STARS AND STRIPES yacht test tank model
Date1984 - 1985
Object number00018296
NameModel
MediumTimber, paint, fibreglass
DimensionsOverall: 1020 x 6790 x 1405 mm, 909 kg
ClassificationsModels
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from San Diego Yacht Club
DescriptionA one-third scale model of STARS AND STRIPES, Dennis Connor's12-metre yacht for the 1987 America's Cup
challenge.
This is Model 3 and Keel 2 with the hull constructed from timber and the exterior finished off with a fibreglass coating. Along the exterior are marked measurement lines. The model is accompanied by a separate and removable keel, 00018297, and a rudder, 00018298.
Manufactured by the Offshore Technology Corporation.HistoryIn August 1988 ACTA Shipping Pty Ltd unloaded precious cargo at its Sydney terminal - a test tank model of the 1987
America' s Cup winner STARS AND STRIPES. This model was transported by ACTA to its new home in the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney, a gift from the Sail America Foundation.
The Sail America Foundation was established by skipper Dennis Conner to win back the Cup after the Americans' defeat in 1983 to AUSTRALIA II.
The STARS & STRIPES test tank model was part of the extensive tank testing programme developed by the Americans' to design an unbeatable yacht. A yacht that would restore the prestige of Dennis Conner and his compatriots by returning the 'Auld Mug' to America, its home for nearly a hundred and fifty years.
A large team of designers built a number of models, and from them three 12 metre yachts (the STARS & STRIPES series) were built in preparation for the Fremantle America's Cup challenge in 1986/8.
The yacht STARS & STRIPES '87 was built by Bob Derecktor at Mamaroneck, New York in I986. The model in the museum, 6.79 metres long and one third the size of the yacht itself, was built at the Offshore Technology Corporation testing establishment in California.
The construction materials are timber and fibre glass. During tests, the model was towed through a very long tank to
evaluate the performance of various hull and keel shapes. The measured speeds and towing forces for the model were then scaled up in order to predict the performance of a full-size yacht.
When the model was unpacked, museum staff discovered the words 'Put another Aussie on the Barby' inscribed on its dusty surface.SignificanceThe test model of STARS AND STRIPES was used to test the lines and shape of the racing yacht and is a lasting example of the 12-metre yacht form and helps form a detailed record of racing yacht development.
