Timely

Ben Lexcen — née Bob Miller — was the genius behind the design of Australia II, the boat that took the America’s Cup off the New York Yacht Club for the first time in 132 years and in so doing opened up a new world of competition and spectacle for the modern event.

As Alinghi and Emirates Team New Zealand battle for the spoils in Valencia we felt it was a good time to reflect on one of the many brilliant characters who have found their calling in competing for sailing’s biggest prize. By Blue Robinson

Ben Lexcen arrived at the Mexico Olympics as a reserve in 1968 with two things: his passport and a toothbrush. He borrowed clothes from friends, and during one dinner at the sailing team’s hotel marched in with a twenty-piece brass band he found on a street corner ‘who had about six teeth between them’. As they were playing, Ben (who was Bob Miller then) walked around the hall carrying a tuba, calling for money from the 250 cheering athletes to be thrown in for the band. Ben Lexcen was not a conventional man...

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