An inductee to the America’s Cup Hall of Fame and visitor to secure Russian defence facilities, Ken McAlpine has worked with the Cup since 1973 and has met the best minds and made many friendships.

Ken McAlpine began his life-long love and relationship with sailing and boats learning to sail in Manly Juniors at Greenwich Sailing Club. From there on he sailed in many dinghy classes including VJ’s, moths, 12, 16 and 18 foot skiffs in Sydney. After finishing high school, he went to work as trainee with Cecil Boden’s naval architectural consultancy. During those 10 years he was mentored through all the practical and theorical aspects of naval architecture and boat design whilst completing a degree in Naval Architecture at University of NSW.

He was given the opportunity to become involved with the measurement of the metre class yachts as Cecil was the Australian Yachting Federation’s (now Australian Sailing) measurer to the 5.5, 6 and 12 metre classes. His first involvement with the America’s Cup was in 1973 going to Perth with Cecil to measure Alan Bond’s Ben Lexcen designed first twelve metre “Southern Cross”. Subsequently Ken was involved as the assistant measurer of “Australia” in 1976 and 1979 before the yachts were shipped to Newport Rhode Island for the America’s Cup. 

In 1982 Ken was approached by Ben Lexcen to measure two new Twelves, “Challenge 12” and “Australia II” being built by Steve Ward in Perth. Naturally, he jumped at this opportunity. Before leaving Sydney, Ben Lexcen visited Ken’s office in Manly and provided him with the lines plan for both these boats. On walking out the door he turned and said, “please do not tell anybody anything about these yachts especially the one with the very radical keel.”

The success of “Australia II” wining the America’s Cup is now Australian folklore. With the Cup now in the hands of the Royal Perth Yacht Club, John Longley, one of the crew of Australia II and a senior member of the Bond syndicate suggested to RPYC that they request Ken to be their nominated measurer on the America’s Cup Measurement Committee for the 1986 Twelve Metre World Championship and the 1987 Americas Cup Defence. This appointment effectively changed the direction of Ken’s life. He, with his young family moved to Perth and set to measuring yachts for 17 teams from 7 countries. 

After Royal Perth lost the Cup to Dennis Conner, and the Cup moved to San Diego, Ken went back to his naval architecture profession and set up a consultancy in Perth and looked back fondly on the 6 months of frenetic challenges and excitement of the America’s Cup as it looked like that was the end of his involvement. But that was not the case.

Following the 1988 “Big Boat Challenge” between the Kiwis’ and Dennis Conner’s catamaran where Ken was the Chief Measurer, there was a ground swell for change of the class of yacht to be used for the Cup especially as the light winds of San Diego would be a disappointment after the windy and rough racing in Fremantle. This mood for change resulted in meetings of the world’s foremost yacht designers in San Diego and Southampton led by John Longley. These meetings resulted in the creation of the International America’s Cup Class. Ken was deeply involved in the development and drafting of the class rules for this exciting new class. The IACC boats were used for the America’s Cup in 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003 and 2007. Ken was the technical director and chief measurer for each of these America’s Cups.

In 2014 Ken was nominated and then elected to fill the role as the chief measurer for the 35th America’s Cup in 2017 in Bermuda. This appointment was particularly challenging with the comprehensive electronic and hydraulics onboard controlling the foil rake and cant but the challenges were more than matched by the beauty of the venue and the spectacular racing at 40 knots.

Of course, Ken has lots of stories about his time with the Cup. Some serious, some funny and some that can never be told: The Australia II wing keel secrecy and measurement controversy story, the Dennis Conner Stars and Striped riblets story, the Kiwi Hula story, the 12 metre which supposedly could not float on her measurement waterline because the deck was too hot under the Fremantle sun, and maybe the most unusual one, the new Russian IACC yacht which was being built in a highly secure defence facility in Moscow where, among other things, the Russian space programme was run. As a westerner to be taken so such a secure establishing was extremely rare. 
 
In 2018 Ken was inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame. This induction was a highlight of his career and it showed that while the role of the measurer is sometimes confrontational the competitors understand that the technical integrity of the measurement is fundamental to making the Cup playing field as level as possible. 

Ken is currently is working with an America’s Cup team for the 2021 America’s Cup as a Rules Advisor. This is an interesting and challenging position as Ken is now on the dark side helping a team to navigate through the multitude of complex technical compliance issues associated with the new AC 75 foiling monohull for the 36th America’s Cup in Auckland next year.  

Reflecting back on more than 45 years of being involved in the America’s Cup Ken greatly values the friendships he has made, both with competitors and race officials, working with the best minds  in the sport and the best sailors in the world to achieve a common goal and the opportunity to bring new younger minds to the increasingly complex nature of measurement of the yachts to be used for the America’s Cup.

An interview with Ken McAlpine can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRH8EsZDx1g