America's Cup- The Freo Files - 'A bunch of Pommy lawyers'

by Sail-World Archive on 23 Feb 2011
Tom Blackaller's radical canard ruddered USA-61 made the final cut for the Semi-Finals of the 1986/87 Louis Vuitton Cup, but not before an acrimonious protest over using a replacement bow (canard) rudder.

In this clip from the TVNZ coverage USA-61's Tom Blackaller announces the decision and can't hold back on a few verbal sideswipes at his adversaries.

The bow rudder was carefully covered in camouflage colours to foil the overhead cameras of rival challengers - which can be clearly seen in the opening shots with a much smaller white rudder profile outlined on the camouflaged foil.