12 Metre Worlds 2024

The 12 Metre was a part of the America’s Cup from 1954 and all the way to 1987, which in term also was the edition of America’s Cup which Kookaburra III was built for.

Kookaburra III was built for Australia to defend the America’s Cup in 1987. After the event, the boat was put in storage for many years before ending up with an Italian collector – and then, later, we had the chance to bring it back on the water. It’s in a fantastic shape, but it took lots of effort to replace anything and everything from ropes to hydraulics and electrics, Jesper Bank says.

Because of this, the crew on Kookaburra III had to find out how the boat would perform.

In terms of performance, we had some unknowns for the World Championship. The early conclusion was that some of our competitors were a little better off as they had raced their boats for the last couple of years, but all in all, finishing third was on the cards for us. Unfortunately, we left some points out there, and those last points could have made the difference – so we finished fourth.

The team on the Kookaburra III was dressed by Elvstrøm Sailwear for the 2024 12MR Worlds – their kit consists of the fast dry shirt and t-shirts from the Poole81 and Melbourne56 collections plus the Rome60 fast dry-shorts and the classic Elvstrøm Sails Copenhagen69 cap.