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Kookaburra III (KA 15) was the Australian 12 Metre yacht sailed by Iain Murray in the 1987 America's Cup held off of Fremantle, Western Australia. Murray won the Defender Selection and Kookaburra III represented Australia in the America's Cup, where she lost to American challenger Dennis Conner sailing Stars & Stripes 87.
Kookaburra III was built in Perth, Western Australia by Parry Boat Builders. She was the third of the Kookaburra boats built by the Taskforce 87 syndicate, all of which were designed by Iain Murray and John Swarbrick. The golden hulled Kookaburra's were fast and evenly matched, particularly Kookaburra II and Kookaburra III. Kookaburra II was intended to be a bench mark boat and was left unaltered from May 1986 on, while significant changes went into the hulls and keels of Kookaburra I and Kookaburra III. Throughout Kookaburra II remained a very fast sailer. Iain Murray believed her to be the syndicates fastest right up until the defender finals, when Kookaburra III finally became faster as a result of a keel modification.
The end of the selection round robins series found Kookaburra III the leading yacht, with 83 points, followed by Australia IV at 77 and Kookaburra II at 70. Steak and Kidney was eliminated on points halfway through the final round. With ongoing protests over the legality of Australia IV's balloon jib, an agreement was reached in which Australia IV and Kookaburra III would race in a best of nine set. The winning syndicate could then use Kookaburra II as the defender yacht if they so chose.
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