Ben Lexcen

He is famous for the winged keel design applied to Australia II which, in 1983, became the first non-American yacht to win the prestigious America's Cup in 132 years.

After his parents, labourer Edward William Miller and Ethel Doreen, née Green abandoned him as a child he stayed briefly at Boys' Town, Engadine, before going to his grandfather at Newcastle.

At 16, he designed his first sailboat The Comet with his friend William Bennett in Hamilton, NSW, and began to make a name for himself in local competition.

[4] Miller competed in the Soling at the 1972 Munich Olympics representing Australia in sailing with Denis O'Neil and Ken Berkeley as fellow crew members.

Keen to prevent the possibility of there being any confusion surrounding his name and business interests in the future, he asked a friend who worked for Reader's Digest to find out the least-used surname within their membership.

After the 1980 challenge Lexcen realised that to win against the defenders, with their 100+ years of America's Cup experience, they would need a superior boat.

Its conventional long slim topsides flare down to a short waterline hinting at the dramatic, minimal, slippery underwater hull shape which was fast to turn as well as easily driven and quick to accelerate.

The New York Yacht Club, holders of the Cup, formally protested both that Australia II was not a legal 12 metre boat, and that the design itself was not of Australian origin.

[8] The 1983 America's Cup saw Lexcen's Australia II, with John Bertrand at the helm, take on the NYYC skipper Dennis Conner and the defender yacht, Liberty.

Dennis Conner had creatively registered three different configurations (sail area, spar length and ballast) for Liberty and he successfully called for lay days to choose advantageous weather to suit his most competitive versions of the boat.

This was the first time in history that the series depended on the result of the last race, and the pressure of defending the Cup was now firmly on Liberty.

In the deciding race on 26 September, Conner prepared Liberty in her very competitive light weather configuration with big sail area and low weight.

Australia II won the start and held an early lead but was overtaken by Liberty which built up a substantial margin.

Kookaburra III lost in the finals to Dennis Conner and his American challenger, Stars & Stripes 87, 4 races to nil.