Ben Lexcen

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Wing keel of Australia II
A contender at the 1998 World Cup

Ben Lexcen (born March 19, 1936 in Boggabri as Bob Miller , † May 1, 1988 in Manly ) was an Australian yacht constructor and designer.

At the 1972 Olympic Games off Kiel, the Australian boat driven by Bob Miller took 16th place in the Soling class. After the Olympics, Miller split from his longtime partner, Craig Whitworth. Since Whitworth kept the name Miller & Whitworth for his boat building company, Miller looked for a new name for his own company. In 1977 he officially changed his name to Ben Lexcen.

His greatest success was in 1983 when the 12mR yacht Australia II, which he designed, won the 25th America's Cup . For the first time, a design from outside the USA won the bottomless jug . Ben Lexcens innovation was the winged keel , with the Australia II rotate faster or could turn to and above the wind could sail. The defeated Americans accused him of violating the nationality rule because he had called in Dutch specialists to construct the revolutionary wing keel.

In the next 26th America's Cup in 1987, defeated skipper Dennis Conner brought the trophy back to the USA in front of Australia ( Perth ) in the high waves of the Indian Ocean with 4-0 victories. Conners Yacht Stars & Stripes also used a wing keel and put Ben Lexcens construction into perspective.

Among other things, Ben Lexcen designed the one-handed trapeze dinghy Contender , which is very demanding to sail .

Honors

In 2001 an asteroid was named after him: (18747) Lexcen . Because of his special merits as a designer for the America's Cup, he was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 2006. The Toyota Lexcen car model was named after him.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lexcen, Ben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Miller, Bob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian yacht constructor and designer
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Boggabri
DATE OF DEATH May 1, 1988
Place of death Manly