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 © Steve CREWES - ARYA HISTORIAN shcrewes@bigpond.net.au  

The Mini – America’s Cup   Perth  1987.

An event was put together between the USA and Western Australia to coincide with the America’s Cup races in Western Australia in 1987.

There was an ongoing Mini- America’s cup event, raced with the East Coast 12 metre Class yachts at previous ‘Auld Mug’ races. This event was unusual in that it was sailed for, each time the full-size 12  metres raced in America, that country held the America’s Cup trophy for many years.

Rich Palmer a local businessman with a company called R& R Promotions in Rhode Island thought it would be a great idea to race these EC12 metre models, each time the America’s Cup was held. And call this event the Mini- America’s Cup. As far as they knew it was the only One Design R/C International race in the World. This event was also sailed in the intervening years in between the America’s cup years starting in Washington D. C. in 1974 (circa).

In 1977, the full size 12 metres turned up to race for the coveted America’s Cup at Newport, Rhode Island as usual. The challengers were Sweden sailing ‘Sverige’, ‘France 2’, ‘Australia’ and ‘Gretel 11’.

The line up for the Rich Palmer’s “Mini- America’s Cup” in that same time was 10 leading US boats, and for the first time International challengers namely, 2 from Australia and 1 from England, to form into a truly international event.

The model event outcome was that the American skippers sailed off to find their number one skipper in the country as the ‘Defender’. In this case Bob Harris sailing his own boat, (US22). The 2 Australians sailed off to decide the Aussie ‘Challenger’, Max Lewis (KA 294) and Neil Bennel O.B.E. (KA 35). The Americans described Neil Bennel as a ‘cattle rancher’ from Australia. Neil was getting around in his wide brim Australian hat. (See photo).

The winner of the Aussie Challenger Series was (KA35) and he then met the British Challenger John Cleave (K 1). The winner of this ‘Challengers’ series was the Australian (KA35), which in turn raced the (US 22).  With the USA winning 4 -1.

The next 12 metre event took place in 1980 and the full sized boats came from Britain, France, Sweden and Australia. In the EC12s event at Newport, an upset came about and the John Cleave (K1), the Challenger from Britain and won the Mini-America’s Cup for that year.

The year of 1983 was famous for Australia, for we won the America’s Cup with Ben Lexcon’s Australia 11, the famous winged keelboat.

The lineup for the Mini Cup that year was John Cleave of Britain as the Defender. Challengers were;  Dr George Wilkins of Canada, Hironobu Sugihara of Japan and Buddy Black from the USA.  Incidentally Buddy Black had won the original regatta way back in 1974 in Washington DC.

Buddy (US 314) started off and beat the best top 12 US skippers to represent as the USA Challenger. Then a ‘round robin’ series was held with a series of three races against Canada and Japan to find out whom the Prime Challenger was going to be. By the time Buddy was named ‘Challenger’ for the series, he had lost only one race out of a total of 21. The Canadian boat had taken 1 race off him.

                 The Defender and the Challenger went to 3 all in the final racing series. In the ‘Decider’, the last race, the USA won by half a boat length. It was said that over 20,000 people watched the Mini - America’s Cup that year in the challenger and the defenders series in Newport, Rhode Island.

With the America’s loss of the Auld Mug to Australia I1 in 1983, the Mini – America’s Cup was arranged by the promoters, to be fought out in Perth/ Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. It became obvious that the Mini- America’s Cup trophy was an ongoing National American EC12 trophy and it was not going to be used, other than in the US.

                 The promoters, through their sponsors flew an American Defender out to Australia in the person of Dan Abma of Michigan. Dan had been racing EC12s competitively for some years, won the 1986 Mini – America’s Cup and had been in the Cup Series in Rhode Island in the previous 1983.

At that time there were no EC12s sailing in Fremantle or even in Western Australia for that matter. While they could be supplied by the manufacturers in the eastern states of Australia, these were pretty busy organizing a World EC12 & National Championship themselves in Queensland. Time was getting short and so a complete Dumas Products EC12 boat kit were sent out from the USA, to be built by Mike Bielby and the members of the Western Australian Model Yacht Association. The US Defender, Dan Abma, bought his own beautifully prepared boat, with an impressive planked deck for the event.  Hub Bell oversaw this whole event for Western Australia.

This is where the story takes a new twist!  The US somehow decided that this event would be named “The Mini-Australian Cup”(American MYA newsletter winter 85’ page 30). The US skipper, Dan Abma, was sponsored/brought to Australia by the Hobby Industries of America, United Airlines and R&R Promotions

The venue for the event was to be held at Lake Bibra. Now Lake Bibra is about 5 kls east of the Indian Ocean near a place called Coolbellup, not far from the City of Fremantle. The lake (to me) is in the shape of a grandma’s rocking chair, wide and expansive and the West Coast Model Yacht Club sailed on the western shore of this lake. A series of races were arranged to find the best Australian skipper but the big problem was that there was only one EC12 and that was to be used for the international match race. So the elimination races were held with 10 raters. They’re one of this State’s premier type of boats. The winner of the elimination series would have two weeks to tune the EC12 before the Mini- Cup Series.

The American, when he got back to the states he reported that he really got beaten by the tricky “Fremantle Doctor” a local wind (quote AMYA Newsletter Summer 87 page 57). There is nothing “tricky” about it, it just blows strongly and something evidently the American was not used to. Dan Abma said that other factors in him losing was that his EC12 was so damaged in transit and could not handle the heavy conditions and that he was plagued by radio problems.  By the time Dan’s boat got back to the states it was totally wrecked. The Americans said they would have to look into doing some ‘serious’ packing of the boat in future.

This is all well and good but the actual situation was not quite as he reported it. In reality the Western Australian Model Association took his damaged boat, (the deck was lifted in one section and the keel was dam aged) and repaired it for him. While it was being repaired, the host club provided “matching and alike” 10 rater, (Jelly Babies) KA 185 and Des ledger’s KA144, built by the same builder, so Dan could practice some racing on the Venue as his EC12 was curing. It must be mentioned that in the series that he sailed with the 10 raters that he lost that as well. On this occasion, being the visitor, Dan got to choose his boat (of the two) after trying them both out first, on the Saturday. This was an all day Match Racing regatta. Racing started mid morning (10.00 am) on the Saturday in light winds (the ‘Doctor’ didn’t arrive that day). With a break for the traditional Aussie BBQ lunch. The Australian Michael Bell won the series 8-0. While the racing was going on Maxine Bell was taking the American wives around, sightseeing.

All the Mini-America’s cup courses are sailed over a similar 8 leg America’s cup course.

 On the next day, Sunday, the race with the models coincided with the ‘Stars & Stripes’12 metre starting their (full size) Cup Series (race 2#) off the West Coast. Dan Abma‘s boat had been beautifully repaired by Doug and Peter Collins and was ready to go. Dan was given time by his hosts to try out his boat and another leisurely start was made on the Mini-America’s Cup event, at 11.00 am. This time, the breeze had started to increase by the local “Fremantle Doctor”. Now without doubt when this wind comes rushing in about 11.45 am in the morning and it generally stays all day. So it was pretty tricky racing for both boats. Michael Bell, the skipper of the Australian boat had his hands full for he was quite new to the class of EC12s and had never raced against another one till this first race. Michael said that when he started, the only tactic he could think of was to cover his opponent, Dan. Up the course they went with Abma in front with the Australian, covering, covering. Abma swept around the top mark, first with Bell close behind. Down wind it was another story for the American got into the ‘wobblers’ with the gibing, losing fifteen boat lengths in the strong wind and was passed by the Australian, never to be headed. The whole series seemed to go like this first race, to score an impressive 4-0.

While you may think it was all plain sailing on the part of Michael Bell, Dan Abma did have quite a lot of radio problems especially near the starting line on the first two races. The Australians graciously said they would cancel these first two races and then start the series again. The American, however, insisted that the races already sailed, were to stand.

A lavish presentation evening was held after the event and sponsored at Toyota‘s Training Center in Fremantle. Kevin Parry’s Kookaburra’s 1V Task force Syndicate provided the evening. A large group gathered for the evening presentation including Hub bell and his wife Maxine, (Michael’s parents), Dan Abma, Rich Palmer and Buddy Black. Mike and Margot Beilby, Des ledger, Jeff Green and Eric Fisher of about 30 guests.  A large trophy called the “R/C America’s Cup Kookaburra 1V Trophy” was presented to the winner, Michael Bell of the West Coast Model Yacht Club by the Kookaburra 1V Task force Syndicate sponsor.

This Kookaburra 1V trophy was a lavish gold half model of the winged- keeled Kookaburra 1V, set onto an engraved board. It certainly impressed me. Michael Bell still has his trophy. Michael is now a resident of Sydney and the proud owner of an IOM.

It was hoped at the time that this trophy was presented, that it could have been used for other National Match Racing events like this one, Michael said.

In my opinion if there was a R/C Yachting ‘Hall of Fame’ in Australia, the name Michael Bell would have to be one of the first to be there, for he fought through incredible odds, to beat the ‘best of the best’ of US R/C EC12 metre skippers in the only Australian International One Design Match Race Series of the Mini –America’s Cup.

I have to thank Hub Bell for his unstinting help in providing material for this article. Michael Bell for showing me his trophy and recalling his memories. The AMYA (USA) Newsletters came as a donation to the ARYA Archives.

# Foot notes:

Michael’s EC12 boat: In actual fact KA131 was not on the books in 1987. The registration number was borrowed at the time.

Someone in Sydney recently purchased this particular boat.

Unfortunately, EC12s are still not being sailed in Western Australia today.

 Stephen Crewes. National Historical Person ARYA 2005.