On Friday 28 November 2025, BOAT International welcomed Owners’ Club members for an intimate evening in Sydney, gathering in the Commodores Room at the Royal Motor Yacht Club (RMYC) in Point Piper. With its long maritime heritage, the RMYC’s Point Piper clubhouse has a reputation as one of Australia’s most prestigious yachting institutions.
The event was sponsored by Fraser and brought together a select group of owners and friends for an evening of conversation, fine dining and a deeper dive into the region’s extraordinary nautical history.
The highlight of the evening was a special presentation by John Mullen, superyacht owner, chairman of Australian airline Qantas Airways Limited, and founder of the Silentworld Foundation. Dedicated to the discovery and preservation of Australasian maritime heritage, the foundation has been responsible for some of the region’s most significant underwater archaeological finds and Mullen shared the stories behind five of the Silentworld Foundation’s greatest discoveries.
HMS Mermaid
Once captained by explorer Phillip Parker King, HMS Mermaid played a vital role in charting Australia’s northern and western coastlines in the early 19th century. The vessel was lost after striking a reef in 1829; its discovery not only confirmed its final resting place but also helped illuminate a pivotal era of Australian exploration.
The Cato
Commanded by Matthew Flinders during his celebrated voyages, The Cato was wrecked on the Great Barrier Reef in 1803. The find shed light on Flinders’ lesser-known journey home and the dramatic sequence of events that followed his shipwreck - an episode that ultimately saw him detained on Mauritius for several years.
HMS Endeavour
Perhaps the most famous vessel in Pacific history, Captain James Cook’s Endeavour carried the expedition that charted New Zealand and Australia’s east coast. Long thought lost in the waters off Rhode Island after being scuttled during the American Revolutionary War, the search for its remains has been one of the Silentworld Foundation’s most ambitious maritime archaeology projects.
HMAS AE1
Australia’s first submarine, HMAS AE1, vanished during World War I with all 35 crew on board, becoming one of the nation’s enduring naval mysteries. Its discovery in 2017 provided long-awaited closure and revealed the submarine to be astonishingly intact after more than a century underwater.
Montevideo Maru
The Japanese transport ship Montevideo Maru sank in 1942, taking with it approximately 1,000 allied prisoners of war and civilians – one of Australia’s worst maritime tragedies. Locating the ship at depths of more than 4,000 metres brought historical clarity and emotional resonance to families who had waited generations for answers.
Guests then enjoyed a delicious, seated dinner overlooking the harbour while a guitar duo set a relaxed tone throughout the night.
To find out more information about Owners’ Club events, please contact the BOAT International events team.