Sailing Controversy 帆船爭議

By Nick Bryant, Sydney

Background: 澳大利亞曾在 1983 年獲得美洲杯帆船賽冠軍，不過，現在有人對澳大利亞的那次勝利提出了疑問。美洲杯帆船賽規定，參賽帆船必須是參賽國公民設計或制造才行。現在荷蘭船只設計師 Peter Van Oossanen 聲稱，賽艇的著名帶翼龍骨是他設計的。

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.