''oneAustralia'' was an

International America's Cup Class The International Americas Cup Class is a class of racing yacht that was developed for the America's Cup between 1992 and 2007. These yachts, while not identical, were all designed to the same formula to offer designers the freedom to experiment ...

racing yacht Yacht racing is a sailing sport involving sailing yachts and larger sailboats, as distinguished from dinghy racing, which involves open boats. It is composed of multiple yachts, in direct competition, racing around a course marked by buoys or o ...

owned by a syndicate of the same name and headed by John Bertrand, the former skipper of the America's Cup-winning

Australia II ''Australia II'' (KA 6) is an Australian 12-metre-class America's Cup challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club. Skippered by John Bertrand, she was the first successful ...

. Prior to its entry in the

1995 America's Cup The 29th America's Cup was contested between the winner of the 1995 Citizen Cup, Team Stars & Stripes, which switched to the yacht ''Young America'' (USA 36) for the competition, and the winner of the 1995 Louis Vuitton Cup, Team New Zealand, w ...

, the yacht attracted controversy due to Bertrand's interpretation of new rules for racing syndicates, and due to attempts by

Philip Morris International Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris I ...

to advertise on the yacht during the race. The yacht broke in two and sank during the semi-finals, only from the start line, on 6 March 1995. All 17 crew members were rescued by three other boats. The Monday after the incident, the Australians were coordinating plans with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to conduct a salvage operation. They hoped that oneAustralia 95's mast, sails and hardware might be saved and still be of use for the remainder of the challenge.

References

External links

Video of the incident
International America's Cup Class yachts Sailing in Australia {{yachtracing-stub