Gretel II
 |
|
| Yacht club |
 Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
|
|---|---|
| Nation |
 Australia
|
| Class | 12-metre |
| Sail no | KA–3 |
| Designer(s) | Alan Payne |
| Builder | W. H. Barnett |
| Owner(s) | Sir Frank Packer |
| Racing career | |
| Skippers | James Hardy |
| America's Cup | 1970 |
Gretel II (KA-3) is an Australian International 12-metre class racing yacht built for the America's Cup challenge series in 1970. She was designed by Alan Payne and built by W.H. Barnett for Australian media tycoon Sir Frank Packer.
Packer had first challenged for the America's Cup in 1962 with the yacht Gretel, which was named after his wife. Gretel was competitive but lost that challenge 4–1.
In 1970 Packer returned to Newport, Rhode Island to challenge again for the 'Auld Mug' with his new 12-metre yacht Gretel II representing the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. This yacht was the last of the wooden-hulled America's Cup yachts.Gretel II was skippered by Jim Hardy with Martin Visser as tactician and starting helmsman and Bill Fesq as navigator. The crew included future Olympic Star class gold medallists David Forbes and John Anderson and future America's Cup–winning skipper John Bertrand as port trimmer.
After defeating Baron Marcel Bich’s France in the challenger selection series 4–0, the Australian yacht took on the American defender Intrepid, skippered by Bill Ficker in a best-of-seven race series.
Intrepid won the first race when Gretel II's David Forbes was swept overboard but managed to hang onto the sail and scramble back on board. Then in a controversial second race, Gretel II crossed the finish line 1 minute 7 seconds ahead, but due to a collision at the start the Australian challenger was disqualified. Intrepid won the third race but Gretel II recorded a win in the fourth race by a margin of 1 minute 2 seconds. Intrepid then took out the fifth race to win the America's Cup 4–1.
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