Half block model of 18-foot skiff TAIPAN

Designer Ben Lexcen (1936 - 1988)

Model Maker Norman Wright Jnr (died 1996)

Date1959

Object number00005824

NameHalf block model

MediumSugar pine, cedar

DimensionsOverall: 750 x 690 x 116 mm, 1.1 kg

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Norman Wright Jnr

Terms

DescriptionThis builder's half block model was designed and built by Norman Wright Junior and Bob Miller (Ben Lexcen) for the 18-foot skiff TAIPAN.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. In the 1970s, Lexcen decided to set up his own business. 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.SignificanceThis model showcases the skill and ingenuity of two of Australia's most renowned skiff designers and builders. TAIPAN, along with VENOM, first established Bob Miller's name as a designer. The skiff adapted features from the FLYING DUTCHMAN to create a vessel unlike any other in the skiff fleet. This model reveals the early shipbuilding designs of Bob Miller, before he became Ben Lexcen, the man who designed the yacht that broke the 126-year American dominance over the America's Cup.