captured
the imagination of millions.

The President of the United States himself

abandons the cares of Washington
to attend.

The Australians, if they win,
see it as an opportunity

to project their little-known country
onto the international stage.

I can... I can still hear it.

Winds 20 to 25 knots and seas choppy...

I was just a little boy
listening on the wireless.

I was seven years old
listening to a small transistor radio,

lying in bed in the middle of the night.

A little tiny transistor radio.

Like a little transistor radio.

My mother said,
"You get a good night's sleep,"

and I'm trying to listen to the radio.

...all over
the eastern seaboard

flock to the waters of Newport,
Rhode Island.

Three in the morning,

12 hours different time zone
in Newport, Rhode Island.

This is Newport,
the home of the America's Cup yacht race.

Since the turn of the century,

it's been the holiday playground
of the nation's super rich.

As a little boy, I was infatuated
with the incredible history.

All these incredible characters.

And when the summer breezes
begin to roll in across the sound,

their minds turn
to the only game in town, yacht racing.

For me to skipper an America's Cup boat,

that set my imagination
into another direction.

It was like the door opening
to another world.

There are some people at Internal Revenue

who think yachting is not much more
than a dubious tax deduction.

The America's Cup, however,
is something else again.

The America's Cup's always been
the top echelon of the sport of sailing.

The America's Cup
is one boat versus one boat,

one country versus one country.

The best of seven races.

First boat to win four races
wins the America's Cup.

It's one-on-one.
It's like a duel to the death.

Look at it go down!
This is yachting's answer to the Titanic.

They basically have a desire
to beat each other's brains out,

but it's a lot better than going to war
or shooting it out in the streets.

The unique element of the America's Cup

is you're given a shot every four years,
just like the Olympics.

It's a huge commitment,
both physically and psychologically.

The rules were any country
could challenge for the America's Cup,

but you had to design the boat
in the country you were challenging from.

You had to build the boat
in that country as well.

So these projects need money.

Lots of money.

The super-rich have brought
large bank accounts, millions of dollars.

In the case of the America's Cup,

we're talking high-cost,
high-tech yacht racing.

Unlike any other sport,

the US had never lost.

It was the longest winning streak

in sporting history

where the New York Yacht Club
had successfully defended the Cup

in Newport, Rhode Island, for 132 years.

There was a sense of arrogance
by the New York Yacht Club.

This is our patch.

You can play with the patch
and then we'll bid you farewell.

The New York Yacht Club
have defended this Cup

against all-comers from around the world

with such complete sailing mastery

that it's a wonder
anyone comes after it at all.

The New York Yacht Club
on Manhattan's West 44th Street.

With its windows carved in the manner
of a 17th century Dutch yacht,

this is the center
of the yachting universe.

The exclusive preserve

of some of America's wealthiest
and most influential men.

The New York Yacht club were
ferocious defenders of the America's Cup.

They reeked of old American money,

Vanderbilts and Roosevelts.

So there was a huge amount of mystique.

And there was something
about the American boats.

They had this aura about them.
They were immaculate.

Their sails always looked like
they were carved out of alabaster.

They oozed style, wealth.

Oozed this unbeatableness.

And one day, way back in 1970,

we go into the New York Yacht Club.

And there was a room,

it was this kind of octagonal room
where the Cup was sitting.

"We spoke to the curator,
and he said, "You realize, John,

that that trophy had not been touched
by human flesh for a hundred years."

I looked at this trophy and I thought,
"My God, John, this is it."

Perfect, shiny silver.

The Holy Grail.

This is the family jewel.

Silver under glass.

This is what the Americans are spending
$45 million on this year alone.

Now, legend has it

that the first American skipper
to end up losing this Cup

will end up losing his head.

There's no question the emerging force

for the New York Yacht Club
was Dennis Conner.

A native of San Diego, California,
folks, please welcome Dennis Conner.

He was the might and focus
of the New York Yacht Club.

And he took the America's Cup

from an amateur world
to a professional world.

Dennis changed the game.

But isn't it true
that you've taken a sport

that was, uh, previously considered
kind of what wealthy guys did on weekends,

and turned it into
more like stock car racing?

Dennis was the best. He was the best.

Ah, he's brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

I think it's fair to say
Dennis was a different person.

One of these skippers
who will do anything to win.

If the most important thing in the world

was winning the America's Cup
and sailing with Dennis Conner,

over going to church,
over your job, over your wife, your kids...

"Oh, I gotta take off
for two weeks to go skiing."

Well, enjoy your skiing,
but don't bother coming back.

The first time I raced against Dennis

was 1974, the America's Cup.

And we had no chance.

The Australians, they weren't
in the America's Cup business.

Psychologically, you have to perform
at a very high level.

You got down to the boat early

and checked the weather,
tide, current, sailing instructions,

got your boat in the water,
made sure it was smooth and clean,

getting out to the course
and checking the wind,

current, and the race committee
and getting instructions,

and checking the wind before the start,
which way it was shifting.

You had the right sails, the right mast.

You'd practiced.
Your crew weighed the right amount.

If you did all those things, every time,
you would then have no excuse to lose.

Lambs to the slaughter each time.
Hammered in '74.

Dennis Conner came through
for America again today,

winning the race
by more than a minute and a half.

Got hammered again in '77.

The experts said it'd be 4 and 0,

and they've done in the Australians
four races to zero.

Went back again in 1980, got beaten again.

And Australia simply couldn't catch up

and has now failed in three attempts
to win the America's Cup.

I won 38 straight races.

I was the best sailor in the world.

I slaughtered them.

Welcome back to Turpie Tonight.

Ah! What a cue!

I want you to listen carefully to this.

In September 1983,

someone will be challenging the Americans
for the America's Cup,

and this man will be skipper.

Ladies and gentlemen,
would you please welcome John Bertrand?

Deep down,

I knew if there's anyone
that can actually take on Dennis Conner,

it was someone like myself.

How long have you been sailing?

I started when I was 12 years old.

- What type or class of yacht?
- Little Sabots, little trainers.

Yeah?

My great-grandfather
was involved in the construction

of three America's Cup boats.

My grandfather was
a professional fisherman,

and he'd teach me
when the sea breeze would come in.

He'd have this intuitive sixth sense
that was passed on to myself.

No makeup. Is that what you get
from life on the ocean waves?

It's hours in the sun, Ian.

Hours and hours.

Is this a hard life?

But when I was 15,
there was a shock to our family.

My father died,

my grandfather died,

and then my great-grandfather died,
in sequence.

So we lost all the men.

Um...

When John's father passed away,
there was a call in him.

It, in fact, was
what has always driven him.

But what I really understood about John
was his ability to really focus.

He could totally shut off.

I was infatuated
with winning the America's Cup

and what was required.

Hopefully, you'll be the one to challenge
whatever yacht the Americans put up.

That's right. Dennis Conner is
the skipper of the one boat,

which he successfully defended last time.

Boo!

Didn't like him much.

Every year losing to Dennis,

I concluded that
I wasn't mentally tough enough.

And unless you understood
your competition,

unless you understood the enemy,

you could never actually take it
to another level.

So I got a scholarship to MIT in Boston

in the Department of Ocean Engineering
to become part of the US system.

During this program,

you'll be training
for careers in marine engineering.

There will be lab work, sea projects,
and plenty of difficult classwork.

When he told me
the name of his thesis,

I think, by then, I really understood

how important sailing was to him.

Optimum Angle of Attack
of America's Cup Sails.

Using lifting-line theory,
aerospace engineering,

highly technical control systems,

basically torpedoes.

I was behind enemy lines for months...

learning about secrets.

That was very applicable
to the America's Cup challenge.

So, after MIT, I knew enough

that we could go head-to-head,
toe-to-toe with the best in the world.

Come on, Kyle.

To compete,
you have to have the money.

I just said,

"When you want to race the America's Cup,
show me the money."

I guess it's fair to say that estimates
about how much money

has been spent to win this baby

are anywhere between 60
and maybe 100 million dollars.

I was lucky.

I had the backing
of the New York Yacht Club.

I loved them like Mom and Dad.

So you get the money,
then you can start to put a team together.

Conner is putting his troops
through a training program

as tough as any yet devised
for an America's Cup campaign.

It's important that the crew
be able to perform at their best,

and to do so,
they have to have a full commitment,

working 5:00 in the morning till 9:00
at night, six days a week for 17 months.

So the more money,
you can start to invest in technology.

Then you can start thinking about,

"What kind of a designer
are we going to have?"

"Who's gonna build the boat?
Who's gonna make the sails?"

The New York Yacht Club
calls to order the first meeting...

Studying the New York Yacht Club,

I realize if we're ever to win this thing,

we would need money, lots of money.

The story of the America's challenge

is the story
of the whole Bond financial saga.

Bondy has always been a gambler,

and that's what this is all about, money.

Alan was the syndicate chairman
for Australia.

He took a gamble.

It was his money.

It was his project.

Bondy was a big risk-taker.
Larger than life.

He'd made a lot of money
in a short amount of time,

largely through property deals.

And he bought Swan Brewery.

But from the New York Yacht Club's
point of view, he wasn't real wealth.

Alan intuitively knew

to win could take him
from a local trader to a global trader.

It was power and influence,
and that was his motivation.

So, I said to Alan,

"There's basically
three elements in this competition."

"You gotta have
world-class administration."

"You gotta have world-class technology,

and, ultimately,
the team has to be world-class."

We needed to get brilliant,
highly sophisticated minds.

Invite the best of the best.

So I called Huey.

Got an apprenticeship
and I left school as a sailmaker.

I can see wind shifts and wind pressure.
Just could almost smell the wind.

...and outstanding tactician Hugh Treharne

join other senior members
of the Australian team.

Is this the year of the impossible?

I was working as an engineer
on a uranium mine.

I was actually a school teacher
at the time.

I was working as an electrical engineer.

And I get a phone call
out of the blue saying,

"I'd like you to be the navigator

on this 12 Metre we're gonna build
for the next America's Cup."

I hadn't been a navigator on any boat.

He said, "You're an engineer.
You go and figure it out."

John Bertrand very carefully worked out

the people with the right mental capacity,

who could outsmart
the New York Yacht Club.

To take on the power
of the American psyche,

with their immense confidence,

you need a strong ego
to be able to play that game,

and that was a major hurdle.

In our country, in Australia,

we have this thing
called the Tall Poppy Syndrome,

where people start to show a sense
of confidence, and they cut you down.

So, if I could get
the mental side tough enough,

then perhaps I could put
the whole thing together.

Bertrand sent this psych test out

to all of the potential crew members.

And I can remember
getting this 14-page psych test

and thinking, "What is this crap?"

Yeah. I did the personality test.

The assessment was
that I could have more confidence.

That was the assessment, yeah,
that I could have more confidence.

So for us, we had to believe ourselves
that we belong on the world stage.

That's the power of visualization.

See the sails, see fellow crew members,

realize the trust, faith, and respect
you have for them.

You're visualizing the environment
even before you've gone into battle.

Ultimately, training the mind
not to be intimidated in that environment.

Listen to the helicopters above.

You see the US Coast Guard.

We're all working
hand in hand together as a team.

And then you see Dennis Conner...

and his American boat, Liberty.

And finally,

the last thing we had to have
was the high-tech, world-class boat.

But the American sailing technology
was at a much higher level

than anything we had in Australia.

The battle of the Cup
has become a war of technology,

and Conner had wanted to build himself
a fearsome weapon.

So he went to the heavily-guarded
US Government weapons research center.

Right now we have
naval architects involved.

As a matter of fact, we have,
at the hub of our campaign,

basically a subcontractor
from the Department of Defense.

Dennis had US Navy
and aerospace technology.

And he had big design teams,
like nearly 30 guys,

but those days we just had Benny.

We had Benny. That was it.

Seen here
is the barefoot Australian, Ben Lexcen.

He's Alan Bond's unlikely choice
to design his yacht

for the upcoming 1983 America's Cup.

But where many designers live
in a world full of calculus and geometry,

Ben Lexcen lives in a world of art.

Yacht design is still an art.

It's probably one of the only arts left
where the artist has to prove his work

by actual performance.

Benny was different.

He was not constrained in a box.

Brilliant and dangerous in so many ways.

He was the Leonardo da Vinci of Australia.

Only three years of formal education,
nine years old to twelve years old.

So he wasn't restricted in his thinking.

That was his strength, as it turns out.

Ben's one
of these really unique people in the world

who comes from an incredible background
of hardly any formal schooling at all.

He was almost a street person in a way.

Benny would just arrive

and stay with us
for two nights, two weeks,

and he was physically very awkward.

He had a very severe tic,
but he was curious.

He was a passionately curious man.

And we've moved the rig slightly, so, uh...
The boat feels really nice.

His genius was
to be able to absorb information.

He's like a honey eater.

He'd just pick, pick, pick, pick, pick,
pick, pick, pick and bring all this in.

So when Benny started to design the yacht,

I was sitting on the dock,
and he said, "John, look at the seagulls."

He said, "Every feather,
there's a flight control system."

He said, "There must be
a thousand control systems

in one wing of that bird."

He said, "Look at how they take off.
It's just one flip and they're gone."

"It's beautiful."

He was a student of nature.

And I had very little understanding
of where it could lead,

but the door was opened.

Benny had gone across to Holland
to try and design a 12 Metre

that was gonna be better
than the 12 Metre that we had in 1980.

Benny was at one of the biggest
towing tank facilities in the world

trying to get another one hundredth
of one knot out of the boat.

He was tearing his hair out trying to find
an improvement, and he just couldn't.

He was enormously frustrated,

and suddenly
we started getting these telexes...

where he said,
"Hang on. We're onto something here."

Every day we'd get back to the office
and there'd be another telex

with him getting more and more excited.

He said, "I'm developing a keel here
that could potentially be a breakthrough."

But he didn't actually tell us
what it was.

Lexcen's seven models
underwent test trials

in minute detail in at least 200 runs,

which allowed the designer to make
constant refinements to his secret keel.

So the call came through
to come across to see this model

that he created
with this funny-looking keel.

So, I knew there was
something special going on with the keel.

Benny said, "Okay, you can come over,
but you can't tell anyone."

It was under covers, and John Bertrand
took me in to have a look.

There, sitting in the foundry
on the sand, was this thing.

And I think I was speechless.

Just trying to take it all in.

I'm looking at this thing going,
"You can't be serious."

I didn't know what to think
because it looked a bit weird.

People have been designing
12 Metres since 1905.

This is so different.

How can it be right?

I knew that the keel was inverted.

It was upside down.

It was like someone designed a new car.
Looked like it's got wheels on the roof.

It became clear
Benny had been playing around with wings.

It's like a bird with wings on it. Okay?

And that became
the outrageous winged keel.

We knew the boat was high risk.

And John, who's technically
one of the great sailors,

was a little nervous about it.

The last thing I wanted to do

is to spend a huge amount
of my time, effort, and emotion

on something where the equipment
was never gonna cut it.

We didn't even know
it was gonna sail like a yacht.

When I showed our boat,
they all thought I'd gone off my rocker.

So we decided we were going to have
a big meeting with Alan Bond.

"So, Alan, Benny's come up
with a boat that is very, very different."

"But the tank says it's 20 minutes faster
around the track than this one."

"What are we going to do?"
And Alan said, "Right."

"Well, we're gonna build that one.
Otherwise, you're all fired."

So we just went ahead and built that boat.

This is where
Ben Lexcen's latest winged wonder

will have its fiery birth in a vat
of molten lead in North Fremantle.

So many years
of getting hammered by the Americans.

It was time
that we had to do something radical.

Skippy and I were involved
in building the boat.

You know, literally hands-on.

Everyone was covered in gray
from grinding and cutting aluminum.

Benny Lexcen and I
designed the deck layout together.

And I was in charge of everything
from the deck up.

We actually threw the rule book out
in terms of how sails will be made.

And we developed the software
to design the sails.

Totally revolutionary.

We would take risks
and broke a lot of stuff

because Benny was experimenting
as he was building stuff.

That's how he was, you know.

You'd say, "Well, that guy's crazy."

Well, yes, he was, but we're all crazy.
It's all part of the deal.

We sat down with designer Ben Lexcen

and talked about his partnership
with team owner Alan Bond.

I'm not under any pressure
of time or money,

and he appreciates my style of thinking,

and he more or less lets me
just wander along like I'm an inventor.

Alan Bond's new 12 Metre
was officially named in the ceremony

before thousands of spectators
in Perth today.

A supremely confident Alan Bond

told a news conference today

that Australia II would win
the America's Cup.

The construction of this yacht
first began with Ben Lexcen, the designer.

We've worked over two years
on a truly Australian effort.

For the first time,

we have been able to develop
equal to anything else the world will see.

Three cheers... Hip-hip hooray!

Four minutes before 3:00
on Newport Radio WADK,

the official radio station
of the 1983 America's Cup.

Speaking of which,

the successful 1980 defender,
Dennis Conner,

and Liberty, a brand-new 12,

has made her arrival
in Newport Harbor today.

Dennis Conner,
the incumbent America's Cup defender,

a solitary man with a single focus,
to win again in 1983.

On behalf of AT&T,
we're proud to, uh, be a sponsor

in defense of the America's Cup.

And let me just add one other thing.
Go get 'em, Dennis!

- All right!
- Tomorrow!

This Tuesday,
they will begin running the competition

for the most coveted sailing prize,
the America's Cup.

Now, the America's Cup
is a Challenger Series,

52 races against all the other countries,

four-and-a-half months in Newport,

for the right to race
against the Americans in September.

There was a time here in New England

when the words "The British are coming"
rang out loud and clear.

But during this summer of 1983
here in Newport,

it's not only the British who are coming,

but it's also the French,
the Canadians, the Italians,

and the Australians.

When we first got to Newport
for the Challenger Races,

we talked about the keel.

And we decided we'd hide it completely.

The last thing we want to do
is show the keel to the world,

so that someone else could copy it,
and put it on their boat,

and be as competitive as what we were.

So, we kept it hidden.

And I remember
there was a local newspaper.

It said, "The Australians have come
with some bizarre, stupid keel."

"These guys have finally lost it."

"They've lost three times,
and they're getting desperate."

That was the attitude of it.

Starting leg of the America's Cup course
is into the wind,

four-and-a-half miles long to this mark,
followed by two reaching legs.

Then the yachts turn
one more time to the port,

finishing once more into the wind.

So we entered the first races

of the elimination series
against the Italians,

with the unknown
of just how competitive our package was.

This radical boat,

you're either gonna hit a home run
or you're not.

We were either going to be
heroes or idiots.

Five, four, three, two, one.

Australia has turned the mark

and is absolutely flying downwind.

All the work that we had done in Australia

had paid huge dividends.

Australia II has won.

You can see Australia II.
She's just crossed the finishing line.

And we came out all guns blazing.

We were no longer overawed by Newport.

We were just angry.
We were there for one reason, to win.

The time is 6:30 a.m. on a Sunday morning,

and the Australia II crew
is already hard at work.

We would run,
we'd do weights, we'd do aerobics.

It was not only
a part of getting fit and getting strong.

It was also about sending a message.

Good morning, Australia!

Now it was only until
we started to win races

that our credibility increased.

In the America's Cup preliminaries,

all signs are pointing
to Alan Bond's Australia II

as the boat to beat.

We beat the Italians,
crushed the Canadians.

After today's race,

it seems nothing can tack faster
or point higher into the wind

than Ben Lexcen's radical 12 Metre.

While few people
have actually seen this mysterious keel,

almost everyone here
has seen the boat racing and winning.

Australia II, by some...

Then, suddenly,
"Why are they so competitive?"

What is that beneath the hull
of the Australia II?

A keel, but what kind of a keel?

It's this summer's mystery at Newport.

The boat was covered.
It was always secret.

And that started to drive
some of the observers crazy.

The big question here, Bryant,
this morning, is

what do the Aussies have on their bottom?

Between us, can you tell me
what that keel is?

Between us, Mort, I can't tell you, no.

Armed guards
patrol this place around the clock.

Their job is to protect Australia II,

the yacht that may very well succeed
in making sporting history.

Australia's designer, Ben Lexcen,

he's something
of a reluctant superstar here,

but they all want to know about his keel.

- Let's see the keel!
- Where's the keel, Benny?

Ben Lexcen decided that he'd draw up
a sketch of the winged keel,

and he made it totally different
than what it really was.

The office at Newport Offshore
had a photocopier,

so Ben went over with this sheet of paper
and put it on their photocopier.

Comes flying back into the office
ten minutes later and says, "Guys!"

"I've left... I've left a drawing
of my keel in your photocopier."

By that afternoon, there were copies
all over Newport of our fake keel.

Then opposition boats put wing lets
on the bottom of their keels.

Australia's keel has so impressed everyone

that the British have put wings
on the keel of Victory.

We'd go around and check them and say,
"No, it's little a bit different to that."

"You gotta try and do it this way."
You know?

One of the Americans drew that
and says there's their design.

That's their secret keel.

Is that it? What do you think? Is that...

Could be. Could be.

Australia II has won!

The West Australians now have
an incredible 45 wins from 51 starts,

and that just happens to be
the best record in 12 Metre history.

And in the end,
we won the Challenger Series.

We won by a lot.

And so that's the boat race
and the Challenge Series.

Australia goes on to race Liberty
for the America's Cup.

The Australians are
the official 25th challengers

for the America's Cup,

and their incredible winning record

really has
the New York Yacht Club worried.

The man
who won the Cup last time

for the United States is jittery.

We don't know much about their boat.
It's obviously a different, uh, type

of, uh, characteristics
than a standard 12 Metre.

It tacks differently,
and it, uh, accelerates differently,

and it maneuvers differently
at the starts.

The New York Yacht Club saw
that our race record was really strong.

- Hi.
- Two minutes for a...

- No. Sorry.
- Not even two minutes?

We're late for a meeting here,
so we gotta move on.

Thank you anyway.

And if these Aussies are beating up

on the foreign challengers so easily,

47 wins out of 55 races,

then that starts to cut deep.

That sent shock waves
through the New York Yacht Club.

Clearly shock waves through Newport.

There's a serious side to this.

Obviously there's more
than just a yachting race at stake.

There's also a lot of money.

It's estimated that £100 million are spent
in and around Newport

during the America's Cup.

It was a sudden realization
that they could lose this golden goose.

It could really happen.

People in Newport
and Rhode Island knew all the time,

but kept it a very closely guarded secret

that the prize
isn't so much a sailboat race.

It's about a billion-dollar industry
that goes along with the Cup.

So if the Americans lose,

then a substantial amount of that
might be spent in Western Australia.

So, for the New York Yacht Club,

the consequences of losing

are enormous.

An ABC News Brief
brought to you by Apple Computer.

Now from Los Angeles,
here's Peter Jennings.

The America's Cup competition
is set to get underway this Thursday.

There is now a dispute, however,

between the New York Yacht Club
and the Australians.

It seems the Americans are upset
with something the Aussies have done

with the underside of their boat,

something the Americans feel
will give the Aussies an unfair advantage.

The New York Yacht Club alleges

that Australia II's winged keel
is illegal.

This four-million-dollar challenge,

the closest ever
in the history of the Cup,

could be scuttled.

The New York Yacht Club,
they wanted to ban us.

They said there is no way
that Benny could've come up with this.

It had to have been designed
by other people.

People couldn't believe
that he could do it,

given his education and his background.

At the center of all the fuss this year

has been barefoot Ben Lexcen.

With three years' schooling,

he's the man who has designed,
arguably, the fastest 12 Metre ever.

I didn't know much about Ben Lexcen.

But people talk.

You hear through the grapevine.

Who's to say these wings,
whose idea these really were?

The Americans try and confirm
that Lexcen was helped by Dutch designers.

We believe Lexcen used the idea
from Amsterdam,

but the rules are it had to be designed
by the country of the challenge.

The New York Yacht Club
believe they have grounds to say

that I didn't design the boat
totally by myself.

They go behind your back
and try and get evidence in dubious ways.

This afternoon, Ben was suffering

what friends said
were a couple of dizzy spells.

Doctors immediately put him
into intensive care.

His friends say
it's the attacks against his name

that helped put him there.

The New York Yacht Club were endeavoring

to get the design assistants in Holland

to say that they designed the keel
and not Ben Lexcen.

The Dutch had designed the keel
and not Ben Lexcen.

We felt responsible to go over,

to send someone to Holland
to really investigate it.

The director of the Netherlands
Ship Model Basin has charged

that members of the New York Yacht Club
tried to get him to sign a false affidavit

stating Ben Lexcen was not the designer.

I was very surprised
to come face-to-face with two people

who wanted me to sign a document

which said that I was the designer
of Australia II rather than Ben Lexcen,

which is almost too ridiculous
to even think of.

The keel cup committee said,
"We've been over to Holland,

and there was no substance
to their complaint."

"This boat is fair and legal."

And that was the thing
that finally busted their case apart.

The New York Yacht Club
today withdrew its objections

to the mysterious winged keel
on Australia II

and said, "May the better yacht
win the America's Cup."

It has been 56 races
and nearly two and a half years of effort

been put in to reach where we are today.

Let the best yacht and crew decide
by the gun at the end of each race.

We're about to go live by satellite
to Newport. Rob Mundle, are you there?

Certainly. Good morning, Harry.

We have a great battle coming up.

The showdown, 132 years
of sporting history at stake here.

We're looking at Dennis Conner
on the screen right there.

I was uneasy.

Bertrand, he was at the top of his game.

He was a tough competitor,

and he had a very good boat
and a good crew.

He was dangerous, and he scared me.

Liberty and Australia II
have entered the race course.

According to my watch,
nine minutes and 30 seconds from now,

they will cross the starting line.

Ten minutes
before the start of the race gun,

that's when the two boats would meet,

positioning yourself,

and that's when it'd be on.
The gloves would come off.

The yacht that had got
to the first mark of the first race

had always won the America's Cup.

Australia over the line first
by three seconds.

And I look behind,
and Dennis is right on our hammer,

right on our hammer.

The two yachts
are now approaching the first marker,

and it's good news for Australia.

We just beat them
by a couple of boat lengths.

One to us.

Australia has just made history.

The foreign challenger
has never reached the first mark

ahead of the American boat
in the first race.

Australia has just done it.

After the start,
we sailed away from Liberty.

Then all of a sudden,
it was like an explosion.

We had no control at all.

The wheel just went light.
No steering. Just rudderless.

It was weird. We just had
a fitting pull off the side of the boat

that had been there forever, you know.

And Dennis passed around us.

The race was over.

Liberty wins.

Sounds like a World War I poster,
but it is instead the headline

out of today's opening round
of the America's Cup.

We went across his stern,
and the damn rudder broke.

And then, of course,
start of the second race,

bang, one of the tangs holding
the headboard of the mainsail breaks.

All summer their boat
broke down just once,

and now in the finals,
two races and two breakdowns.

This has meant a lot to the Liberty crew,
giving them momentum

and an awful lot of confidence
heading into race three.

Commodore McCullough,
what would you say the odds are right now?

I think we'll win it 4-0, but I'll take
four-to-one as a safety factor.

Any further questions?

For something like that to happen
two races in a row,

it's just unforgivable.

Benny, give me a break,

just give me something
that'll allow us to play the game here.

When we had that breakage,

there was some tension
with John Bertrand and Ben Lexcen.

And I remember John saying to him,

"Go through the boat from head to toe
and just check everything."

They have now gone over the yacht

from bow to stern,
from masthead to keel bolt,

checking every sail,
every piece of equipment.

Race three, Benny didn't attend
the launching of the boat.

He was actually on a hill with binoculars

under intense pressure.

With just about seven minutes to go now
to get this race underway.

You are watching Australia II,

the 12 Metre that has set
the yachting world on its ear.

Three, two, one.

Australia II has just passed Liberty

and is taking off down the course.

But as it turns out,
it was Benny's dream in its finest hour.

We have just reached
the three-hour mark of this race,

and the winds here in Newport
are starting to pick up.

Quite often in Newport,
the wind speed was very strong,

and the winged keel effectively lowered
the center of gravity of the yacht

and made Australia II competitive
in stronger breezes.

This concept, upwind,
the boat was a rocket ship.

She was seriously fast.

Australia sailed across the line

to win the third race
by three minutes and 14 seconds.

Since 12 Metre started racing
for the America's Cup,

that's the biggest margin
ever recorded by a challenger.

Australia II is exceptionally fast.

This is what the New York Yacht Club
is afraid of.

The New York Yacht Club
certainly didn't have any enthusiasm

from my performance.

Is the New York Yacht Club
at all embarrassed about this?

We keep the pressure on the skippers

because we say their head replaces
the Cup in the New York Yacht Club,

so we keep pressure
on them all the time.

But I came in
after losing that race,

I wasn't ready
just to lay down and quit. No.

The biggest thing to me was the attitude.
Attitude, attitude, attitude.

Tired of the bullshit.

Tired of wasting four hours
every morning fucking around

for something
that's not gonna help us win the Cup.

All I was focused on
was being the best I could be.

No excuse to lose.

Look at this.

The boat at the top
of the screen is Liberty.

Six seconds ahead of Australia
when the gun fired.

Liberty went around the first mark

36 seconds ahead.

Dennis Conner was unstoppable.

He was the most cunning
and clever on the water

and strategically made good moves.

We get into a classic tacking duel.

He was impossible to go around,
always covering tack for tack.

And he was hitting the wind shifts
at the right time,

massive wind shifts.

Liberty led Australia
across the finish line by 43 seconds.

There she goes.

She's shooting it.
There's the gun. This race is over.

The Americans lead three to one.

I kicked butt.

The American yacht Liberty
tonight is just one victory away

from keeping the America's Cup
in the United States.

Three to one in the America's Cup series.

One more win for Liberty,

and the America's Cup will stay
bolted down at the New York Yacht Club.

The despondent Australians
return to their dock,

knowing they're down 3-1.

They cannot afford
to make any more errors.

At 3-1 in Newport,
the champagne was on ice,

the banners were ready to go up.

"Congratulations, Dennis and team."

And Newport was about to celebrate.

It's all over. Absolutely. It's all over.

Newport was rocking.

They just couldn't have been happier
to have another thrashing.

It was just demoralizing.

On the morning of the race,
I remember the breakfast was subdued.

I had a hard time
even smelling the bacon and eggs,

let alone eating anything.

But then, on the television,
we received a note

from the Prime Minister of Australia,
Bob Hawke.

Congratulations, you've done
a magnificent job to this point.

What you've shown in relation
to our technological capacity,

our determination as individuals...

You've got
the entire support of Australia.

We'll all be looking forward
to your return

when we will do you as proud
as you have done us.

Bob Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia,

shit, that's a big deal.

Here we were being recognized
by the prime minister of our nation.

It was a total game changer.

Armies over the last thousand years
have gone to war with symbols and music.

So, the boxing kangaroo flag was raised.

And we chose a battle hymn,
Men at Work, "Down Under."

And the team spirit came alive.

And so almost unbelievably,
that's Australia ahead at the first mark.

Off the coast of Rhode Island,
it was Australia's day.

And Australia II still is alive
and in the America's Cup yacht race.

We're just gonna get out there and do it
twice more, get this Cup for Australia.

At three to two,
the tables were turning.

Television crews were coming in
from all around the world.

Australians were flying in to Newport.

Tonight, that quaint coastal resort
of Newport, Rhode Island,

is under the constant barrage
of Australia II.

The whole of Newport knew
that the Australians were in town.

We tore the place apart.

The Aussies certainly have joined
the hype and hoopla here with gusto,

promoting their souvenirs
and image aggressively.

The barbarians are at the gate.

The Australians have come
for the sacred Cup,

and they're howling.

What Australians really like
is upsetting the upper echelon.

In race six, we were sailing the boat
extremely well.

The boat was a rocket ship.

It's Australia II with a very big lead
here by some two minutes, it seems.

And we won that race
by three and a half minutes.

It was the greatest win

by a challenging yacht
in the 12 Metre era.

In 132 years, no challenger
has ever driven the races

to the full best-of-seven series.

The Australians, dare we say it,
humiliated the Americans.

So now it's three apiece.
One race to go, a true world series.

- We can do it, Jim. We can do it.
- Oh yeah.

The score went from 3-1 to 3-2 to 3-3.

The Aussies had arrived.

How does it feel being the first
in 132 years, which is a very long time,

to be in this situation of three-all?

I mean, it must concern you.

It's gonna be very exciting
to be involved in the race of the century.

We're hoping that, uh, we can find
a way to prevail

like we have in, over the last 132 years.

I think we have
an awful lot of tradition going for us,

and, uh, somehow,
I think we'll pull it out on Saturday.

Dennis was in
a super high-pressure environment.

And the bottom line is
the New York Yacht Club

were never in the business of losing,
literally, by any means.

Panic, pure and simple,
has gripped the American camp.

Shaken by Australia II's
effortless win in the sixth race,

the Liberty syndicate
are resorting to truly desperate measures.

Today the New York Yacht Club
just couldn't resist firing one more shot.

Dennis and the team found
a loophole in the rule on the 11th hour

and made major changes in Liberty.

The red defender was towed up river

so that 1,000 pounds of her ballast
could be removed.

It had never happened before.

But the New York Yacht Club
allowed them to do it.

Would never have happened
if we wanted to reconfigure our boat.

Like NASCAR, there are rules in NASCAR,

but there's...
Rules are broken, and they win the race.

You use the rules to your advantage

to take advantage
of the other competition.

No excuse to lose.

Alan and the crew, the exercise
in which you're about to engage

is certainly one of the historic moments
in Australian sporting history.

You have all our best wishes with you.

If it gets tight, let us know,

and we'll all turn towards Newport
and blow to get you home.

We're with you.
The very, very best of luck.

No one had ever won it from the Americans.

So here was history,
absolute history in the making.

Always good to beat the Americans.

At anything.

We're with you, Australia II!

We're with you, Australia II!

We're with you...

It's the premier sailing event
in the world.

It's the cup that's never been lost.

It's the race that may end
the longest winning tradition

in international sports history.

Live from Newport,
this is the 25th defense,

the final race for the America's Cup.

Good morning, the world.

Once again, another live telecast

to Australia, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, America and Europe.

At the moment,
we have about 30 million people watching.

It's an emotional morning
for Mrs. Beryl Bertrand,

as her son, John, takes Australia II
into the grand final of the America's Cup.

Today they sail the winner-take-all,
do-or-die, there's-no-tomorrow race.

Being towed out,
I remember it was like a zoo.

The envelope of people around us
was like a pressure cooker.

We're lining up now for the start
of the seventh and vital race

in this America's Cup.

This is thousands of hours of preparation,

a lifetime of preparation.

And I'd visualized this space.
I'd visualized this time.

I said to the team,

"Visualize you're on the back of an eagle,
a thousand feet in the air."

"And you see the boat
going through the water."

"So I said," Reach down with big scissors
and cut the distractions,

release the boat, release ourselves."

"There's no tomorrow,
there's no yesterday,

and there's no future."

It was just today.

Five seconds away from the start.

There's the starting gun.

When the gun went off,
the two boats charged at each other.

Here we go, you know. This is gonna be on.

They are neck-and-neck at the moment.

John Bertrand has now turned
towards Liberty.

We actually had a good start,
and when we tacked, we were in front.

Australia's gone
right on top of Liberty

by about two boat lengths.

Both boats on starboard tack.

Uh-oh! It looks like
John Bertrand has decided

not to cover Dennis Conner.

But Dennis gets in front

and, quite frankly,
starts to sail away from us.

It became clear that Liberty was actually
a faster boat than what we'd seen before.

The boat had been revved up.

The boat is gaining maximum speed

moving very nicely
through the water there.

She certainly looks like a different boat

and obviously she's sailing
like a different boat today.

You can see the two yachts
are now approaching the first marker,

and it's not good news for Australia.

Liberty is leading by 29 seconds
at the first mark.

That failure
by John Bertrand to recover

could be tragic.

We did everything we could,
but they just went faster.

If you're just joining us,
it has been Liberty all the way.

At the second mark, it was Liberty by 45.
At the third mark, Liberty by 23.

They just swept away from us.
Close to a minute in front of us.

We just couldn't believe it.

We're just watching

Liberty having rounded the fourth mark
on the course,

the margin around 55 seconds, Bob.

The Cup is as good as lost.

It seems that Bertrand's errors
early in the race

may have cost Australia II
the America's Cup.

To get 58 seconds ahead, that...

that's a long way.

Four thousand people gathered outside

the Royal Perth Yacht Club
in Western Australia,

watching our live pictures
and, uh, similar scenes over in Sydney.

It appears
Liberty has a healthy lead at this point.

It's a race Dennis Conner cannot lose.

The tension mounts
at the Bertrand household.

Mrs. Bertrand experiences the agony

of watching The Wonder from Down Under
fall behind the American yacht, Liberty.

And, gentlemen, this downwind run
is possibly our last hope.

They were basically gone.

But the bottom line is,

if the opposition
start to believe that the competition

and the equipment
that they're using is superior,

and you can't do anything about it
'cause it's secret,

that becomes, psychologically,
a big hurdle to overcome.

And ultimately, Dennis made a decision

that was a mistake.

Dennis Conner's come
to the right-hand side of the course,

looking for a big wind shift
which he hopes will be over here.

We get to the top marker,
and Dennis, he tacks way out.

This is an unusual move.

Dennis has decided
not to cover John Bertrand.

He went to the right-hand side
of the course,

and that surprised me.

And I remember
just looking at the clouds evolving.

I could start to see the wind on water.

Darker patches and lighter patches.
I could see the direction of the wind.

And then, eventually,

you start to get a sixth sense
of what the wind is gonna do.

Not now, but within
the next 10, 15 and 20 seconds,

which is the game.

Trim.

And as we keep going to the left,
the breeze starts going left.

Here we go.

And we started to make gains on Liberty,
with extra wind.

As they head off there,

you can see crewmen winding
those coffee grinder winches,

trying to keep the yacht at maximum speed.

It's going to be a mammoth effort
if she should do it.

It was meter by meter.
It was yard by yard.

It was wind shift by wind shift.

There you see
Australia II coming back

right now towards Liberty.

This race is a hot one.

Only a matter of minutes ago,
the America's Cup was as good as lost.

Gentlemen, it's neck and neck,

but perhaps Liberty
just fractionally in front.

So Australia II is back in the race.

And then, of course,
they jibed and came across.

The whole of the world,
who's watching this,

is holding their breath.

The tension at the moment
is absolutely electric out there.

Australia II's decided
to come back and attack.

It's not easy,
particularly from a helicopter shot,

to see who's in front.

What'll happen with the cross?

And we went from 57 seconds behind
to bow on bow.

I made the decision to jibe
on top of them, which was high risk.

A collision course at the moment.

- Looks like Australia II will go across.
- A gutsy move.

An unbelievable move
to come across there now.

We went across their bow,
and we're in front.

It looks like
Australia II is back in front.

Absolutely incredible.

There's about 2,000 people here
packing Royal Perth Yacht Club,

and they are absolutely rooting
for Australia II.

I've never ever seen anything like this.

There was mass disappointment here before.

In the past leg,
it's been absolute mayhem in here.

Australia II! Australia II!

And now it's all on.

An absolute drag race to the finish.
Do you believe this, Bob Lobel?

I've seen a lot of things,
but never anything like this.

Go, go, go!

On that particular leg of the course,

we probably sailed the boat
as best we'd ever sailed.

We were closer to perfection
than any time I'd ever been.

This group became so close and so tight.

It was basically almost on autopilot.

We were sailing into history.

We're looking for the smoke at any moment.

They're about to do it.
They're about to cross the line.

They make a final move. It's over!

Australia II has done it!

They have won the America's Cup!

Will you stand up, Australia?
Will you stand up and cheer?

Because this is the finest day
in the history of Australian sport.

John Bertrand, the skipper,

and all of those men
out there on that boat,

they have written their name large
in Australian history.

They have won the America's Cup.

While I was Prime Minister,

I said some very wise
and important things,

but I don't think anything I've ever said

is as well remembered as when I said...

I tell you what, any boss who sacks anyone
for not turning up today is a bum!

Here we go!

Across Australia, people are doing this,

saluting the men of Australia II
with champagne.

And boys, they really deserve it.

I remember just going, "Shit,"
that it had happened.

Really remember John just kind
of literally slumped over the wheel.

Just like everything
just draining out of him.

It was this relief to actually win it
on behalf of your country.

That's, uh, that's huge.

So...

...how do you rationalize that?

It was quite something

that I never thought
could happen or would happen.

But it did.

It's a pretty powerful thing for me
to be feeling like I do now.

So long ago.

Must have affected me
more than I thought it did.

Anyway.

Everyone went nuts.

We lifted our heads up,

and there are boats
coming from everywhere.

Boats all around us, you know?

And this cacophony of noise.

Ah! This is the greatest moment ever!

Ah!

I thought we were history,
history the beginning of the week.

From the jaws of death.

When we were getting towed in,

we hoisted the Australian flag,

and that was a really proud moment,
that we'd done something pretty special.

And this is just
such a tremendously festive scene,

the sun now perched on the horizon

as Australia II makes her way
back into Newport Harbor,

the first challenger
ever to win the America's Cup.

It is a mob scene here
on the dock of Australia II.

The Australians have finally done it.

And I remember
pulling the boat out of the water,

and Bondy like a conductor.

Let's see the keel!

There's a very happy Alan Bond.

He's gonna take it up
without the curtains.

The keel is gonna be seen.

Get her up, Australia II,
and the skirt comes off.

Everyone saw the winged keel
for the first time.

It's a brilliant piece
of engineering design work,

extremely creative.

Ben Lexcen,
designer of Australia II,

the man who did it.

He has achieved his life's ambition.

There, believe it or not,

Dennis Conner wearing
his New York Yacht Club hat.

Dennis congratulated me.

Not a lot of words said,
but it was warrior to warrior.

There's no question about it.

I think Dennis does look
a little bit stunned there, David.

I remember shaking hands with him,

and he had tears in his eyes.

Yeah, he took it hard, hard, really hard.

Yeah.

It was a totally devastating... loss.

When I came in after losing the Cup,
they have a press conference,

and nobody from the New York Yacht Club
shows up to sit with you,

you got the idea
they don't like you very much anymore.

I'm sure they were
understandably disappointed.

You know, they were just
as devastated as I was in losing the Cup.

Today, Australia II
was just a better boat,

and they beat us, and we have no excuses.

So I'd like to, uh, at this point,
congratulate Alan Bond and Australia II.

They proved that they were
an outstanding boat.

And today was their day.

It was Dennis Conner's last appearance

as America's Cup skipper,

a great performer bowing out a loser
with tears in his eyes

and a whirl of his hat.

John Bertrand and his crew
have done a fine job today,

and I'm so pleased
that we can say not goodbye to Newport,

but an open invitation
to the people of Newport

and the people of America
to come to Perth in Western Australia

and try and win it back.

We welcome you.

When we actually were presented
with the America's Cup...

when I lifted the trophy above my head,

it was a boyhood dream becoming reality.

It was a big deal to beat America
at something

that America had been so dominant.

So this little country,
suddenly it was on the world stage.

Skipper John Bertrand,
you and the crew of the Australia II

have shown us the stuff
of which Australians are made.

I know your countrymen are proud of you,
and I want you to take this message back,

that Americans are proud too.

We're proud to have Australians
as our very dear friends.

When we got back to Australia,

they'd said we're gonna do a street parade
from Fremantle to Perth, which is...

- Twenty-two kilometers.
- Twenty-two kilometers to be precise.

"I said," We're gonna look like idiots
driving down Stirling Highway

with three people and a dog waving at ya."

Well, the street was lined
the whole 22 kilometers.

When we got to Perth,

there were 250,000 people there
to welcome us.

We're such a small nation
going against such large odds.

But it was that terrific determination

of the people of Australia
and all the guys.

After losing the Cup,
I had no money.

I was a carpet salesman.

I was certainly depressed.

But when I saw 21 different countries
challenging for the Cup in Perth,

maybe I should quit
feeling sorry for myself

and see what I could do
about winning it back.

Today, in San Diego, California,

Dennis Conner announced his comeback
for the 1987 America's Cup.

However, he will not be facing the skipper
who wrenched away the trophy in 1983.

Why aren't you in it this year?

The fire's out of my belly,

and content people
don't become world champions.

I'm content in that part of my life,

and I'm really keen and excited
to move out into new directions.

That's what I'm doing.

But for Dennis and coming back,

it was an opportunity
to resurrect himself.

There's the gun.
Stars & Stripes has done it.

They've won the America's Cup.

He has climbed yachting's Mount Everest,

and he has captured, once again,
yachting's holy grail.

Revenge for Dennis Conner.

I remember sitting in the ceremony

handing over the America's Cup,

and this lovely lady with a big hat said,
"Hello, Mr. Bertrand."

"What a beautiful day it is.
What a day of celebration."

And I looked at her and I said,
"Madam, you have no idea..."

"How easy it was to lose
and how hard it was to win."

Bond's property interests stretch

from Sydney to America
to London and Hong Kong.

It is an empire worth $10,000 million.

We want all the crew
to come back out. Sing it for them.

Probably the greatest
Prime Minister of Australia.

He relates to the people.
The public love him.

What does one of our
greatest prime ministers do?

He sculled it. Listen to them.
They're going, "Scull, scull, scull!"

And the great man, Bobby Hawke, nailed it.

He said, "Thank you very much, boys.
Cheers."

Ben Lexcen, designer, perfectionist,
and his Toyota Tarago,

a design that pleases even Ben Lexcen.

Somebody did it right again.

And at mark number four,
it's American Magic.

She turns toward home
at 50 knots per hour.

This is it!

Welcome to the 2021 America's Cup.

Allegations against one basketball ref
of betting the outcomes of games

is rocking the NBA.

Man, did I fuck my life up.

Just like the feel-good hit of the summer,
the Manti Te'o story isn't real.

Cruel, twisted hoax.

It was the longest winning streak
in the history of sport.

This is the finest day
in the history of Australian sports.

AND1 was making millions of dollars,

but did they respect us?

AND1 basketball, baby!

Shut your fuckin' mouth,
keep it between us.

Stick to the fuckin' story.

It does not get any stranger
than this one.

Donaghy is under investigation...

It's front-page news all over town.

She physically did not exist

outside of being
Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend.

And I was like, "Boy, that would be
fuckin' crazy if it were true."