Aussies Back On Board

John Bertrand’s oneAustralia crew lost neither its sense of humor nor its racing edge after losing its top sailboat during a Pacific Ocean storm.

Sailing its year-old backup boat, oneAustralia returned to the America’s Cup trials and beat national rival Sydney 95 by 1 minute, 54 seconds.

The Aussies, who have retained their dry wit throughout their crisis, wore life jackets for most of the prestart maneuvers, then removed them as the race began.

Some 46 hours earlier, the Aussies found themselves jumping overboard after the newer oneAustralia broke in two and sank within 2 minutes during a race with Team New Zealand. It was the first sinking during a race in the 144-year history of the America’s Cup.

But they worked around the clock to get their older boat ready for Tuesday’s race, sailing with old sails because all their newer ones rest under 500 feet of water. They skipped Monday’s race with France because they weren’t ready.