America's Cup Fleet - Team Australia

Cabo Adventures proudly owns four authentic America's Cup regatta sailing yachts. Team Australia: AUS 29 and AUS 31 & Team New Zealand: NZL 81 and NZL 82; each of them has a rich history of appearances in Americas Cup Match Races.  

1995 - oneAustralia - AUS 31

"I remember very clearly when we were down three to one against the Defender in 1983. We came back to fight another day. That's exactly how I feel right now," declared a spirited John Bertrand just hours after oneAustralia (AUS 35) sank from under him during a Louis Vuitton Cup race. Bertrand said the team would continue its campaign, sailing its 'old' boat, oneAustralia (AUS 31).

The story

The following day, March 6th, 1995, France3 (FRA 37) sailed the race alone for a victory because the Australians had not finished preparing their boat and were unable to obtain a lay day. But AUS 31 appeared on the water the next day, and sailed the last two races of the 4th Round Robin, beating Sydney '95 (AUS 29) by 1:54 and Tag Heuer Challenge (NZL 39) by 57 seconds. Bertrand's impressive campaign was on its way again, even if AUS 31 was a touch slower than its sister, oneAustralia (AUS 35). Bertrand succeeded in securing second place in the Semi Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup over NZL 39 and would advance to the Final, losing 5 to 1 to Black Magic (NZL 32). But what might have happened in that Louis Vuitton Cup Final if the Australians had been able to sail AUS 35?

Actually, AUS 35 was launched quite late in San Diego. So the Australians were able to spend a lot of time sailing and testing their first boat, AUS-31 against Syd Fisher's boat, AUS 29 (also a Fluid Thinking drawing) and against Spirit of Australia (AUS 21), an IACC (International America's Cup Class) from the first, 1992-generation boats, designed by Iain Murray. AUS 29 had been endowed with a bulb suspended from three fins. So it was no surprise when Murray designed AUS 31, the hull was canoe shaped (narrow and pinched aft, the typical profile of the 1995 generation boats), and it was fitted with a tandem-keel (bulb suspended from two mobile fins).

In the second IACC World Championships sailed in San Diego in the autumn of 1994, the Australian yacht dominated the 1992 generation, as well as the new, 1995-generation Japan '94 (JPN-30). But by the time it reached the Louis Vuitton Cup Final, oneAustralia looked much more classical, with a rudder and one keel, the bulb fitted with huge wings well aft, fixed to a fin with a trimmer. But it was unable to beat Black Magic.

The dramatic sinking of AUS 35 was shown on television all across the world. After seeing how fast the story and images of the sinking spread, John Bertrand was inspired to assist in the creation of an internet sports-news company which was soon covering round the world races as well as the America's Cup in 1999/2000.

Meanwhile, AUS 31 was repatriated to Australia after its loss to New Zealand. In 1997, Iain Murray tried to get it into the impending battle for the Cup in Auckland, beginning in 1999. In the end, AUS 31 was acquired first by John Kolius' Aloha Racing syndicate and then by Paul Cayard and his AmericaOne team. Cayard used the boat to train relentlessly in Auckland during the Southern summer of 1998-99.

AUS 31 was eventually raced in the 1999 Louis Vuitton Cup by James Spithill for Syd Fisher's Young Australia syndicate. oneAustralia stayed dry-docked in Ballast Point Yard, situated on the Birchgrove Peninsula, in Sydney Harbour, until Cabo Adventures acquired it in 2007.

oneAUSTRALIA
1995
Sail number: AUS 31
Australia.
Yacht Club: Southern Cross Yacht Club.
Home Port: Yarralumla Act, Australia.
AUS 31 replaced AUS 35 on 7 March 1995 in the sixth and seventh race of Round-Robin 4 in the Louis Vuitton Cup 1995, and then sailed the Semi Final and Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup.
AUS 31 was defeated in the Louis Vuitton Cup Final by Black Magic NZL 32 with the Kiwis winning five races to the Australian's one.

Former Owner: OneAustralia America's Cup Team 1995 Pty Limited, Melbourne. John Bertrand Chairman & Dr. Peter Morris CEO.

IACC Sloop

Builder: John McConaghy, J. McConaghy Industries Pty Ltd, Mona Vale, Sydney, Australia
Sailmaker: North Sails, Sobstad, One Australia.
Mast/rig: J. McConaghy, Iain Murray & Ian Burns.

Design team for One Australia America's Cup Team 1995 Pty Limited & Australian Challenge for the America's Cup -
Fluid Thinking Pty Ltd., Melbourne and Southport, then San Diego, with a staff of 24.
Managing director: Alan Ramadan
Hull design: Andy Dovell
Principal designers: Reichel/Pugh Yacht Design Inc. & Iain Murray & Assoc.
Design Coordinator for Fluid Thinking, designers of IACC yachts OneAustralia and Sydney: Grant Simmer, responsible for design team of 7 Naval Architects and Engineers producing detail designs of three IACC yachts.
Appendages designer: Phil Kaiko
Tank test facilities:
-The Australian Maritime Museum tank test in Launceston, Tasmania, with naval architect Richard Whittaker (400 runs, one-eighth scale models of 2.60 metres long built by McConaghy)
-The St John's tank test in Newfoundland, Canada (8 metre long models)
Wind tunnel tests: at Monash University's School of Engineering in Melbourne, Bill Melbourne & Paul Steinman (computer analyst)
Flow simulation: South Bay Simulations, Inc. (SPLASH flow visualization for oneAustralia) and Bruce Rosen
Computational flow analyst: Frank deBord

Built: 1994.
Launched: Autumn 1994 in San Diego.

Skipper: John Edwin Bertrand
Helmsman: Rod Davis
Tactician: Glenn Bourke
Navigator: Andrew Cape
Crew: 16

Data:
Hull material: carbon fiber
Hull color: light green
LOA: 24.15 m
LWL: 18.18 m
Beam: 4.25 m
Draft: 4 m
Sail Area (upwind): 325 m2.
Displacement: 25 tons.
Rating: IACC rule.

oneAustralia AUS 31 sailed 19 races (2 in the end of the fourth Round Robin, 11 in the Semi Final and six in the Final of the Louis Vuitton Cup). She lost nine times (five in the Final against Black Magic NZL 32). She won two races against Black Magic.

1997: bought by Aloha Racing Syndicate lead by John Kolius

1998: owned by Paul Cayard's AmericaOne syndicate. Training yacht for the Americans during the 1998-99 austral winter. Trial horse for AmericaOne USA-49.

1999: bought by Sydney Fisher for the Young Australia syndicate. Christened as Young Australia. Skippered by James Spithill who often won the lead at the start, but the boat wasn't very efficient by that stage. AUS 31 was only raced in the two first Round Robins.

April 2005: AUS 31 is stored and dry-docked in Australia, at Ballast Point yard, situated on Birchgrove Peninsula, in Sydney Harbour.

February 2007: Acquired by Cabo Adventures and currently sailing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico