Intrepid was designed by Olin Stephens, and was built of double-planked mahogany on white oak frames.

This new general underbody type, with relatively minor refinements, was used on every subsequent Cup boat until the 12-metre Australia II's winged keel of 1983.

The success of Intrepid was also the cause of some completely new technical features such as separate keel and a rudder to become popular in many production yachts such as Swan 36.

Redesigned in 1970 by Britton Chance, Jr. and skippered by Bill Ficker that year, she defeated another Australian challenger, Gretel II.

Today Intrepid is available for charter out of Newport, Rhode Island along with fellow America's Cup winner Freedom and challenger boat Weatherly.