An America's Cup sloop from Australia sank in heavy wind and rough waves during Sunday's race. All 16 crewmembers were rescued.
It was the new yacht oneAustralia, skippered by 1983 America's Cup winner John Bertrand.The 75-foot carbon-fiber sloop sank in about three minutes, said Marcus Hutchinson, an official with Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers. There was no immediate word on what caused the accident.
It was the worst accident in America's Cup history.
"For it to sink that quickly, it must have been really catastrophic," Hutchinson said.
If the stress was great enough, the boat could have broken in two. It sank in 1,200 feet of water about two miles off the coast.
"It was really, really, choppy," Hutchinson said. "They were the worst conditions we've seen so far. The last time we saw it, it was bouncing around like crazy."
When the accident happened, oneAustralia was racing Team New Zealand. There were plenty of boats to help in the rescue, as each racing yacht is followed by a team tender and an umpire boat.
The oneAustralia syndicate must ask an international jury if it can use its older boat to continue in the regatta.
The newer oneAustralia made its debut on Feb. 17. At the time of the accident, it was trailing Team New Zealand by 12 points in the challenger standings.
Not long after oneAustralia sank, the 110-foot mast on France 3 broke at the third spreader, and two men were thrown overboard. They were immediately pulled back on.
Racing on Sunday began in 15 knots of wind, with short, steep swells of 5 to 6 feet and visibility of 300 meters.
The start of the oneAustralia-Team New Zealand match was delayed for 45 minutes after oneAustralia broke two battens in its mainsail.
On the defender course, Stars & Stripes also sustained damage and eventually dropped its mainsail, sailing upwind with only a jib. Its opponent, Mighty Mary, also dropped its mainsail and sailed with a jib only after getting a big lead.
The oneAustralia yacht that sank, sail number AUS-35, had been the focus of controversy last year.
America's Cup trustee San Diego Yacht Club contended that the Southern Cross Yacht Club built three boats for the competition, which violated a rule limiting competitors to two new boats.
The San Diego club further argued that SCYC attempted to circumvent the rule by selling its first boat to the rival Australian Yacht Club, in an effort to form a super America's Cup syndicate.
But an international yachting jury ruled in favor of oneAustralia. Had the jury ruled otherwise, AUS-35 would have been ineligible to sail.
Bertrand is sailing in his first America's Cup since 1983, when he sailed the controversial wing-keeled Australia II to victory over Dennis Conner's Liberty, ending the New York Yacht Club's 132-year winning streak.
This is the second America's Cup contested in the International America's Cup Class yachts, which are built of carbon fiber because of San Diego's normally light, shifty winds.