Albany 2026: Boat builder and crew from Australia II’s iconic 1983 America’s Cup win part of bicentenary event

Three of the men behind Australia’s famous America’s Cup victory are heading to Albany as part of the bicentenary celebrations to share their race experiences.

Australia II’s 1983 triumph, in the waters off Rhode Island in the US, is one of the country’s most heralded sporting moments.

Three of those closely involved with that daring and controversial success will be at the Albany Boatsheds on March 21 for an Aussie Legends event.

John Longley and Scott McAllister were members of the crew which sailed Australia II, built by Steve Ward, to that most memorable of wins.

The trio will be sharing their stories of the race which ended the 132-year tenure of the New York Yacht Club.

It caused a scandal because of Australia II’s winged keel, a major design advance which had been trialled secretly in the Netherlands before hostilities began off the American coast.

An interview with Ward, a master shipwright who built Australia II in his Cottesloe yard, will open the proceedings, followed by talks with bowman McAllister and then Longley, who served on the crew as a grinder.

Longley actually participated in five America’s Cup campaigns and helped to select the crew for the win in 1983.

He also choreographed the team’s actions for tacking and jibing and was the Australia II project manager from 1981 until handing over the reins to Warren Jones two years later to concentrate on racing.

The evening with the America’s Cup sailors is part of the Albany Maritime Foundation’s All the Rivers Run regatta.

The AMF’s St Ayles Skiffs will be competing against skiffs from across the State in a week-long event which will take in Albany, Denmark, Walpole, Pemberton and then Augusta.

Longley and Ward will be rowing for the whole week, with members of the AMF taking to the water in their skiffs, Breaksea and Eclipse, which were both built by local volunteers.

The skiffs will row the Princess Royal Harbour on March 21 before heading to race the Kalgan River the following day and the Denmark River at Walpole on Monday, March 23.

On March 24, the skiff will race the Frankland River at Monastery Landing with the Donnelly River at Pemberton scheduled for March 26.

The event concludes on March 28 with the Blackwood River leg at Augusta.

John Gaunt, AMF chair, said the regatta was a major event which would also feature a refurbished whaleboat, which the group were also aiming to put on the water for the regatta.

“It’s a massive project which will hopefully shine a light on what we do as a community group,” he said.

“Everybody is welcome to take part.”