So ferocious were the celebrations following Australia's victory
in the 1983 America's Cup
that the then Prime Minister Bob Hawke said
bosses who sacked workers for not turning up to work were bums.
It's seen as one of the country's greatest sporting triumphs,
but now a Dutch naval architect has come forward
claiming that he designed the famous winged keel
that helped propel Australia II to victory.
Peter Van Oossanen said he had grown tired
of the Dutch design team being airbrushed out of history
and that the record should be corrected.
But the businessman Alan Bond,
who bankrolled the boat,
said the winged keel was 100 per cent Australian
and that any other suggestion was codswallop.