BALLYHOO general arrangment plan

Designer Ben Lexcen (1936 - 1988)

Date10 November 1976

Object numberANMS1543[015]

NamePlan

Mediumink on drafting film

DimensionsOverall: 720 × 595 mm

ClassificationsMaps, charts and plans

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection

Terms

Description73-foot maxi-racer BALLYHOO, rig, sail plan, and exterior side view, hand drawn by Ben Lexcen (formally Bob Miller) made in 1976. HistoryAustralian gaming giant Jack Rooklyn commissioned Ben Lexcen (then Bob Miller) in late 1973 to design a fast offshore maxi racing yacht. With a string of successful IOR racing yachts, and a life time designing and sailing yachts and boats, renown yacht designer Ben Lexcen (then Bob Miller) was the obvious choice. He designed the 73-foot aluminium maxi racer BALLYHOO for Jack Rooklyn in 1973 and 1974. The yacht was built by ‘Halvorsen, Morson and Gowland’, Sydney, Australia, and launched in November of 1974. BALLYHOO was named after Jack Rooklyn’s business, Bally Gaming. With sail number 357, the first major race for BALLYHOO was the 1974 Sydney to Hobart race which started on December 26th. just over a month later. The first overseas race was in New Zealand, where she took part in the 1975 ‘Three Kings Islands Race’ before going on to the ‘Transpac Race’. Ben Lexcen (then Bob Miller) the designer, joined the yacht for the 1,227 mile, 1975 ‘Transpac Race’, race, from the Point Fermin buoy in San Pedro, California to Diamond Head in Hawaii. BALLYHOO was the first Australian yacht ever to enter this race. Following the race, the yacht and her crew, stayed in Hawaii to compete in the annual ‘Hawaiian Island Series’. This included the ‘Round the State Race’ in which BALLYHOO lost her rudder in very bad weather. Remarkably, the crew made up, a temporary rudder using the teak saloon table and spinnaker pole. The, following a difficult 250 miles back to Honolulu in 34 hours BALLYHOO still crossed the finish line ahead of some other yachts. Later the same year, BALLYHOO participated in the ‘China Sea Series’ including the race from Hong Kong to Manilla. Initially, the yacht did not sail as well, or as fast as expected, so in late 1975 and possibly 1976, the weights were adjusted and the ballast keel re-cast. These changes made a significant improvement, making BALLYHOO a fast and highly successful offshore racing yacht in all wind conditions. The original design of BALLYHOO took place in late 1973 and 1974, while Ben Lexcen was still in the ‘Miller & Whitworth’ partnership. Other prestigious yachts were also being designed by Ben Lexcen (Bob Miller) at the time, including the 12mR Americas Cup challenge yacht ‘SOUTHERN CROSS’ for Alan Bond in 1973 and 1974. Additional design work was carried out on BALLYHOO in 1976, by which time Ben Lexcen (still Bob Miller) had left ‘Miller & Whitworth’ and joined with the Dutch naval architect Johan Valentijn to form ‘Miller & Valentijn’ based in New York. In 1976 Jack Rooklyn accepted an invitation from ‘California Yacht Club’ to race BALLYHOO in the California Cup and St. Francis Perpetual Series. BALLYHOO arrived in Los Angeles in 1976 following an amazing winning streak, which started with winning the ‘South China Sea Race’. In the 1976 California Cup race BALLYHOO beat the famous America maxi yacht ‘KIALO III’. Following this, the yacht went on to Honolulu, for the ‘Round the State Race’ again, this time taking line honours and many hours off the elapsed time record. The 73-foot maxi BALLYHOO pioneered the sloop rig maxi, and went on to win line honours in the 1976 Sydney-Hobart race while his son Warwick, came second in his other yacht APOLLO. BALLYHOO sailed in all the major off-shore racing events in the coming years, wining line honours at the 1977 Fastnet Race in UK. BALLYHOO was sold to Bill Whitehouse-Vaux in 1978, who re-named the yacht MISTRESS QUICKLY and continued to race the yacht into the mid 1990’s. She took part in the 2001 ‘Maxi-yacht Rolex Cup Race’ in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, and is believed to still be sailing today as a charter yacht. SignificanceBALLYHOO was originally designed by Bob Miller (later Ben Lexcen) in 1974, for Jack Rooklyn when he was in the ‘Miller & Whitworth’ partnership. Launched in November 1974, the yacht took part in the annual ‘Sydney to Hobart’ race just over a month later. Following this, and other races in 1975, the yacht underwent several design changes, including re-casting the ballast keel. The drawing made in 1976, of the rig, sail plan and exterior side view, has been made by Ben Lexcen (then Bob Miller) but has a different company logo and address in New York. No information is available who this drawing was for, but may have been made for the owner, or for marketing the design.