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Home Topics History & Culture Looking back: The 1983 America’s Cup win

Looking back: The 1983 America’s Cup win

“I’LL TELL YOU what: any boss who sacks a worker for not turning up today is a bum.” Australians tend to remember these words fondly coming from the mouth of then prime minister Bob Hawke after Australia II won the America’s Cup yacht race, breaking a 132-year winning streak for the USA.

“In many ways, really, he gave people permission to celebrate,” explains John Bertrand, who skippered the Royal Perth Yacht Club vessel to its win on 26 September 1983 UTC (27 September AEST).

The America’s Cup is the oldest continuously awarded trophy in the world. It predates the American Civil War. Between 1851 and 1983, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) had won every race and cockily bolted the Cup to a stand in their trophy room.

But in the 1970s, Aussie entrepreneur Alan Bond came up with a plan to unseat it from NYYC’s altar, and enlisted the help of self-taught boat designer and Novacastrian Ben Lexcen. It took four attempts at the Cup, but Lexcen’s winged keel model eventually steered the team into history.

Yacht racings psychological battles

In May 1983, when the Australian crew arrived at the start of the cup in Newport, Rhode Island, the eyes of the media locked on the skirt drawn tightly around the keel.

The boat’s design was a closely guarded secret, but its reputation preceded it. As the American and Australian teams faced off across the race marinas, rock songs blared from speakers on opposing yacht decks and the green and gold boxing kangaroo flag, commissioned by Bond for the race, flapped from the Aussie mast.

In the end, the Cup – won by the best of seven races over several weeks – was tied at three-all at the final start line. Australia II ‘s crew battled nerves after a false start, but after swapping the lead with the New York Yatch Club’s  Liberty three times, the wonders from Down Under won by 41 seconds. Rather than joy, John says his first feeling was “absolute relief that we got the job done”.

Wild celebrations as Australia finally wins the America’s Cup

“I remember seeing a cannon go off on one of the New York Yacht Club boats, but heard no sound,” John says. “The harbour was so packed with boats you could walk across it. Then Alan Bond ordered the boat to be lifted out of the water to show people the keel. People were jumping into the water to touch [it], I remember one guy in there in his dinner suit.”

The Cup hasn’t returned to New York. The next race, in 1987, was won by the San Diego Yacht Club; since then it has been won by international and US teams.

The September 2013 Cup featured an almost unrecognisable pair of carbon-fibre catamarans, with sails bigger than a Boeing 747’s wing.

An Australian James Spithill skippered the American boat that won this year, proving the Aussies can still hold their own in this now, very-expensive race.

Syndicates today pour hundreds of millions of dollars into boats and teams, a far cry from the $12 daily stipend the 1983 Australian crew received.

Source : Australian Geographic , Issue 116 (Sep/Oct, 2013)

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The America’s cup 30 years on

This week marks 30 years since an aspirational nation woke up to news that Australia had licked the Americans in a blue-blood yachting event, finally wresting the coveted America’s Cup from the nation which had held it for 132 years and fought off all challengers.

This week marks 30 years since an aspirational nation woke up to news that Australia had licked the Americans in a blue-blood yachting event, finally wresting the coveted America’s Cup from the nation which had held it for 132 years and fought off all challengers including long-standing Trans-Atlantic rivals England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada to its northern border and across the Pacific to Australia.

Australia II and Liberty racing in 1983. Photographer: Sally Samins. Reproduced courtesy the photographer. ANMM Collection Gift from Sally Samins

With the series tied at three races each, many Australians had stayed up all night to watch the cliff-hanger on television. The last race saw skipper John Bertrand lead his crew in Australia II in a tacking duel, crossing the line 41 seconds ahead of veteran skipper Dennis Conner in Liberty .

A sporting triumph, Australia II ’s success was amplified in lounge rooms across the country in the early morning of 26 September 1983 when our sports-mad Western Australia–born, former trade unionist, consensus politician Prime Minister Bob Hawke celebrated with the crowd at the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Clad in a jacket emblazoned with maps of Australia, splashed in champagne from revellers, the ebullient, tee-totalling Prime Minister unofficially declared the day a national holiday exclaiming that;

“any boss who sacks someone for not turning up is a bum”. 

Australia, the victors, celebrated to the jingoistic yet catchy vocals of Australian band Men at Work’s anthem We come from a Land Down under, embracing their green and gold boxing Kangaroo battle flag. And the syndicate’s secret weapon, the winged keel, was dramatically unveiled in the chaos dockside after that final race.

Australia II’s keel shrouded at Newport during the 1983 cup challenge. Photographer: Sally Samins. Reproduced courtesy the photographer. ANMM Collection Gift from Sally Samins

The New York Yacht Club was bruised from the arduous campaign of its own rule challenges, protests, claims, counter claims, and extreme frustration at the secrecy and theatre surrounding Australia II ’s ‘upside-down’ keel. Shrouded dockside with its security guard, hasty design adaptations included the addition of endplates on the keel of one of its boats. It licked its wounds, and unbolted the extravagant silver Cup from its high security case.

Known as the Mount Everest of yachting, the America’s Cup was perceived as unwinnable. America’s stranglehold on the race was widely believed to be the result of the host’s privilege to define, protect or control rules and regulations. No challenge had succeeded since the race, held every three years, was first contested in 1851.

The battle flag, anthem and drama of the Australian campaign were overt symbols of the brash character of the Australian challenge and its participants.

Celebratory press conference with Australia’s protagonists (left to right) unknown, unknown, John Bertrand, Alan Bond, and Warren Jones. Photographer: Sally Samins. Reproduced courtesy the photographer. ANMM Collection Gift from Sally Samins

It was a Western Australian campaign bankrolled by entrepreneur, ‘ten pound pom’ Alan Bond and orchestrated with great finesse by syndicate brain Warren Jones, in a 12-metre class yacht designed by the brilliant, self-taught former sailmaker Ben Lexcen, with its crew skippered by exciting sailor John Bertrand. All proved equal and eventually superior in their respective fields to the experience, athleticism and guile of the American syndicate.

The brashness of the Australian challengers was looked upon with distaste by the New York Yacht Club. Australians had been challenging for the Cup for a generation, and had thought about it back in the 1880s when naval architect Walter Reeks visited the States. Australia had won the right to challenge every three years bar one since 1962 when Sydney media baron and sailor Sir Frank Packer bankrolled the Alan Payne designed Gretel to scare the Americans a little with its efficient winch system, deck layout and speed to windward. With six further challenges moving from the east to the west coast of Australia the two countries had enjoyed a twenty year rivalry. Yet the sheer theatre of this new Western Australian challenge trumped American respect for that long-standing sailing rivalry.

The rivalry continued – souvenirs from 1987. ANMM Collection

When looking back to the origins of the race in 1851 Australia II ’s win resonates. Losing to the young upstarts in Australia, although a disaster for the New York Yacht Club establishment, was possibly a fitting way for the longest winning streak in competitive sport to end for America.

In 1851 in the midst of the industrial revolution, on the cusp of London’s International Exhibition, a syndicate of industrialists marshalled behind that very first race, answering an invitation from its former colonial master and yachting powerhouse to send one of the famously competitive New York pilot boats to challenge the British yachts.

Sheet music composed for Commodore John C. Stevens, featuring the schooner America after its victory in 1851. ANMM Collection

Seizing the commercial opportunity the Yankee Syndicate commissioned a radical pilot-boat-style schooner with sharp bow and raked masts, patriotically named it America and spared no expense on its fitout. They travelled to challenge yachts from the Royal Yacht Squadron under the auspices of the fledgling New York Yacht Club, founded in 1844. The rest of the story is history.

After an unsuccessful protest about the challenger’s course at Cowes, America trounced its rivals and won that Hundred Guinea Cup. Its win and England’s loss created a sensation, sparking rumours of cheating, yet it prevailed. The schooner America became one of the most famous yachts to date.

Back in New York and after the upheaval of the American civil war, the elaborate silver cup was drafted as the symbol of a challenge race between nations and named the America’s Cup. It became more potent and more redolent of American dominance as successive challengers came and went over more than a century.

Australia II ’s win after 132 years was similarly startling, although the winning streak was less enduring. It created shock waves in yachting circles in design innovation and in nationality rules stipulating that the design, construction and crews had to come from campaigning countries.

Inscribed in dust “Put another Aussie on the barby”. Stars and Stripes won the cup back from America. ANMM Collection. Gift from San Diego Yacht Club

The Cup travelled to the Perth suburb of Dalkeith on the Swan River at the Royal Perth Yacht Club, as a prelude to time in subsequent winning countries New Zealand, Switzerland and the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco which it will soon leave after last week’s win by Team New Zealand.

Today the racing craft are unrecognisable from the conventional graceful displacement monohulls, the result of a spiral of design innovation after Lexcen’s  winged keel.  Finely-tuned machines, they are super-fast, febrile, 22 metre (72 foot) long catamarans which skim above the water, touching it only at three points, by small fins. With helmet-clad crews rushing across the trampoline like spiders, these incredible craft are powered by solid winged sails. They are also highly expensive and dangerous.

Country–of-origin rules too have been relaxed and now the race, always characterised by the pirate’s treasure chest directed to the boats, appears solely governed by money. All necessary expertise to attain the fastest craft, the slickest campaign and the best crew is bought in from around the world.

When the all-Australian crew steered their Fremantle-built yacht Australia II to victory in 1983, the syndicate had to defend accusations that the design was not all Australian, all Ben Lexcen.

From 1981 Lexcen had trialled his hull and keel design at a tank testing facility at Wageninin in the Netherlands with five 1/3 scale models. The American syndicate charged that it was therefore not an Australian design. At the time the Netherlands ship model basin naval architect Peter van Oosanen countered that it was Lexcen’s design and the case was settled.

More than 25 years later though, Oosanen asserted that he was involved in the design innovation. Yet if you look back to Ben Lexcen’s early skiff designs, especially his radical 18-footer Taipan built in 1959, you can see that the creative spark was certainly Lexcen’s. Taipan features endplates on its rudder and centreboard revealing his experimentation to reduce drag.

Today, crews are drawn from sailing nations around the world. Oracle , the recent unsuccessful American defender was skippered by an Australian with only one American in the crew.

The high-speed catamaran racing of today’s America’s Cup too is seduced by its new-found popularity. With 20 minute races, extravagant boats and gymnastic crews, the event is more a spectator sport than ever before. More than 50,000 people are reported to have lined the docks on San Francisco Bay the past few weeks.  Although discussions are being held about making the catamarans less-expensive when the America’s Cup moves to New Zealand, organisers are reluctant to relinquish the fame the new America’s Cup boats have brought to the event. We’ll wait and see.

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Daina Fletcher

Daina Fletcher is a senior curator at the Australian National Maritime Museum.

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Celebrating 30 years of Australia II – see the famous America’s Cup-winning yacht

News | Created 25 Sep 2013

Relive the day the Royal Perth Yacht Club sailed to victory in the America's Cup with gold coin entry to the country’s most complete Australia II collection this Thursday 26 September to Saturday 28 September at the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle.

The purpose-built Maritime Museum has housed the iconic winged keel yacht since 2002, and is now also home to one of the most significant America’s Cup collections in the world, including one of only three exact replicas of the coveted Cup, thanks to a donation by Kerry Tasker, widow of Australia's first Olympic sailing medal winner, Rolly Tasker, and the Australian Sailing Museum.

WA Museum history curator Sally May said it was fantastic to have the two collections together for the 30 th anniversary of the historic victory.

“The cup itself represents a momentous occasion in not only Australian, but international maritime history, and it’s fantastic to now have it alongside the yacht responsible,” Ms May said.

The donated collection also includes plans, records and images of America's Cup challengers and defenders from 1851 to 2003; some 100 models of Australian competitive racing classes; and mannequins of significant America's Cup identities from 1851 to 1983.

Skippered by John Bertrand, Australia II’s 1983 victory was the first time in 132 years the America's Cup had been won by a nation other than the United States. The defending New York Yacht Club had held the cup since 1851, the longest winning streak in international sporting history. It was the race that stopped the nation: televised in Australia in the early hours of the morning and celebrated in homes, pubs and clubs across the country. Then-Prime Minister Bob Hawke was at the RPYC in Crawley when he famously declared: "Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum!”

On Saturday, included in the gold-coin donation entry to the Museum, visitors can watch as more sporting history is made when the Fremantle Dockers take on Hawthorn in the AFL Grand Final , televised in the Museum’s theatre from noon.

The America's Cup replica, on display at the WA Maritime Museum Image copyright WA Museum 

The Australia II Gallery, WA Maritime Museum, Fremantle Image copyright WA Museum 

Media contact: Niki Comparti Western Australian Museum 6552 7805, [email protected]

The irony behind the jacket worn by Bob Hawke after Australia won the America's Cup

In the early hours of September 27, 1983, then prime minister Bob Hawke was giddy with joy as Australia II succeeded in a come-from-behind win for the America's Cup

He uttered his now-famous line: "Any boss who sacks anyone today for not turning up is a bum".

Almost as well-remembered was the jacket Mr Hawke was wearing at the Royal Perth Yacht Club at the time, a white blazer emblazoned with the words "Australia" in blue lettering and the flag in the shape of Australia.

But far from being intended to celebrate an Australian victory on the world stage, the jacket was designed by a 23-year-old architecture student to poke fun at what he saw as excessive displays of nationalism, as well as relieve the stress of a long and arduous university course.

"I used to dress up a lot and quite shamelessly dress up," Mr Burnham told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth .

"At the time, I also collected loud jackets, and I always wanted the loudest and the most tasteless jacket I could find.

"There's also another layer to it as well. I'm uncomfortable with displays of self-worth, and I'm very wary of excessive nationalistic displays."

He decided he wanted a jacket to mock the nationalistic imagery he was seeing at the time and, in those pre-internet days, started hunting for suitable fabric.

"I wanted to parody that sort of display of self-worth, and especially when it entails a nationalistic flavour to it," Mr Burnham said.

"In my final year of architecture, I drove around Perth looking for inappropriate Australian patterns … some sort of Australiana pattern that was loud and tasteless."

'Only one thing to wear'

He found the pattern he wanted on a tea towel, approached the Perth printing company responsible, and had enough fabric printed to have the jacket made by a tailor in Malaysia.

A friend then invited him to an event at the Royal Perth Yacht Club to watch the final races of the America's Cup.

"Obviously, there's only one thing I was going to wear," Mr Burnham said.

While it was remembered as a time of wild celebration, he said for much of the night Australia was behind in the race and the mood was subdued.

Many people left early, sleeping through the final moments.

But Mr Burnham stayed on. His jacket had afforded him special access, despite not being a member of club.

At one point in the night, an official from the Royal Perth Yacht Club asked him to swap jackets.

"I went into the side door of the media room, and I swapped jackets with some official," Mr Burnham said.

"For most of the night, I was actually wearing a Royal Perth Yacht Club blazer."

The prime minister arrives

Later on they swapped back but then Australia II crossed the line in the seventh race to pull off the victory and the prime minister showed up.

"Everyone knew that Bob Hawke was in town and there was an anticipation that he would turn up," Mr Burnham said.

"He came up the front steps, and there was a huge crush all around him, and I kept my distance to him because I knew where they're going. They were going to the media room."

Having been there before, he used the side door to gain access.

"So I was in the media room. I was 23, and dressed in a silly jacket. Australia had just won the America's Cup and Bob Hawke was five or six metres away."

Mr Burnham locked eyes with the club official and, amid the lights and the noise, once again handed over his jacket.

"I took it off, passed it to him. It went to someone else and then went to Bob Hawke, and he put it on straight away," he said.

It was almost the last time he saw the jacket. When Bob Hawke left, the jacket was over the arm of a staff member, and when he asked a security guard if he could have his jacket back, the answer was "No".

Mr Burnham was prepared to let it go but his mother was not, and contacted the premier's office to insist that it was returned.

A museum piece

The jacket was not considered a big deal at the time, Mr Burnham said, but it had since assumed a significant place in the celebrations around that 1983 victory, and a number of replicas had been made.

Bob Hawke wore one of the replicas at the 30th anniversary celebrations, while the original was on permanent display at the WA Maritime Museum in Fremantle, as part of its Australia II exhibit.

As the original owner and designer, however, Mr Burnham was sometimes allowed to take it out of its glass case.

"I got it out for my daughter's history lesson at school. You just have to go through a procedure of arrangements with the conservators," he said.

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AMERICA'S CUP TO AUSTRALIA II AS 132-YEAR U.S. REIGN ENDS

By Joanne A. Fishman, Special To the New York Times

• Sept. 27, 1983

Australia II today became the first challenger ever to win the America's Cup, defeating Liberty in the seventh and final race and bringing a dramatic end to the longest winning streak in sports.

Australia II trailed by 57 seconds as the boats rounded the fourth of six legs on Rhode Island Sound, but driven by a light southwesterly breeze, she used her superior downwind speed to pull ahead midway through the fifth leg. Under a soft blue, cloud-streaked sky, and watched by 1,500 spectator boats and a swarm of aircraft, the challenger crossed the finish line 41 seconds, or about six boat lengths, in front of Liberty.

In doing so, Australia II ended the United States' 132-year grasp on the ornate silver pitcher that has been bolted to a glass-enclosed table in the New York Yacht Club.

Since the schooner America won the first competition in a race around England's Isle of Wight in 1851, the United States had successfully defended the cup 23 times.

The cup will be presented to the commodore of the Royal Perth Yacht Club, the official challenging club that Australia II represents, at noon Tuesday here at Marble House. The Australian club will then be responsible for living up to the cup's deed of gift, which requires that it be placed in ''friendly competition among nations'' forever.

''Australia II was the better boat today and they beat us and we have no excuses,'' said Dennis Conner, the skipper of Liberty.

''It was very frustrating, but we did the best we could,'' added Conner, who was near tears.

John Bertrand, the skipper of Aus tralia II, said the victory represented ''the fulfillment of a dream which has come true.''

Alan Bond, the chairman of the Australia II syndicate, said the first Australian defense of the cup would be in Australian waters in either 1987 or 1988. He said he believed the Royal Perth Yacht Club would continue to call the cup the America's Cup, saying ''it would be a great break with tradition'' if it was not. Pressure to Win Enormous

The pressure to win this series has been enormous for both of the competing crews following a summer of conflict regarding the legality of Australia II's unusual winged keel. The Australians had hidden the keel from view since the yacht arrived here in early June, intensifying the controversy surrounding it.

The New York Yacht Club, which stages the cup competition, contended that the wings gave Australia II an unfair advantage in speed and maneuverability, and that the net effect of the wings was to make Australia II sail faster than its 12-Meter rating. The N.Y.Y.C. dropped its objection when it was revealed that a British challenger with a similar keel had been rated a 12-Meter.

Once Australia II docked today, Bond stepped aboard the tender, raised his arms in the manner of a conductor and Australia II was hoisted out of the water without its security skirt, displaying the keel in public for the first time. Ben Lexcen, the boat's designer, described it as ''an upside-down keel.'' U.S. Fears Prove True

Once the four-of-seven-race final series got under way 12 days ago, the fears of the Americans proved true. Australia II was generally faster in straight line speed and faster through the tacks than Liberty. This left Liberty to rely on the wits and experience of Conner, who had successfully defended with Freedom in 1980.

Although Liberty won the first two races and later moved ahead by 3-1, Australia II's speed made her a threat to do exactly what she did - win the next three races.

For Bond, today's victory brought a prize that had eluded him for more than a decade, in a pursuit that cost him more than $16 million.

Bond had said before today's race that if Australia II won, the victory would belong to the designer Lexcen, ''because he has put so much of himself in it.'' Lexcen has devoted the last 12 years to designing Bond's yachts, which have been the challengers for the previous three cup series. Disappointing Ending

For Conner, a 41-year old drapery manufacturer from San Diego, and his crew and supporters, the loss represents a disappointing end to two and a half years of work to defend the cup.

In today's race, Australia II proved unstoppable. The start was delayed 55 minutes while the race committee waited for the breeze to stabilize. The 24.3-mile race was begun in an 8-knot wind with numerous small shifts.

Liberty had a perfect start, crossing the line 8 seconds ahead of Australia II and in the better position. Shortly before the start, both yachts approached the line on starboard tack with Liberty to windward. Liberty then tacked to drive for the right side of the line on this first leg, which is always sailed into the wind. In a southwesterly breeze, the right side of the course has tended to be favored by the wind shifts.

But by the time the two yachts crossed tacks 18 minutes into the race, Australia II was significantly ahead. Playing the wind shifts, Liberty gradually caught up and 44 minutes into the race regained the lead. Liberty streaked round the first mark with a 29-second lead.

The America's Cup course is a triangle followed by windward-leeward-windward legs. The second and third legs are reaches. Liberty expanded its lead to 45 seconds on the second leg, but the Australians whittled it down to 23 seconds on the third.

On the second upwind leg, though, Liberty remarkably drove ahead to a 57-second lead.

But the downwind leg proved Liberty's undoing. The boats jibed downwind for maximum speed rather than sail directly to the mark. And Australia II, with its ability to tack downwind faster, simply sailed at smaller angles to the mark but went as fast as Liberty, and consequently she arrived at the mark first, with a lead of 21 seconds.

Conner acknowledged that that downwind run was critical. ''We tried to tack on the wind shifts,'' he said. ''We tried to hang in there and be patient, but they were able to sail lower and faster and they were able to sail through us.'' A Tight Cover

With this lead, Australia II had control of the rest of the race on the final leg upwind to the finish. Australia II kept a tight cover on Liberty. Liberty tried desperately to escape from the wind shadow cast by Australia II, and instituted a series of short tacks. But everytime Liberty tacked, trying to find clear air, Australia II tacked and held her down to win.

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FREEMANTLE PUTS IT ON

The dust took a very long time to settle on the against-all-odds win by Australia II in 1983. A White House reception was hosted by President Ronald Reagan before the Americans finally relinquished a trophy that had been under the custodianship of the New York Yacht Club for 132 years. As Reagan’s magnanimous speech ended, he uttered the rousing words: “But I have one final piece of advice to the Royal Perth Yacht Club – don’t bolt that Cup down too tightly.”

Saturday 31 st January 1987 dawned with high cloud cover and a shifting breeze more reminiscent of Newport, Rhode Island, than what the Challenger and Defender trials had delivered. A split-tack start saw Stars ‘n’ Stripes dial off for a perfect pin end time-on-distance run whilst Peter Gilmour stalled out at the Committee Boat end and the tale of the race was pretty much determined as a 20-degree windshift favoured the Americans, Conner wheeled over into it, forcing Iain Murray to tack beneath and behind, as both boats headed out to the far-right corner of the course. Kookaburra III got caught too far into the spectator fleet out right, Stars ‘n’ Stripes just avoided it and at the top mark Dennis Conner was leading by 1 minute and 15 seconds. With the run turning into a reach, the race became processional and more windshifts just failed to matter for the Australians who couldn’t get back in touch. Conner elected to keep it tight though, knowing that in those conditions, large deltas could be hazardous and just let his sublime team change up and down sails as the breeze went from 8 to 18 knots. The winning margin was 1 minute 41 seconds and Conner was on the charge.

The next day (Sunday 1 st February 1987) saw more normal conditions return to Gage Roads with a building breeze that saw the boats starts in 21 knots and finish in 25 knots with a heavy swell that peaked at 5 feet, and it was all about the drag race off the starting line. In fact, Peter Gilmour had made an error, crossing the line early in the pre-start and being forced to gybe around the Committee Boat. Conner was early too and tacked onto port to go to the stern of the Committee Boat but realising the potential for a port/starboard incident, dialled away, gybed and came back to the start-line at full pace. Arguably it opened the door for Kookaburra III and let them back into the race, but Stars ‘n’ Stripes started with pace and eased into a slow-motion lead a quarter of the way up the beat, forcing Iain Murray now steering the Australian boat, to wheel away. Conner was 12 seconds ahead at the gybe-set windward mark and eased away to 29 seconds by the leeward mark before a remarkable upwind leg with the Americans showing better technique through the waves eked out a 1 minute 14 second lead which in the steady breeze they wouldn’t lose. A loose cover up the final beat in classic match-racing style gave another win to Stars ‘n’ Stripes by 1 minute and 10 seconds. 2-0 to Conner.

The old sailing adage that ‘a little bit of boatspeed makes you a tactical genius’ came to the fore in race three as a split end start saw Kookaburra III snatch an early lead up the first beat having started at the Committee Boat end of the line. Stars ‘n’ Stripes had taken the pin end hard but, on the tack back to engage, found themselves unable to cross and were forced into tacking beneath the Australians. When Kookaburra III chose to protect the right side of the course by tacking away and then coming back, again Conner was forced to tack to leeward, but the gauge was closing and by the third engagement, elected to take the transom of the Australians who had not quite got up to speed on a new starboard tack. The standard procedure is to cover immediately and perform the ‘slam-dunk’ manoeuvre, but it was a downspeed tack and Conner at full pace powered through the Australian’s lee. Game over as Conner now held the right and the starboard advantage as the two boats came in on the first windward mark and enjoyed a 15 second lead. It was the only time Conner was headed in the Match for the 26 th America’s Cup.

A bear-away set away from the confused air of the spectator fleet lining the left-hand side of the course (looking downwind) took Stars ‘n’ Stripes into better breeze whilst Iain Murray called for a gybe-set and wallowed in confused air. It was all going Conner’s way and then a genius call by Tom Whidden up the second beat sealed the race. Noticing white-tops over to the right of the course (looking upwind), Whidden called for a disengagement from covering Kookaburra III and one of the greatest tacticians of all time, nailed it. Stars ‘n’ Stripes clicked into the new breeze first and rounded the windward mark some 1 minute and 21 seconds up ahead of the two reaches.

Stars ‘n’ Stripes held firm down to the leeward mark, but drama ensued on the final beat to the finish as the Kookaburra III Chase Boat came alongside and informed the Australians that a credible threat of a bomb onboard had been received. “What the bad news?” came the response from Iain Murray as crew members went below to check the hull from stem to stern. The Royal Perth Yacht Club Cup Committee had been prepared to abandon the race if Murray requested but sure in their team’s tight security, the Australians elected to sail on. They crossed the line 1 minute and 46 minutes behind the Americans and Dennis Conner was now one race away from a remarkable comeback.

After a lay day called by Stars ‘n’ Stripes, Wednesday 4 th February 1987 saw a truly stunning spectacle as over 100,000 cheering Australians lined the port entrance to witness the dock-out of the boats as they headed out to the course. The 1987 Cup caught the public attention like nothing else and a huge global audience tuned in to see whether an historic victory could be claimed by Dennis Conner. In typical Australian style, the sporting messages to the Americans were bold whilst the support for the home team was intense – flags and banners adorned the harbour and sailing had never seen such scenes.

However, if Australian hopes were high, they were dashed immediately from the start. On the final approaches to the pin end of the line, Conner held the leeward position and after the dial-up, a perfect call from Scott Vogel on the bow saw the American boat dial away, gain speed and hit the line perfectly with Kookaburra III struggling for speed and astern. The only option was to tack away for the Australians and from there, Stars ‘n’ Stripes just sailed into the lead, covering loosely before electing to decline a tacking duel and clicking into more breeze on the right of the course. It was perfect sailing from the grand-master of the 12-Metre era with an incredible team of sailors at the peak of their sport and by the top mark they were an astonishing 36 seconds up. From there they gained on nearly every leg of the course, often just loose-covering and sailing the windshifts to perfection. The winning gun was taken with a 1 minute 46 second delta and the America’s Cup was returning to America and the San Diego Yacht Club. Pandemonium ensued, small craft appeared from everywhere and the scene going back into Fishing Boat Harbour in Fremantle was one of ecstatic chaos.

Writing years later in his book ‘Comeback’ Dennis Conner recalled the scene: “There were hundreds of boats all around as we turned and headed back towards Fremantle. They kept pace with us all the way in, even when we set our Merrill-Lynch spinnaker for the final triumphant run up the harbour. Tens of thousands of spectators turned out to cheer us in. They were waving their Aussie flags and yelling: “Good on yer Dennis,” “Good on yer Yanks.” I have seen homecomings before but nothing that resembled this. The Aussies were saying: “You beat us fair and square, well done, no hard feelings.” That spirit of Australian sportsmanship was something I'll always remember.”

After the prize-giving in Fremantle in the presence of Prime Minister Bob Hawke, and Dennis Conner receiving the Cup, the team returned to a hero’s welcome in San Diego as 60,000 supporters greeted the team at a reception. From there it was on to Washington D.C. the following day for a White House reception with President Ronald Reagan who hailed the sailors and the technological advances that Stars ‘n’ Stripes with its onboard computers and 3M supplied ‘riblet’ coating to the hull had delivered before the team travelled to New York    for a memorable ticker tape parade down Fifth Avenue in New York arranged by Major Bill Koch and long-time backer of the Stars ‘n’ Stripes team, Donald Trump.

The ’comeback’ was complete. Dennis Conner became the first man in history to lose the America’s Cup and win it back again. The event was now stratospheric and the modern America’s Cup had well and truly begun.

A PRELUDE TO THE CUP - THE CHALLENGER AND DEFENDER SELECTION SERIES 

Returning home, the Australia II team were greeted rightly as national heroes with huge parades in their honour starting in Melbourne, but it was in Perth, Western Australia where the sheer scale of their victory hit home as John Bertrand, the winning skipper wrote in his book ‘Born to Win’: “In Perth there was the most gigantic parade with estimates that almost half a million people witnessed the homecoming of the western Australian syndicate. Each member of the crew and every member of the backup staff had his own parade car with a big nameplate on the front. The crowd at Fremantle Town Hall went wild as we set off and they lined the route by the thousands all the way to the Esplanade in Perth. They roared and applauded as we entered the area selected for the grand finale but when Alan and Eileen Bond drove slowly in, standing in an open Rolls Royce and waving, the crowd went berserk. They chanted endlessly B-O-N-D-Y! B-O-N-D-Y! B-O-N-D-Y! It might have been the most exuberant welcome home since Julius Caesar re-entered Rome 47 years before Christ.”

For Bertrand it was the end of his America’s Cup journey for now. He simply had nothing more to give for the 1987 defence and stepped away from competition. He would come back in 1992 but a sinking in that regatta ended his professional Cup career.

For 1987, a new generation of Australian sailing talent emerged and whilst Alan Bond quickly built a new boat, Australia III, as a trial horse for Australia II in the big seas off Fremantle, his hopes were pinned on Ben Lexcen again producing a rocket-ship for his final design of Australia IV. Lexcen had de-camped to the Netherlands in late 1985 for extensive research at the Ship Model Basin at Wageningen and came back in April 1986 with a heavier displacement design, convinced that it would be appropriate for the big swells of Gage Roads, the sailing area, and the ‘Fremantle Doctor’ – the sea-breeze that came in as regular as clockwork in the afternoon.

The home-team, that had brought so much to success to Australia as a nation, were clear favourites in the public’s eye but if they thought they would have the defence trials all their own way, they were wrong. Kevin Parry, a wealthy businessman from Perth, saw the opportunity to take on Bond’s team with technology, and in the brilliant young talent of Iain Murray, a six-time 18ft Skiff World Champion, he found a superstar helm with a design background, more than capable of taking the fight to the Cup holders. The Taskforce ’87 syndicate was born and the resultant three all-golden Kookaburra 12-Metres were arguably some of the most beautiful ever built.

Hiring Lawrie Smith as a match-racing tune-up partner for Murray was another classy move by Parry and bringing the young Olympian and match-racing ace Peter Gilmour into the afterguard alongside Iain ‘Fresh’ Burns strengthened the decision making onboard. The final piece in the puzzle was Derek Clark, the British engineer with a computing background who brought performance analysis aligned with technology as well as onboard navigation expertise to the syndicate.

With Murray embedded in the Kookaburra design team, Kevin Parry appointed local up-and-coming Perth designer John Swarbrick and also called on the influential Alan Payne to advise on winged keel dynamics and run through a huge testing schedule of shapes and variations. The Taskforce ’87 syndicate was a well-run, highly secretive, logical, data-driven campaign but public sympathy in Perth and across Australia was firmly with Alan Bond’s team that promoted favourite Colin Beashel to the principal helm position with Gordon Lucas as tune-up helm.

Kookaburra’s design team spent time at the Netherlands Ship Model Basin running tank-tests but also took advantage of the Commonwealth Aeronautical Laboratory in Melbourne for the wing designs and the tank-testing facility at the Australian Maritime College in Tasmania. The first boat to come out of the testing in early 1985 was ‘Kookaburra I’ that was deemed to be close in performance to Australia II and could provide benchmark data as well as being an all-important crew-training vessel, but it was the launch of ‘Kookaburra II’ in late 1985 that gave the team vital two-boat testing opportunities in the real-world environment and unique conditions of Perth that catapulted the team forward. Secrecy was the byword of Taskforce ’87 and the decision not to race in the 1986 World Championship ramped up the intrigue around the syndicate.

Two other Australian syndicates also formed to compete for the Defence slot with Syd Fischer commissioning Peter Cole to tank-test what would become the voluminous ‘Steak ‘n’ Kidney whilst Sir James Hardy returned with a challenge under the ‘South Australia’ name. Both efforts showed glimpses of potential but under-funding ultimately determined their fate and were no match against the top two, well-funded defence teams that effectively went head-to-head for the right to defend.

Lining up against the Australians for the first America’s Cup outside of America since the founding race in 1851, was a remarkable set of challengers all eyeing the ‘new’ America’s Cup and the broad appeal that it would garner internationally as a sporting spectacle. Advances in media coverage, most notably onboard broadcast quality cameras, brought the 1987 America’s Cup to an entirely new audience and would inspire generations to come who, for the first time, saw both live and pre-recorded match-racing of this apex event. Fremantle was arguably the perfect venue for the America’s Cup and the images captured have remained part of America’s Cup folklore ever since.

Determined to avenge their defeat in 1983, the New York Yacht Club mounted a serious challenge with a budget reported to be in excess of $20 million, led by Richard de Vos and excusing the services of Dennis Conner. John Kolius was appointed as skipper for this three-boat campaign and the Sparkman & Stephens design office were secured to deliver the boat that they hoped would bring the Cup straight back to the West 44 th Street clubhouse.

Dennis Conner, meanwhile, was forging a very different path to the 1987 Cup. Slighted by the New York Yacht Club in the immediate aftermath of defeat he wrote in his book ‘Comeback’ some years later: “Perhaps my greatest disappointment was the reaction of the Cup Committee from the New York Yacht Club. They simply abandoned me and all the guys. No-one even showed up to say: “nice try.” We’d done the best we could in a situation that their inaction and ineptness helped to create, but not one of them had the guys to face any of us.” Conner returned to his home club of San Diego and, with the help of close confidantes Malin Burnham, Fritz and Lucy Jewett determined that the 6000+ hours that he had sailed 12-Metre yachts since his first Cup foray with Mariner in 1974, through the 1980 Freedom campaign and on into 1983 with Liberty “almost demanded another attempt” as he put it.

Conner secured initial funding from Edsel Ford, scion of the Ford Motor Company, and selected Hawaii as his training base eschewing the option that other syndicates took to base themselves out of Perth. It was a masterstroke decision by the greatest campaigner in America’s Cup history with 22-28 knot winds every day to hone their seamanship and day after day training sessions were conducted. Conner appointed a trio of favoured yacht designers in Britton Chance, Dave Pedrick and Bruce Nelson. Pedrick was sent off to the tow-test tank facility at Escondido, California whilst Chance worked with Grumman Aerospace on keel design and the trio became known as the ‘Picassos’ with John Marshall, a long-time lieutenant corralling the geniuses as they set to work on what would become Stars ‘n’ Stripes ’87.

Whilst Conner schemed in Hawaii, several other American syndicates joined the rush to be a part of the 1987 America’s Cup. Conner’s long-time nemesis, the San Franciscan Tom Blackaller team up with Gary Mull for the ‘USA’ syndicate whilst America’s Soling star Rod Davis, fresh from winning a Gold medal with Robbie Haines, secured the services of Johan Valentijn to create the lavishly adorned ‘Eagle’ campaign. The great Buddy Melges challenged from the Chicago Yacht Club with his ‘Heart of America’ syndicate and after trying to get German Frers involved with the design, ultimately went with Scott Graham and Eric Schlageter due to nationality rules. The old Cup warhorse ‘Courageous’ was brought back for a fifth attempt on the trophy by the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club with Dave Vietor steering and a huge upgrade programme initiated by Leonard Greene with ‘Courageous’ getting numerous winged keels to trial.

Canada was back in the America’s Cup for 1987 with the merger of the True North syndicate of the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron and the Secret Cove Yacht Club’s ‘Canada I’ syndicate. Bruce Kirby, the designer of the Laser dinghy, was the naval architect behind a tank-test project that saw ‘Canada I’ undergo major surgery and resulted in such an altered form that it was re-named ‘Canada II.’ Terry Neilsen, the Laser World Champion and Finn bronze medallist in 1984, was installed as skipper.

France were back with two syndicates for 1987 with Marc Pajot challenging on behalf of the Société des Régates Rochelaises with backing from Serges Crasnianski, the founder of Key Independent System (KIS), the company that brought to the world the compact machine that cuts keys, prints business cards, and engraves bracelets and can be seen in thousands of corner hardware shops around the world. Crasnianski’s proposal was to call the syndicate ‘French Kiss’ and required an IYRU ruling to opine that the name didn’t contravene advertising rules in place at the time. Thankfully the French won a favourable ruling, and a legend of yachting was born with Philippe Briand rejecting tank-testing and, ahead of his time, trusting in computer simulation for the overall design.

Marc Pajot’s elder brother, Yves, also secured seed funding in France to challenge under the flag of the Société Nautique de Marseilles and hired the mercurial Daniel Andrieu to design what would become Challenge France. Andrieu had dominated the IOR world through the 1980’s and there was much hope that the design would deliver success, but an acute shortage of funds saw the team go bankrupt before the Challenger Selection trials had even begun and the team limped through the competition.

After a positive showing at the 1983 regatta and impetus from the Victory ’83 challenge, Britain came back for 1987 with Graham Walker funding the White Crusader challenge under the flag of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Harold Cudmore was brought in to lead the campaign alongside Phil Crebbin. Ian Howlett was commissioned to design a ‘conventional’ 12 Metre ‘Crusader I’ whilst Dave Hollom went radical with the design for ‘Crusader II’ and used the National Maritime Institute for tank testing what would become known as ‘The Hippo’ – named after the hippodrome shape of the hull. Ultimately, and after political internal wranglings that so often scupper British challenges, the more conventional route was adopted, and ‘Crusader I’ was selected for the Louis Vuitton Cup series.

Italy made a big splash at the ‘87 Cup, principally due to the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda being selected as Challenger of Record (against fierce competition from the Americans – and in particular the San Diego Yacht Club). Andrea Vallicelli was again brought in by the money-no-object Azzurra syndicate ultimately financed by the Aga Khan, to work-up three boats for the syndicate under the in-out-in-again skippers of Mauro Pellaschier and Cino Ricci. The second Italian challenge came from the Yacht Club Italiano syndicate with two yachts: Italia and Italia II with the backing in part of the Gucci fashion house. Ian Howlett was initially drafted in early for design work on ‘Italia’ before the design partnership of Giorgetti & Magrini took over for the ill-fated ‘Italia II’ that, upon launch, was dropped from its crane and sank – a setback she would never recover from as ‘Italia’ was nominated for the Louis Vuitton Cup series.

The final challenge, from New Zealand, was ultimately to be the most controversial through the 1986 and 1987 seasons. Always the innovators, New Zealand heralded a new dawn in 12-Metre construction by opting to build in glassfibre and caused what duly became known as ‘Glassgate.’ With a syndicate of first-class designers in Bruce Farr, Laurie Davidson and Ron Holland brought together, they found in Chris McMullen of McMullen & Wing, an exceptional yacht builder that could handle the build of not one, but two 12-Metres in glassfibre that were quick straight out of the box. At the 1986 World Championships, with minimal preparation in Perth, the 24-year-old Chris Dickson won two races aboard KZ-5 ‘Kiwi Magic’, the newer of the Kiwi boats, and ultimately ended up second to ‘Australia III’ overall. It was a stunning result and caught the attention of Dennis Conner who didn’t compete at the ‘86 Worlds and who made it his mission to go to war with the team, Lloyds Registry and anyone else to try and needle the Kiwis.

A famous press conference set the tone ahead of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selection Series with Conner unable to restrain himself saying: “There have been 78 12-Metres built, all of them aluminium. Why would you want to build in glass…unless you wanted to cheat?” This stung the New Zealand challenge, led by the combative Sir Michael Fay, who refused all core samplings and the truth of the matter, subsequently discovered, was that the New Zealand boats were probably the most compliant 12-Metres ever built owing to the variances in aluminium construction. That they were fast, was more down to the Kiwi sublime boat-handling and technique than any significant advance that the glassfibre construction could deliver. At the time though, Conner, who had been blind-sided by innovation before, was waging all-out war.

As the Defender and Challenger trials begun, Fremantle came alive and brought sailboat racing to a new technicolour age that captivated TV audiences around the world. Gage Roads was, and is, an uncompromising place to sail and the regular 26-28 knots winds blowing in on the Fremantle Doctor alongside wave heights that regularly hit 6 feet, were a made-for-television spectacle that had far-reaching consequences and interest that has lasted to the present day.

The Defender trials however were one-way traffic with the Kookaburra syndicate unarguably the team to beat despite so much local support for Alan Bond’s all-conquering Australia team. Colin Beashel took charge of Australia IV for the four-way battle between Kookaburra II, Kookaburra III and Syd Fischer’s Steak ‘n’ Kidney and led her to the final against Kookaburra III where she was trounced 5-0 by the aggressive starting tactics of Peter Gilmour and the undoubted tactical brilliance of Iain Murray, Iain Burns and Derek Clark. The Royal Perth Yacht Club had effectively hedged its bets by supporting both syndicates and entered the America’s Cup Match hopeful, rather than expectant, of victory against the challenger.

The Australian club’s doubts were magnified by the spectacle of the most compelling Challenger Selection Series in the history of the competition. New Zealand’s ‘Kiwi Magic’ led through the early rounds losing only one race ahead of the final – an incredible record – and looked set fair to continue their dominance of the regatta. The New York Yacht Club’s ‘America II’ finished the preliminary and opening round in second place whilst Stars ‘n’ Stripes ended third and Marc Pajot’s ‘French Kiss’ sealed fourth.

By round three, Tom Blackaller’s ‘USA’ gate-crashed the top four whilst Dennis Conner moved up to second and ‘French Kiss’ in fourth, thus eliminating the likes of Italia, White Crusader, and remarkably, the well-funded America II. Kiwi Magic were still the team to beat and, in the semi-finals, they faced down French Kiss having won 33 from 34 races in the Louis Vuitton Challenger Selection Series. Pajot put the pressure on Dickson from the outset, launching a protest flag on the first ten-minute gun to protest the illegality of the ‘Plastic Fantastic’ (the protest was dismissed and threats of going to the New York Supreme Court for a ruling never materialised) but superior crew-work and an undeniably fast boat, saw the Kiwis ace the series 4-0 and go into the final as firm favourites.

Meanwhile in the other semi-final, Dennis Conner faced down Tom Blackaller whose ‘USA’ 12-Metre featured a canard – an adjustable rudder situated forward on the bow that supposedly reduced leeway and had been one of only two boats to beat Stars ‘n’ Stripes in the second Round Robin – the other, of course, was Kiwi Magic. Blackaller’s boat looked to have inherent speed in certain weather windows, but Stars ‘n’ Stripes re-ballasted for heavier conditions ahead of the semi-finals and it was a telling decision as USA struggled in anything above 17 knots and fought the seaway. However, an opening race that Conner shaded by 10 seconds was only won on the final leg as the breeze built to 18 knots but after that Stars ‘n’ Stripes was away at the races, winning four straight and securing their place in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final.

The acrimony between the Kiwi Magic team and Stars ‘n’ Stripes rumbled on ahead of the Final but with the summer breezes blowing hard, the opening exchange of the first race pre-starts was remarkably mild. Chris Dickson entered with a stunning 37-1 winning ratio, and many believed that victory was a foregone conclusion, whereas Conner had steadily improved round after round, bringing in more ballast for the conditions and slowly bringing better big breeze technique and his vast experience to the fore. The Kiwis relied on crew work improvements to match the Americans. The first start saw Conner take the Committee Boat end of the line on port whilst the Kiwis went to the pin end and tacked. By the first cross, Dickson was forced to duck and from there, Conner masterfully eased away showing pin-point match-racing skills to win by 1 minute 20 seconds and hand the Kiwis their second defeat of that summer.

Race 2 was a close affair, but better positioning put Conner ahead to windward on a long drag race on starboard tack off the start line and eventually forcing the Kiwis to tack away to clear. It was text-book sailing from Conner with Tom Whidden calling the shots and Peter Isler navigating and they secured a 2-0 lead by 36 seconds. The Kiwis called a lay-day in a search for more speed and by the time race three was sailed in big breezes, only gear failure onboard Stars ‘n’ Stripes prevented the Americans from winning. A final beat that saw an astonishing 55 tacks thrown in by Conner with Dickson defending like a banshee resulted in Kiwi Magic taking the win and closing the gap to 2-1.

Race four of the Louis Vuitton Cup Final was a race of attrition, sailed in winds of 26-28 knots that saw Conner win the start and then just power up the first beat, seemingly higher and going faster to lead by 23 seconds at the top mark. The Kiwis were struggling with gear failure, taking their backstay out on a gybe and having genoa sheet issues before tearing their mainsail to shreds on the final beat. The resultant 3 minute 38 second victory by Stars ‘n’ Stripes was non-reflective of the relative speeds but proved why Fremantle was such a demanding venue.

And so it continued into race five that was, to many, a classic and a defining race of the 1987 America’s Cup. Conner won the start, set-up to windward on a long drag race in big breeze and a building sea state, to lead by 42 seconds at the windward mark. The ‘Plastic Fantastic’ came back downwind but it was the third leg where the drama happened as Stars ‘n’ Stripes blew their number 6 genoa to shreds and the bow was a sudden desperate flurry of activity as Conner recalled: “Sure enough, our jib exploded like a lightning strike in a thunderstorm. The stitching came out of the vertical mitre on the foot and bam! it was gone.” All that was left was a narrow ribbon of Kevlar on the forestay but the years of training in Hawaii came to bear and the superb Stars ‘n’ Stripes crew not only had a new jib up before Kiwi Magic could capitalise but also held position to cross on port tack. The deficit had gone from 48 seconds to just 14 seconds ahead of the first two reaches. The Kiwis opted for a gennaker and held high on the reach whilst Conner opted for a spinnaker that would only benefit him on the second reach down to the leeward mark. The Americans held on with the inside berth at the wing mark and threw up a huge quarter wave behind whilst keeping an initial high angle off the gybe and then capitalised by running square down to the America’s Cup leeward rounding buoy.

With so much pressure on his 25-year-old shoulders, Dickson made his first crucial error of the entire summer, coming into the leeward mark and hitting it as he rounded, that required him to re-round. In wind touching 31 knots it was an agonisingly slow re-round and Stars ‘n’ Stripes played it cool with a loose cover up the final beat to take the gun and the Louis Vuitton Cup 4-1. A masterful destruction by the man who would become known as ‘Mr America’s Cup.’ Chris Dickson was gracious in defeat, acknowledging the Kiwi speed deficiency and saying: “I guess 13 years’ experience, beat 13 months’ experience.”

Having been accused outright of ‘cheating’ by Conner, the New Zealand team were reluctant to follow the protocol of the beaten challenger helping the successful one – a tradition that had been in place since the first multiple challengers appeared in the 1970’s. Citing the ANZAC Alliance, Dickson’s team trialled with Kookaburra III ahead of the Match and came away with the distinct impression that Australia had little chance against Stars ‘n’ Stripes. The Americans corralled the other American syndicates buying certain sails from both USA and America II and all was set for the Match of the 26 th America’s Cup.

The Red Square and beyond: a guide to Moscow’s neighbourhoods

Apr 23, 2019 • 6 min read

The Red Square, Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow at night © Mordolff / Getty Images

One of the world’s largest cities, Moscow is a true metropolis whose ancient neighbourhoods are interspersed with newly built high-rises, inhabited by people from all over the former Soviet Union.

It’s also the city of rings: the innermost is the Kremlin itself; further away are the former defensive rings, Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring; still further are the Third Ring Road and the MKAD, which delineates the city’s borders. There’s an ongoing joke that Moscow Mayor is the Lord of the Rings. Most sights are contained within the Garden Ring, although for some more authentic neighbourhoods one has to venture further out. To help you explore Moscow’s diversity, we picked our favourite ’hoods – but this list is by no means exhaustive.

The Red Square and around

It can be argued that Moscow, or even the whole of Russia, starts at the  Red Square  – it’s an absolute must-see for any visitor. After standing in line to check out Lenin’s granite  mausoleum , go to GUM , Moscow's oldest department store. Full of luxury shops, it’s famous for the glass roof designed by one of Russia’s most celebrated architects, Vladimir Shukhov. Apart from architectural wonders, GUM has several places to eat including the Soviet-style cafeteria Stolovaya No 57 where you can sample mysterious-sounding delicacies such as the ‘herring in a fur coat’.

On the opposite side of GUM, Kremlin ’s walls and towers rise above the Red Square. Walk through the Alexander Garden  and past the grotto to the Kremlin’s entrance. It’s a treasure trove for any art and history lover: ancient gold-domed churches, icons galore and the resting place of Moscow tsars.

On the other side of the Red Square is Moscow's symbol,  St Basil's Cathedral with its multi-colored domes. Right behind it is the newly built Zaryadye Park , which showcases flora from all over Russia; another attraction is the floating bridge jutting out above the embankment and the Moscow river. A glass pavilion nearby hosts Voskhod , a space-themed restaurant with dishes from all 15 former Soviet Union republics. It’s a perfect spot for a classy evening meal and there’s often live music.

Patriarch’s Ponds

The Patriarch’s Ponds (aka Patriki) is a historical neighbourhood, celebrated in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel Master and Margarita . Located right off Tverskaya street, Moscow’s main thoroughfare, Patriki recently became the city’s most happening quarter. It has some of the most elegant architecture, including several buildings by art-nouveau genius Fyodor Shekhtel. Narrow streets here have a cozy feel, with recently widened sidewalks and bike lanes. In the summer it becomes party central.

Start by checking out free exhibitions or one of the cutting-edge performances at the experimental theatre Praktika . But make no mistake, the neighbourhood’s main attraction are its bars and restaurants. Patriki’s residents are well-off Russians and expats, so it’s no wonder that  Moscow’s recent culinary revolution started here. Uilliam’s , one of the pioneers of this foodie movement, still rules over the scene with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Also try AQ Chicken  for everything chicken-related, Patara  for a taste of Georgian cuisine, and Cutfish for some great sushi. Finish your gastronomic tour with original cocktails at Pinch or the Moscow outpost of NYC restaurant Saxon+Parole .

Around Kursky train station

For a long time, Kursky train station was surrounded by semi-abandoned factories and the area was best avoided. It all changed in the late 2000s, when a dilapidated wine factory was turned into Winzavod , a mecca for fans of contemporary art. Today these red-brick buildings are occupied by some of Moscow’s leading galleries. After taking in all the art, pop in the small wine bar Barrell  for a glass from burgeoning wineries of Russia’s south or grab a bite at Khitrye Lyudi  cafe.

Right next to Winzavod is Artplay , another refurbished factory full of design and furniture shops and large exhibition spaces.  It’s also home to  Pluton , one of the latest additions to Moscow’s dance scene. Other Pluton residents are the multimedia art gallery Proun  and another lunch option,  Shanhaika , with authentic Chinese cuisine.

A short walk away is Arma, where a cluster of circular gas holders has been turned into offices, restaurants and clubs including Gazgolder  (it belongs to one of Russia’s most famous rappers, Basta). Apart from hip-hop concerts, Gazgolder organises regular techno parties that sometimes go non-stop from Friday to Monday.

If you’re interested in religious architecture, Taganka is the place to go. First of all, see the old Moscow at Krutitskoye Podvorye – one of those places where nothing seems to have changed in centuries. The monastery was founded in the 13th century, but in the 16th century it became the home of Moscow metropolitans and most of the surviving buildings are from that epoch. Take a tour of the grounds, and don’t miss the interior and icons of the Assumption Cathedral.

Your next stop is the Rogozhskoe settlement of ‘old believers’, a branch that split from Russian Orthodoxy in the 17th century. The settlement is dominated by an 80m-tall bell tower. The yellow-coloured Intercession Church, built in neoclassical style with baroque elements, has an important collection of icons. Next to the church grounds is the popular Trapeznaya cafeteria, with Russian food cooked using traditional recipes – a perfect spot for lunch.

A short ride away is Andronikov Monastery, which today houses the Rublyov Museum  in the old monks’ quarters. There’s a great collection of ancient Orthodox icons although none by Andrei Rublyov, who was a monk here in the 15th century. The main attraction at the monastery is the small Saviour’s Cathedral, considered the oldest surviving church in Moscow.

Finish the day at the craft-beer cluster around Taganskaya metro station. Varka offers both Russian and imported labels, with the Burger Heroes stand serving arguably the best burgers in town. Craft & Draft looks more like a respectable old-fashioned pub, with decent food, 20 beers on tap and a hundred types of bottled brews.

Khamovniki is Moscow’s ancient textile district, named after the word kham  (a type of cloth). Two main thoroughfares, Ostozhenka and Prechistenka, cut through the neighbourhood parallel to each other. The former turned into the so-called ‘Golden Mile’ of Moscow in the 1990s, with the highest real-estate prices and some of the best examples of new Russian architecture, while the latter is still mostly lined up with impressive 19th-century mansions.

Khamovniki is somewhat of a literary quarter, as several museums devoted to Russia’s best-known writers – among them  Leo Tolstoy , Alexander Pushkin  and Ivan Turgenev – popped up here during the last century. There’s also plenty to see for an art lover. The  Multimedia Art Museum regularly hosts exhibitions by some of the best photographers from all over the world, as well as contemporary art. Several galleries, including RuArts  and Kournikova Gallery , have also found home in Khamovniki.

When you’ve had your fill of literature and art, stop by Gorod Sad on Ostozhenka, an outpost of a local health-food chain, and order dishes such as pumpkin soup or grilled vegetables salads. Afterwards, head to Dom 12 , which is located just off Ostozhenka street. This restaurant and wine bar is frequented by the city’s intellectuals and its schedule includes lectures, book presentations and film screenings, while in the summer guests migrate to a lovely courtyard.

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Moscow International Business Center (Moscow City)

• Guide to Russia

What can you do at Moscow City?

• Dine in style: Moscow City is home to 100+ cafes and restaurants, including Europe’s highest restaurant and ice-cream shop
• See Moscow like never before: Ascend to one of Moscow City’s observation decks for an unparalleled panorama of Moscow
• Admire world-class architecture: Each of Moscow City’s skyscrapers has distinctive architecture and design
• Learn something new: Visit the Museum of High-Rise Architecture in Moscow or the Metro Museum

Moscow City is a multifunctional complex in the west of Moscow, which has come to represent the booming business of Russia’s capital. Its skyscrapers enrich Moscow’s skyline, contrasting the medieval cupolas and Stalinist high-rises. Visitors to Moscow City can enjoy entertainment high in the sky, as the complex is home not just to offices, but to restaurants, cinemas, viewing platforms, and museums.

Photo by Alex Zarubi on Unsplash

History of Moscow City

Moscow City was first conceived in 1991 by honoured Soviet architect Boris Tkhor, who proposed to construct a business center in Moscow. It would be complete with gleaming skyscrapers rivalling those of New York and London, to reflect the new life and growing ambitions of post-Soviet Russia.

The chosen site was a stone quarry and disused industrial zone in western Moscow, in between the Third Ring Road and Moskva River. Initially, the territory was divided into 20 sections arranged in a horseshoe shape around a central zone. The skyscrapers would increase in height as they spiralled around the central section, with shorter structures built on the waterfront to give the taller buildings behind a view of the river. 

Architect Gennady Sirota, who contributed to iconic projects such as the Olympic Sports Complex on Prospekt Mira, was selected as the chief architect, and many other world-famous architects were attracted to Moscow to realise their visions in Moscow City.

What can you see and do at Moscow City?

Where Moscow’s cityscape was once dominated by Stalin’s Seven Sisters skyscrapers , this is no more. Moscow City is home to eight of Russia’s ten tallest buildings, six of which exceed 300 metres in height. More buildings are still under construction there today, including the One Tower (which will be Europe’s second-tallest building). Once completed, Moscow City will comprise more than 20 innovative structures.

Each of Moscow City’s skyscrapers was designed by its own architect, lending the cluster of skyscrapers a unique appearance. Aside from being a site of architectural wonder, Moscow City is a place for leisure and entertainment with over 100 cafes and restaurants, exhibition spaces, cinemas, viewing platforms, and more.

Photo by Nikita Karimov on Unsplash

Federation Tower

• East Tower: 374m, 97 floors; West Tower: 243m, 63 floors
• Completed in 2017
• Architects: Sergey Tchoban and Peter Schweger

The East Federation Tower is the tallest building in Moscow, and the second-tallest building in Europe after the Lakhta Centre in St Petersburg. Visitors can enjoy a luxurious meal of seafood, truffles or steak at restaurant ‘Sixty’ on the 62nd floor of the West Tower, or visit Europe’s highest observation deck, ‘Panorama 360’, on the 89th floor of the East Tower.

Did you know? The ice cream and chocolate shop on the 360 observation deck are the highest in the world!

• South Tower: 354m, 85 floors; North Tower: 254m, 49 floors
• Completed in 2015
• Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

The South OKO Tower is the third-tallest building in Russia and Europe. Here, you can visit ‘Ruski’ to dine on hearty Russian cuisine cooked on a real Russian stove, and have a drink in the ice bar. Alternatively, visit restaurant, nightclub and performance space ‘Birds’; the restaurant is the highest in Europe, situated on the 86th floor roof terrace alongside an observation deck. The OKO Towers are also home to karaoke club ‘City Voice’.

Did you know? Underneath OKO Towers is the largest underground parking in Europe, with 16 levels and 3,400 parking spaces.

Mercury Tower

• 339m tall, 75 floors
• Architects : Mikhail Posokhin, Frank Williams, Gennady Sirota

Another multifunctional skyscraper, which was designed as the first truly ‘green’ building in Moscow. The Mercury Tower has a distinct geometric shape and copper-coloured glazing, and was the tallest building in Europe upon completion. Visit ‘More i myaso’ (Sea and meat) on the first floor of the tower to enjoy European and Mediterranean cuisine whilst surrounded by greenery. On the 2nd and 40th floors a modern art gallery, the ‘ILONA-K artspace’, has just opened.

City of Capitals

• Moscow Tower: 302m, 76 floors; St Petersburg Tower: 257m, 65 floors
• Completed in 2009
• Architect: Bureau NBBJ

The unique geometric design of the City of Capitals towers resembles stacks of rotating blocks, and is rooted in Constructivism of the early Soviet period (many Soviet Constructivist buildings can be found in Moscow). Visitors to the Moscow Tower can enjoy a range of cuisines – traditional Italian dishes on the summer terrace of ‘Tutto Bene’, Panasian cuisine in the tropical luxury of the ‘Bamboo Bar’ on the 1st floor’, and poke or smoothie bowls at ‘Soul in the Bowl’ cafe on the 80th floor.

Tower on the Embankment

• Tower A: 84m; Tower B:127m; Tower C: 268m, 61 floors
• Completed in 2007
• Architects: Vehbi Inan and Olcay Erturk

After completion, the Tower on the Embankment was the tallest building in Europe, and is now the 13th tallest. It houses the headquarters of several large Russian and international  companies, including IBM and KPMG. There are two cafes located on the 1st floor of Tower C – self-service café ‘Obed Bufet’ (Lunch Buffet) and Bakery Chain ‘Khleb Nasushchny’ (Daily Bread).

Evolution Tower

• 255m tall, 54 floors
• Architects: Philip Nikandrov and RMJM Scotland Ltd

Evolution is Moscow City’s most recognisable tower, and the 11th tallest building in Russia. Its façade is a true architectural marvel, comprising continuous strips of curved glazing spiralling high into  the sky. According to the architect, Philip Nikandrov, the spiral shape of the tower honours centuries of architectural design in Russia, from the onion domes of St Basil's Cathedral to Vladimir Shukhov’s Tatlin Tower, a masterpiece of Constructivist design. Outside the Evolution tower is a landscaped terrace and pedestrian zone descending to the Presnenskaya Embankment, which was also designed by Nikandrov.

Did you know? Moscow’s largest wedding palace was supposed to be built on the site of the Evolution tower, though the project was abandoned.

• 239m tall, 60 floors
• Completed in 2011

Imperia’s interesting design has a curved roof and an arched glass façade. Inside the tower are various cafes including ‘City Friends’ for all-day breakfasts and light lunches, ‘Mama in the City’ for simple meals of Russian cuisine, and ‘abc kitchen’ for European and Indian-inspired dishes. Alternatively, visit ‘High Bar’ on the 56th floor for cocktails with a view. In Imperia you’ll also find the Museum of High-Rise Construction in Moscow (suitably located on the 56th floor), and the Camera Immersive Theatre.

Did you know? Inside Vystavochnaya metro station is the Metro Museum , dedicated to the history of the beautiful Moscow Metro!

• 130m tall, 26 floors
• Completed in 2001
• Architect: Boris Tkhor

Tower 2000 was Moscow City’s first tower. It stands on the opposite bank of the Moskva River, and houses a viewing platform from which visitors can admire an unparalleled panorama of Moscow City. The Bagration Bridge reaches across the river from the tower to Moscow City, and underneath are piers from where you can take boat trips.

Photo by Alexander Popov on Unsplash

Afimall is Moscow’s largest entertainment and shopping complex, home to 450 shops, cafes and restaurants, a cinema, and a virtual-reality game park. The shopping centre is located in the central section of Moscow City, and a cinema and concert hall are currently under construction there.

What’s nearby?

Sechenov Botanical Gardens: The botanical gardens of the First Moscow State Medical University was created for students’ training and research in 1946. Today it is open for free visits, and is home to a large arboretum.

Park Krasnaya Presnya: This park belonged to the Studenets estate of the Gagarin princes. It is a monument of 18th and 19th century landscaping, with Dutch ponds, ornate bridges, and tree-lined alleys. There are also sports facilities, sports equipment rental, and cafes.

Photo by Akkit  on Wikipedia

Essential information for visitors

Website: https://www.citymoscow.ru/

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +7 (495) 730-23-33

Nearest metro: Mezhdunarodnaya (closest to the skyscrapers), Delovoy Tsentr (underneath Afimall), Vystavochnaya (closest to Expocentre)

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