Austrailia II broke a 132-year old streak when it took the Cup from the NYYC in 1983.
Dennis Conner went down to Perth in 1987 and won it back, for the San Diego YC. During that event, he infamously quipped "Why would you build a plastic boat ... unless you wanted to cheat?" in reference to the Kiwis. Conner beat USA-61 in the semis, which was helmed by Tom Blackaller, a character himself. IIRC, the boat had much potential, but I don't think they had enough of a handle on how to maximize it.
The Kiwis then hit Conner with a surprise Deed of Gift challenge, and in 1988, he defended it with a small hard wing-sailed catamaran, against KZ-1, a monohull with the max 90ft waterline allowed, but only after a series of court battles, pre- and post-race. Larry Ellison later used this as inspiration later on.
The Kiwis finally took the Cup in 1995, with Black Magic, helmed by Russell Coutts, who along with his mates would later take the Cup to Switzerland in 2003, having been lured away by the francs offered by an Italo-Swiss pharma billionaire. That did not go over well with his countrymen. Conner's unsuccessful '95 defense was with Young America, which was believed to be faster defender, not his own boat. Austraila had a much easier time packing up to go home, after
leaving a banana in San Diego. The NYYC also nearly did the same in Auckland in 1999, so it's not the first time for them, after AM's recent travails.
A rigged contest, lots of money, and a bunch of characters makes the AC as much of a soap opera as a sporting event.