America's Cup Boats
Ramblings From the Dockside
Wichita
America's Cup Boat "Jayhawk" | The Wichita Connection
Friday, April 07, 2017TheCambrians
Do you remember Mighty
Mary? The America’s Cup boat that was crewed by an all-women’s team in 1995
(until David Dellenbaugh was brought in as helmsman and tactician prior to the
first race). They lost to Dennis Conner’s Stars
& Stripes during the defender’s trials and never made it to the “big
dance” to compete against Team New Zealand’s Black Magic, the eventual winner.
What you may not remember
is how they got there in the first place.
Bill
Koch, the litigious sibling of the infamous Koch brothers, put together a
syndicate to win the America’s Cup in the early 90s called America3 (pronounced
cubed). He didn’t have much respect in the competitive world of sailing: He was
considered an amateur. A hick from the sticks. An egghead with more money than
skill. But this blog post isn’t really about him. It’s about one of his boats, Jayhawk.
Koch
recruited a team of engineers from MIT, his alma mater, and spared no expense,
using cutting edge technology in the design of the new IACC boats
(International America’s Cup Class) he would use to compete. The first boat
built was called Jayhawk (USA-9). And it wasn’t anything to write home
about, coming in sixth at the IACC championships in 1991.
The
syndicate kept at it, however, and built a total of four boats for the 1992
regatta: Defiant (USA-18), Kanza (USA-28 – named after the Kaw
Indian Nation) and America3 (USA -23 – the fastest of the four).
America3
came up against Dennis Conner in the defender trials. Koch primarily used Jayhawk and Defiant in the series – Kanza
had a crack in a bulkhead and America3
wouldn’t be available until late in the trials. Jayhawk continued its poor performance, coming in at 0 for 5. Defiant was a faster boat, though, and
won all of its races. America3, the
best of the fleet, would go on to win the America’s Cup (along with Defiant) on behalf of the San Diego Yacht Club, beating the
Italians led by Paul Cayard. Koch’s investment in technology had paid off. But Jayhawk’s poor performance made it
redundant and it was retired at the end of round one, eventually finding its
way to Wichita, Kansas.
But
why? Why Wichita? A city in the middle of the prairie?
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| Photo by Jonathan Becker of Getty Images |
The
answer is simple: Bill Koch is a Wichita native, and in 1993 he made a generous donation to
help restore the city’s historic boathouse and give Jayhawk a new permanent home. The goal was to help foster interest in
sailing through boat rentals and classes, but that part of the venture failed
years ago. Now the boathouse is a popular venue for hosting business events and
weddings. Jayhawk is still there, though, and continues to stand proudly, its
tall mast out of place along the banks of the shallow Arkansas River.
Which America’s Cup boats have you seen over
the years? What do you think of the hydrofoil series? Should they have made the
change from monohulls? Join the conversation in our comments section below or
on our Facebook page.
