STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Four sailors remained missing Sunday after a yacht ran aground at the Farallon Islands during a race Saturday that left one crew member dead.
Three sailors were rescued Saturday afternoon after the yacht overturned and was swept onto the rocks during the annual running of the Full Crew Farallones Race.
The skipper, 41-year-old James Bradford of Chicago, was among those rescued, according to a spokesman of the San Francisco Yacht Club in Marin County, where the 38-foot yacht was berthed.
The seven men and one woman on board the Low Speed Chase ranged in age from their 20s to their 40s, according to club spokesman Ed Lynch. He said the San Mateo County Coroner's Office has identified the dead crew member whose body was pulled from the water as Marc Kasanin, 46, of Belvedere.
The sailors who are still missing are: Alan Cahill of Tiburon; Jordan Fromm of San Rafael; Elmer Morrissey, who is from Ireland; and Alexis Busch of Larkspur, who was the only woman aboard.
"It is a very, very tragic event," said Lynch. "And we are not through with it yet, with four missing."
It was the first known fatality in the 143-year history of the San Francisco Yacht Club, Lynch said.
The conditions during Saturday's race were typically rough, but the Low Speed Chase ran into trouble when it was broadsided by a large wave and some crew members were swept overboard, he said.
As the boat was turning around to get them, a second wave flung all but one of the remaining crew members into the water and the yacht aground, Lynch said. At least one other boat in the race witnessed the accident, but was unable to render aid without endangering its crew, he said.
The vessel master told investigators the yacht was rolled several times by the waves, the Coast Guard said.
"Any crew member that is doing this race, and ocean racing is very different from being in the bay, is very experienced and has done this race before at least once, if not many times," Lynch said.
The Belvedere club is the organizer of the race, a 60-mile round-trip from the St. Francis Yacht Harbor in San Francisco to the rugged Farallon Islands.
"It is a very, very treacherous area. It is an island in the middle of the ocean, and the ocean can be turbulent, windy and wild," Lynch said.
Karl Wilber of Santa Rosa, a fellow racer and skipper of the 44-foot Lanikai, said seas were 8 to 12 feet, but waves could double up or be kicked higher by winds that were up to 30 miles per hour.
"They were breaking heavily on the windward side of the island," said Wilber, who was rounding the island as the Coast Guard rescue was under way. "It was semi-challenging conditions. A number of people did not finish the race. I talked to one guy who was fixing a broken mast."
His son, Ryan Wilber, said they could see the yacht on the rocks about a mile away and were monitoring the Coast Guard radio chatter when they learned that one of the crew had died.
"You are surprised and stunned and you get a pit in the bottom of your stomach, but when you are doing Farallons stuff, it is possible," Wilber said.
The Coast Guard had two helicopters, three boats and a C-130 aircraft and the Air National Guard had one helicopter Sunday.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said the entire crew was believed to have been wearing life vests and foul weather gear.
"We wouldn't have all the assets we have out there now if we weren't hopeful," he said.
The Coast Guard said helicopters were used to rescue three members of the crew from the rocks.
Lynch said the three were taken to San Francisco General Hospital. Two have been released, including Bradford, and one remains hospitalized with a broken leg.
The Coast Guard and Air National Guard were searching an area 15 miles long and 30 miles wide.
During the day, people dropped roses and tulips by the entrance of the San Francisco Yacht Club, which hosted a members-only candlelight vigil and prayer service Sunday evening to honor the missing crew members and the one who died.
"One thing about the yacht club and racers, it is a very close-knit community worldwide," Lynch said. "This is being felt around the world."
This story was compiled from reports by Staff Writer Bob Norberg and the Associated Press.
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