The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule . It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. The designation "12 Metre" does not refer to any single measurement on the boat, and is not referencing the vessels overall length, rather, measures the sum of the components directed by the formula which governs design and construction parameters. Typically 12 Metre class boats range from 65 to 75 feet (about 20 to 23 m) in length overall; they are most often sloop -rigged, with masts roughly 85 feet (26 m) tall.
36-494: Lexcen may refer to: Ben Lexcen , Australian yachtsman and marine architect 18747 Lexcen , main-belt asteroid Toyota Lexcen , badge-engineered version of the Holden Commodore Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lexcen . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
72-741: A heart attack at 52 years of age. He is buried at Frenchs Forest Cemetery located in Davidson, New South Wales . In 1989, the Toyota Lexcen was released by Toyota Australia in Ben Lexcen's honour. The car was a rebadged Holden VN Commodore and was built in Australia under the Button Plan . Production lasted until 1997. In 1988 the University of New South Wales named its newly created sports scholarships
108-616: A 12 Metre for the 1958 America's Cup . The UK challenger was selected based on model tank testing and David Boyd's second design was chosen. Sceptre was launched at the yard of Alexander Robertson & Sons on 2 April 1958, but lost to the New York Yacht Club yacht Columbia in September 1958. Sceptre is currently owned and raced by the Sceptre Preservation Society. Alexander Robertson and Sons Ltd also built two of
144-401: A Lexcen modified Australia in 1980 against Dennis Conner , losing both times. After the 1980 challenge Lexcen realised that to win against the defenders, with their 100+ years of America's Cup experience, they would need a superior boat. His next design featured a host of advanced design features, not the least of which was a revolutionary winged keel, intended to lower the drag and to make
180-556: A defender for the 1987 America's Cup . He designed Australia III and Australia IV for Bond's two boat defense program. Australia IV was ultimately defeated by the Iain Murray designed and skippered Kookaburra III in the Defender Trials . Steve Ward (builder of all four "Australias" maintains that Lexcen's design was not at fault but that Australia IV was uncompetitive due to last minute design modifications ordered by
216-467: A local basis but due to the high cost and without the impetus and prestige surrounding competition in the America's Cup, no new boats have been built since 1987 save one. The latter part of the 20th century saw a big revival in interest in classic yachts including 12 Metre yachts and particularly those of wooden construction. There was an increasing number of prestigious regattas in attractive locations such as
252-539: A locomotive mechanic's apprenticeship but soon found his attention turning to sailboats. At 16, he designed his first sailboat The Comet with his friend William Bennett in Hamilton, NSW, and began to make a name for himself in local competition. Miller did his sailmaking apprenticeship with Norman Wright in Queensland. Miller's designs were highly innovative. His entry, "Taipan" in the 1960 18Footer World Championship started
288-507: A potential Olympic successor to the Finn dinghy. The Contender was awarded International status in 1968 and now has fleets in more than twelve countries throughout the world. His keelboat designs of the early 1970s featured clean, easily driven hulls and relatively small sail area. He had great success with a series of these designs starting with the innovative "Ginkgo". Miller competed in the Soling at
324-566: A yacht designed under the First International Rule would have a wooden mast, gaff rig , and sails made of cotton; whereas yachts designed under the Third International Rule, such as Vim , had a metal mast, Bermuda rig , and sails made from Dacron . To encourage participation in racing and also engage the restoration process which remained true to the spirit of the original design, the 12 Metre class association introduced
360-505: Is a whole boat, not just a keel. The New York Yacht Club , holders of the Cup, formally protested both that Australia II was not a legal 12 metre boat, and that the design itself was not of Australian origin. The ruling arrived at on the boat confirmed that Australia II complied with both the 12-metre class and the America's Cup rules. The questions on her design origin were not formally answered at
396-486: The 1972 Munich Olympics representing Australia in sailing with Denis O'Neil and Ken Berkeley as fellow crew members. Miller was commissioned by Alan Bond to build Apollo , an ocean racer. This partnership continued when Bond first challenged for the America's Cup in 1974 with the Miller-designed 12-metre class yacht Southern Cross , named for the southern hemisphere constellation . Their challenge for
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#1732851011786432-507: The Ben Lexcen Sports Scholarships. These scholarships were the first sports scholarships to be offered by an Australian university. In 2006, Lexcen was posthumously inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame . In the 1986 miniseries The Challenge , Lexcen was portrayed by John Clayton . In the 2016 television series House of Bond , he was played by Paul Gleeson. In 2022, Netflix released Untold : The Race of
468-590: The Century , a film about the Australian team's win in the 1983 race, including footage of Lexcen. 12-metre class The first 12 Metres were built in 1907. The 12 Metre class was used in the Olympic Games of 1908 , 1912 and 1920 but few boats participated in these events. The 12 Metre class boats are best known as the boat design used in the America's Cup from 1958 to 1987. Competitiveness between boats in
504-480: The Cup was unsuccessful but Miller was kept on as the designer for future yachts, all of them designed to the 12-metre class rules as used for America's Cup competition at the time. During the first years of his partnership with Bond, Miller withdrew his partnership from his sail-making company but the company retained its name of Miller and Whitworth. Soon after the 1974 Cup challenge, Miller changed his name to avoid confusion with his former company. Keen to prevent
540-535: The Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Also, a more prosperous global economy prevailed and the result was an increasing number of restorations and racing of older 'classic' 12 Metres. Potential restorers of older boats who wanted to race were potentially faced with a dilemma of whether to restore a boat to its original specification or make modifications to make an older design competitive with a newer design. For example,
576-435: The boat more stable and maneuverable in the water. The keel design reduced tip vortex, a turbulence resulting in conventional keels from the pressure differential between the windward (low pressure) and leeward (high pressure) sides. Australia II's design was to prove highly controversial, protested because some part of the design was done before and during the testing of the keel in a Dutch tank testing facility. Australia II
612-408: The boat. The intention is to challenge designers but ensure competitive racing. The America's Cup racing resumed in 1958 after World War II by a syndicate led by Henry Sears , more economical vessels were desired to replace the huge and expensive J-class yachts that were raced in the 1930s; the 12 Metre class was selected. In September 1956, a Royal Yacht Squadron syndicate was formed to build
648-416: The class is maintained by requiring the boats to be in compliance with the 12 Metre formula. Designers and builders are required to take into account such things as the sail area, the boat length at the waterline and the boat girth (the measurement around the boat from one sideboard, under the keel , and then over the top on the opposite side back to the original side). The measurements are then weighted in
684-514: The earliest 12-Metres: Heatherbell (designer Thomas Glen-Coats , 1907), which represented Finland in the 1912 Summer Olympics; Cyra (designer Alfred Mylne , 1909). In 1987, use of the 12 Metre class was ended, switching to International America's Cup Class boats for the 1992 competition. 12 Metre yachts were used for the last time in America's Cup competition at the 1987 event held in Fremantle, Australia. 12 Metres continued to race together on
720-399: The first two races. Australia II stormed back to take three of the next four. Dennis Conner had creatively registered three different configurations (sail area, spar length and ballast) for Liberty and he successfully called for lay days to choose advantageous weather to suit his most competitive versions of the boat. This was the first time in history that the series depended on the result of
756-476: The formula is an extremely comprehensive set of rules, which can be classified into two main areas: safety, and ensuring competitive racing. For example, the maximum total area of all cockpits is specified to minimise the chance of a boat being swamped in rougher seas. Structural requirements are specified to ensure that strength is not sacrificed by the need to get weight low down in the keel. Materials are specified plus numerous other details concerning all aspects of
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#1732851011786792-408: The formula. For example, the present formula takes the square root of the sail area rather than total area. The combination of weighted measurements must be less than or equal to 12 metres. Designers are free to change any of the component variables, as well as other details, such as the size of the rudder and keel, so long as the corresponding changes elsewhere produce an ultimate sum of 12 metres and
828-453: The helm, take on the NYYC skipper Dennis Conner and the defender yacht, Liberty . The Australians were sure they had a fast boat. Australia II had dominated the challenger eliminations just as Liberty had dominated the closer defender trials, honing her tuning and performance. But mechanical failures on Australia II and skillful sailing by the defenders caused Australia II to fall behind, losing
864-407: The last race, and the pressure of defending the Cup was now firmly on Liberty. In the deciding race on 26 September, Conner prepared Liberty in her very competitive light weather configuration with big sail area and low weight. Australia II won the start and held an early lead but was overtaken by Liberty which built up a substantial margin. At the start of the penultimate leg (a square run) the breeze
900-490: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lexcen&oldid=1175810525 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ben Lexcen Benjamin Lexcen AM (born Robert Clyde Miller , 19 March 1936 â 1 May 1988)
936-526: The modern era of the class and Miller won the World Championship in 1961 with the successor, "Venom". With friend Craig Whitworth, he founded a boatbuilding, sail-making and ship-chandlery firm (Miller and Whitworth) and designed boats part-time as well. One of his lasting early successes was the design that became the International Contender . It was selected in 1967, in multi boat trials, as
972-476: The possibility of there being any confusion surrounding his name and business interests in the future, he asked a friend who worked for Reader's Digest to find out the least-used surname within their membership. The result was Lexcen. "Ben" was the name of his dog. Bond challenged for the 1977 America's Cup using the Lexcen and Johan Valentijn designed 12M Australia against media mogul Ted Turner and again with
1008-644: The race course. If the rules were considered to be too loose then it would discourage the building of new 12 Metre yachts for fear of a new boat being outclassed even before it was launched. The Rules were typically updated in response to advances in areas such as material technology (e.g. metal masts versus wooden masts), design technology (e.g. use of the wind tunnel to design sails and sail/mast combinations, advances in fluid dynamics), and equipment (e.g. winch technology). The Rule has four distinct periods: Used from 1907 to 1920 where Used from 1920 to 1933. where Used from 1933 onwards: where Associated with
1044-455: The resulting boat is both seaworthy and safe. Though disparity between boats are minimized by the rule, enough variation exists so that races are as much about design and construction as they are about seamanship and tactics. The Formula and associated rules for designing and constructing 12 Metre yachts has been modified several times from inception in racing. The purpose of the Formula and rules
1080-519: The starboard layline in amongst the spectator fleet and tacked several boat lengths ahead of Liberty and sailed to the finish to take the race. Australia II became the first challenger to wrest the Cup from the United States since its inception in 1870. Lexcen was made a Member of the Order of Australia for his contributions to the winning design. Lexcen was commissioned by Bond once again in 1986 to design
1116-479: The time, but the controversy re-emerged in 2009 (see Later claims of Dutch Design for details). Claims that Peter van Oossanen was the designer of the Australia II 's keel rather than Ben have been strongly rejected by John Bertrand and by John Longley, an important member of the Australia II team using documentary evidence. The 1983 America's Cup saw Lexcen's Australia II , with John Bertrand at
Lexcen - Misplaced Pages Continue
1152-505: The upper echelons of Bond Corporation. Australia IV was originally designed to be longer on the waterline with less sail area similar to Conner's winning design. Australia competed in the Cup without a Lexcen designed boat for the first time in ten years. Kookaburra III lost in the finals to Dennis Conner and his American challenger, Stars & Stripes 87 , 4 races to nil. Lexcen died suddenly in Manly, New South Wales on 1 May 1988, of
1188-476: Was a revolutionary design approach with her winged keel and hull design featuring the shortest waterline length ever measured on a 12-metre. To yachtsmen accustomed to seeing racing yachts out of the water, Australia II is striking. Its conventional long slim topsides flare down to a short waterline hinting at the dramatic, minimal, slippery underwater hull shape which was fast to turn as well as easily driven and quick to accelerate. Ben often remarked that Australia II
1224-528: Was an Australian yachtsman and marine architect. He is famous for the winged keel design applied to Australia II which, in 1983, became the first non-American yacht to win the prestigious America's Cup in 132 years. Born in the small town of Boggabri, New South Wales on 19 March 1936. After his parents, labourer Edward William Miller and Ethel Doreen, nÊe Green abandoned him as a child he stayed briefly at Boys' Town, Engadine, before going to his grandfather at Newcastle. He left school at age 14 to pursue
1260-452: Was to encourage designer's creativity to optimize designs to get the best overall performance when racing while still maintaining competitive racing postures between different designs. Although the Formula and Rules allowed for some creativity they were also intended to be comprehensive enough to eliminate loop holes which could result in an extreme design which conformed to the 12 Metre rule but completely outclassed other contemporary designs on
1296-576: Was very light and Liberty was vulnerable. Liberty chose a starboard tack leg and declined to cover Australia II which allowed them to run deeper and faster assisted by breeze and windshifts allowing Australia II to overtake the Americans by the leeward mark. Liberty then engaged Australia II in a spectacular tacking duel with nearly 50 tacks and a number of faked "dummy" tacks trying to break the Australians' cover. Australia II held on until both boats reached
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