One dead, four missing in California yacht race
SAN FRANCISCO, April 15 |
(Reuters) - One sailor died and four
were missing after powerful waves battered a sailboat during a
yacht race and tossed it into rocks around islands off San
Francisco, officials said on Sunday.A search by air and sea was underway for the sailors who were swept overboard on Saturday when the waves hit the Low Speed Chase, a 38-foot (11.5-meter) racing and cruising sailboat.
"This was an experienced crew who raced together often," said Ed Lynch, director of the San Francisco Yacht Club, where the Low Speed Chase is based. "The sailing community is tight-knit, and this is being felt around the world. This is just a terrible tragedy for everyone."
Helicopters and ships near the Farallon Islands, 45 nautical miles (83 nautical kilometers) west of the Golden Gate Bridge, were scouring the area for the sailors, said Levi Read, a U.S. Coast Guard spokesman.
The California Air National Guard was providing air support with night vision and heat-seeking devices. Members of the San Francisco Yacht Club were using private watercraft to search the area.
Authorities have not released the identity of the dead sailor.
The eight-member crew of the Low Speed Chase set sail on Saturday as one of 49 yachts competing in the Full Crew Farallones, an annual race around the rugged island chain, according to San Francisco Yacht Club's Lynch.
Seas and winds were considered typical for the season, he said. The boat was in the vicinity of SE Farallon Island around 3 p.m. (1900 GMT) Saturday when a wave swept four crew members into the water, Lynch said.
The four remaining crewmembers turned the yacht around, only to be hit by another wave that dashed the boat against rocks, where it foundered, Read said.
"The boat is in bad shape, with its sails torn, up against rocks and beaten by waves," he said.
Helicopter crews arrived about a half-hour later and used litter baskets and motorized winches to rescue three sailors and recover one body, Read said.
Lynch said the three rescued sailors were "all pretty shaken up" and taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Two were treated and released late Saturday and one remained hospitalized on Sunday with a fractured leg, he said.
The prospects for surviving frigid ocean waters or holding onto the rocky shoals and cliffs of the Farallones depend on the missing sailors' physical fitness, size and clothing, Read said.
"The people who were rescued had on cold-weather gear and inflatable life vests," he said. "That's what's giving us hope." (Editing by Paul Thomasch and Xavier Briand)
end quote from:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/15/usa-california-yacht-idUSL2E8FF1U720120415
The way this is written I wonder if the two waves (the one that drove the crew members overboard and the next one that caused the boat to founder) were rogue waves(unexpected very large waves). Otherwise, it wouldn't make any sense why the boat foundered like this upon the rocks. However, when you are sailing, boats don't necessarily turn on a dime especially in a storm or difficult conditions. So likely there were many factors that caused this multiple calamity.
My wife was an all weather sailor. Her father was an all weather sailor to and had a sailboat, a catch in the 40 to 50 foot range that they sailed in San Francisco and Southern California. Her Dad also raced his boat in the Transpac race to Hawaii. She also said that he raced his boat in this same Farallon Island race likely between 1955 and 1970.
And I often sailed with my cousin in his Columbia 22 that he bought in 1968 when I was 20. We often sailed to Catalina Island to go Scuba and Skin diving. When he first bought his sailboat we didn't know what red flags meant. So, we sailed out of Marina Del Rey on a Red Flag day (which means a storm is coming) but we didn't know that then. So, we sailed up to Malibu where I got my SCUBA tanks on and went Scuba Diving off of Malibu. However, I noticed it was getting rough under water and I couldn't see very well and I had difficulty getting up into the boat because of high seas. My cousin was angry because it was obvious a storm was coming down on us and was worried he might have to beach his new sailboat at Malibu to save us. My girlfriend at that time was starting to panic as I hauled up the anchor that had gotten caught in the seaweed. I started to feel seasick then from all the movements every which way while I untangled the anchor so we could sail away. When I finally got it loose the seas were about 15 foot waves and choppy. The only reason we didn't have to beach the boat was because the storm was going the same direction we were, which was back to Marina Del Rey. When we were on top of the wave the wind hit us and healed us over then when we were on the bottom of the trough we bounced all around from white caps and no regular wind. So, as the 15 foot waves moved towards Marina Del Rey. We surfed down the waves with the boat until we hit the trough then as we rose up the next wave we sort of were sliding backwards down it until we crested and then we would slid down again like the boat surfing. These were the scariest seas I have ever been in before or since. Only fools would have gone out that day. We were just young and didn't know any better yet. But somehow we survived even though my girlfriend who was with us never wanted to sail ever again! But, I think my cousin and I just laughed it off because we had survived and by the next weekend or two had sailed over to Catalina Island 26 miles off the coast of California. It's still a great story to tell. An adventure is a near death experience well managed. If you survive your adventures then you have great stories to tell. The problem is in real life that not all adventures are survivable.
Unfortunate followup on April 16th:
Coast Guard suspends search for 4 missing sailors
Monday, April 16, 2012
Surrounded by seals and sea lions, the sailing
vessel Low Speed Chase lay on its side on the Farallon Islands Monday
April 16, 2012. Five people lost their lives during a race Saturday.
Related Content
(04-16) 14:16 PDT SAN FRANCISCO
-- Rescuers have suspended the search for four sailors who were swept
overboard when their 38-foot sailboat ran aground near the Farallon
Islands, saying the "window of survivability" has closed.
U.S. Coast Guard and Air National Guard crews spent most of Saturday night and Sunday searching more than 5,000 square miles, but called off the search Sunday night after concluding it was unlikely any of the missing could still be alive.
The four missing sailors were part of an eight-member crew whose boat, the Low Speed Chase, was pummeled by 12-foot waves during a race Saturday and forced onto rocks near the Farallon Islands, 27 miles west of the Golden Gate.
One crew member, Marc Kasanin, 46, of Belvedere, died in the water, and three others were rescued.
"The decision to suspend a search and rescue case like this is never an easy one to make," said Coast Guard Capt. Cynthia Stowe. "The Coast Guard extends our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the lost crewmen and the deceased."
It was the deadliest yachting accident in the Bay Area since 1982, when six sailors died during a storm in a race on the same course as Saturday's competition.
The missing sailors were identified by friends as Alan Cahill of Tiburon, a boat technician in his mid-30s who has a wife and two children; Alexis Busch of Larkspur, who is in her mid-20s; Jordan Fromm, 25, of Ross; and Elmer Morrissey of Ireland, who is in his early 30s.
The Coast Guard opened an investigation Monday into the accident, which is standard protocol after a major marine incident, said Petty Officer Caleb Critchfield. Investigators will look at the chain of events that led to the accident and forward any evidence of possible wrongdoing to the San Francisco district attorney's office.
All four missing crew members were wearing life vests - as required by the Coast Guard - and foul-weather gear, said Ed Lynch, director of the San Francisco Yacht Club of Belvedere, the boat's home club. None of the crew members was wearing a tether, which the Coast Guard does not require for races such as the one Saturday.
The race around Farallones, an annual event since 1907, began at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. Several other boats turned back in the face of 25-knot winds and waves as high as 15 feet, described as typical conditions for the area.
At 2:45 p.m., the Low Speed Chase was slammed by a powerful wave that washed five crew members overboard near Southeast Farallon Island. The remaining three crew members turned the craft around, but another wave threw the boat against the rocks on the northeast corner of the island, authorities said.
Two of the crew fell overboard but managed to scramble onto the rocky shore of the island. The one left on board the boat suffered a broken leg, officials said.
A Coast Guard helicopter picked up the three stranded crew members - the owner and captain, James Bradford of San Francisco, along with Nick Vos of Marin County, who is in his 20s, and Bryan Chong of Belvedere, in his late 30s. Bradford and Vos, reached Monday by phone, declined to comment.
The boat could be seen Monday stranded on a rock, well above the shoreline.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Justin Berton and Jaxon Van Derbeken contributed to this report.
U.S. Coast Guard and Air National Guard crews spent most of Saturday night and Sunday searching more than 5,000 square miles, but called off the search Sunday night after concluding it was unlikely any of the missing could still be alive.
The four missing sailors were part of an eight-member crew whose boat, the Low Speed Chase, was pummeled by 12-foot waves during a race Saturday and forced onto rocks near the Farallon Islands, 27 miles west of the Golden Gate.
One crew member, Marc Kasanin, 46, of Belvedere, died in the water, and three others were rescued.
"The decision to suspend a search and rescue case like this is never an easy one to make," said Coast Guard Capt. Cynthia Stowe. "The Coast Guard extends our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the lost crewmen and the deceased."
It was the deadliest yachting accident in the Bay Area since 1982, when six sailors died during a storm in a race on the same course as Saturday's competition.
The missing sailors were identified by friends as Alan Cahill of Tiburon, a boat technician in his mid-30s who has a wife and two children; Alexis Busch of Larkspur, who is in her mid-20s; Jordan Fromm, 25, of Ross; and Elmer Morrissey of Ireland, who is in his early 30s.
The Coast Guard opened an investigation Monday into the accident, which is standard protocol after a major marine incident, said Petty Officer Caleb Critchfield. Investigators will look at the chain of events that led to the accident and forward any evidence of possible wrongdoing to the San Francisco district attorney's office.
All four missing crew members were wearing life vests - as required by the Coast Guard - and foul-weather gear, said Ed Lynch, director of the San Francisco Yacht Club of Belvedere, the boat's home club. None of the crew members was wearing a tether, which the Coast Guard does not require for races such as the one Saturday.
The race around Farallones, an annual event since 1907, began at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. Several other boats turned back in the face of 25-knot winds and waves as high as 15 feet, described as typical conditions for the area.
At 2:45 p.m., the Low Speed Chase was slammed by a powerful wave that washed five crew members overboard near Southeast Farallon Island. The remaining three crew members turned the craft around, but another wave threw the boat against the rocks on the northeast corner of the island, authorities said.
Two of the crew fell overboard but managed to scramble onto the rocky shore of the island. The one left on board the boat suffered a broken leg, officials said.
A Coast Guard helicopter picked up the three stranded crew members - the owner and captain, James Bradford of San Francisco, along with Nick Vos of Marin County, who is in his 20s, and Bryan Chong of Belvedere, in his late 30s. Bradford and Vos, reached Monday by phone, declined to comment.
The boat could be seen Monday stranded on a rock, well above the shoreline.
San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Justin Berton and Jaxon Van Derbeken contributed to this report.
Will Kane and Carolyn Jones are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Twitter: @WillKane wkane@sfchronicle.com. carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/16/BASV1O3UU5.DTL#ixzz1sFoYP0mF
1 comment:
I feel very sad for the persons that have been found missing during a yacht race. Hope they will be rescued soon.
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