Half block model of the yacht GINGKO

Model Maker Ben Lexcen (1936 - 1988)

Date1973

Object number00015465

NameModel

MediumJelutong wood

DimensionsOverall: 140 x 1098 mm, 6.1 kg

ClassificationsModels

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Bruce Stannard

Terms

DescriptionThis builder's half block model was designed and built by Ben Lexcen for the yacht, GINGKO.HistoryShipbuilder half-block models were produced to demonstrate the shape of a vessel and were constructed by joining a series of planks together. Builders then used the model as a reference point when cutting and fitting timbers for the full scale vessel. Half models rarely survive as the names of the ships they represented are usually lost or they are often mistaken for scraps of wood. The museum holds a large number of half models depicting vessels of different types, including steamships, skiffs, dinghies, launches and tugs. Ben Lexcen (born Robert Miller) has a special place in yachting history as the designer of the yacht AUSTRALIA II which won the Americas Cup from the Americans in 1983. Lexcen was born on 19 March 1936 in Boggabri, New South Wales. From an early age, Lexcen took an interest in sailing and built his first boat as an apprentice in his early twenties. In the late 1950s, Norman Wright in Brisbane invited Lexcen to leave Sydney and join his boatyard, which had been in business since 1909. Lexcen remained there until 1961, when another friendship and partnership was formed with Craig Whitworth and the two won an inter-dominion championship in the Flying Dutchman class, after which both partners set up their own sail making business back in Sydney. Throughout the 1970s, Lexcen decided to set up his own business. He was commissioned to build GINGKO in 1973 and described his thought process behind it: 'I had the feeling...that fat boats were slow, so I made her really thin with a very pretty canoe body and a terrible keel. It looked like a fighter-plane wing...About all we did that fitted the rules was to keep the stern fairly narrow....' GINGKO went on to win the Admiral's Cup series in the same year and was later sold to an Italian industrialist. GINGKO unfortunately sunk not long after when it was attacked by whales. By 1982, he designed the famous Americas Cup winning yacht, AUSTRALIA II. The America's Cup win in 1983 allowed him to establish a sizable office with intentions of becoming an international design firm. The office was successful but in May 1988, Lexcen died of a sudden heart attack.SignificanceFor Lexcen, GINGKO represented the way wooden boats should be built. This model showcases the skill and ingenuity of one of Australia's most renowned skiff designers and builders. The model reveals the shipbuilding designs of Ben Lexcen, the man who designed the yacht that broke the 126-year American dominance over the America's Cup.