US$10 Million America's Cup Yacht Flips Over in Bermuda

It's pretty damn hard to feel any degree of sympathy for rich American billionaires.

That won't change once you've seen the footage of the catamaran for Oracle Team USA - owned and run by technology billionaire Larry Ellison - flipping over during trials ahead of the next America's Cup in Bermuda.

Ellison was listed by Forbes as the fifth-richest person in the United States in February, with an estimated net worth of US$55 billion. That makes him the seventh wealthiest in the world, by the way.

But the cat tipping over, overnight, is still pretty damn spectacular. The 50-foot boat, thought to be worth around US$10 million, got caught in a gust of wind and slowly tilted over.

No one was injured in the incident, and the cat was righted within minutes. Oracle Team USA said there was no damage, but Blair Tuke, Emirates Team New Zealand's trimmer, told RadioSport today that there definitely would have been.

"Luckily with these boats being a bit smaller than these ones last time and they can get them back upright pretty quickly," he said.

"Even though [Oracle] said there wasn't damage, there will be damage to the boat - not major stuff, but their boat was certainly put under stress."

The America's Cup starts on May 26. It will be cursory attention on Kiwi television news, but everyone knows the truth. America's Cup is now a big money game for dude's with big money; a Formula 1 with tenuous 'national links.'

Still, pretty wild this flipping over, huh?