10:44 PM: Organizers for a yacht race that resulted in a fatal boating accident today are still waiting tensely for word on the fate of some race participants.
One person is dead and three others still missing this evening after the Low Speed Chase, a 38-foot yacht, ran aground in the Farallon Islands this afternoon during the 2012 Full Crew Farallones Race.
Three people were rescued following the 3 p.m. accident, and a fourth person was recovered and confirmed dead, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Three other crew members are still missing, however, and the Coast Guard and Air National Guard remained on scene into the evening, continuing its search for the missing sailors.
More than 60 boats had signed up for the annual yacht race, according to the Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay’s web site.
All other boats returned safely, according to Gerry Brown, chairman of the board.
Conditions on the water were “normal,” with 10 foot waves and 25 knot waves, he noted.
Brown and other members of the association, and of the San Francisco Yacht Club, where the Low Speed Chase is based, were waiting anxiously tonight for further word on the missing crew members.
“The Yacht Racing Association of San Francisco Bay, The Ocean Yacht Racing Association, and the Board of Directors would like to express our deepest sympathies at this time of sorrow to the family and friends of the lost crewman of “Low Speed Chase,”” said association executive director Laura Munoz in a statement.
“We offer our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of the missing crew in hopes they are returned home safely,” Munoz said.
The Low Speed Chase was skippered by James Bradford, according to a list of race participants on the association web site. Brown described the crew only as “young people.”
The San Francisco Yacht Club’s general manager declined to comment, saying only that he was waiting for information from the Coast Guard.
6:20 PM: One person is dead and three others still missing after a boat involved in a race around the Farallon Islands ran aground this afternoon.
The boating accident involving a 38-foot sailing vessel named the Low Speed Chase was reported around 3 p.m., according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read.
A Coast Guard helicopter was able to rescue two people from the rocks on the islands this afternoon, and an Air National Guard helicopter rescued another person, Read said.
A fourth person pulled from the water has been pronounced deceased, and another three people are still unaccounted for.
The Coast Guard has two boats on the scene, still searching for the boat’s remaining occupants.
Sara Gaiser, Bay City News
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