Yacht in Full Crew Farallones Race swamped by rogue waves
The sea is unforgiving….
It has always been so.
Sometimes, it even seems vengeful and alive.
The 38-foot yacht Low Speed Chase was swamped by TWO 15-foot rogue waves off the Farallon Islands on Saturday at the halfway point of the 54-mile Full Crew Farallones Race, which began at daybreak in San Francisco with 49 entrants. The first “freak” wave hit the Low Speed Chase broadside and washed the deck, sweeping some crew members overboard. When the yacht turned to help them, it was hit broadside by ANOTHER freak wave that left only one of the eight crew members on board the vessel, which was knocked on its side on the rocks. Hundreds of people gathered at the San Francisco Yacht Club in Belvedere this evening to mourn the death of Marc Sasanin, a Belvedere artist. His body was pulled from the Pacific Ocean by rescuers after the mayday went out at 3 PM.
According to Paul Liberatore of the Marin Independent Journal, as carried by mercurynews.com:
Rescuers in helicopters and water craft from the Coast Guard and National Guard saved boat owner James Bradford, 41, of Chicago; and crew member Brian Chong of Tiburon as they clung to rocks about 300 feet from their damaged vessel.
Crew member Nick Vos of Sonoma, who is in his 20s, suffered a broken leg but managed to stay on the 38-foot yacht. All three attended the private vigil at the yacht club, but declined to talk to the press.
Among those STILL MISSING are Alexis Busch of Larkspur, Vos’s girfriend, who is in her 20s, Alan Cahill of Tiburon, Jordan Fromm, 25, of Kentfield, and Elmer Morrissey, in his 30s and from Ireland.
Air National Guard helicopters, a Coast Guard helicopter, and three Coast Guard vessels searched a 15-by-30-nautical mile area around the Farallones for the four crew members today. Although all of them were wearing life vests and heavy weather gear, hope that they would be found faded as evening approached today. Coast Guard Petty Officer, Caleb Critchfield, said that the search was called off at sunset and would not be resumed on Monday.
“Anybody aware of the conditions in the Pacific Ocean, with the cold temperatures, knows it’s a very tragic situation for us,” said Ed Lynch, a director of the yacht club.
Other sailboats in the area of the Low Speed Chase were unable to get close enough to shore to attempt to rescue any of the crew. Member of the crew were experienced sailors who had been in many races together and many of them had competed in this race before.
-Bill at
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