Bill McIntyre
04-29-2012, 10:52 PM
LOS ANGELES – A yacht involved in a race off the coast of California and Mexico apparently collided at night with a much larger vessel, leaving three crew members dead and one missing, a sailing organization said early Sunday. It was the state's second ocean racing tragedy this month.
The 37-foot Aegean carrying a crew of four was reported missing Saturday during a 125-mile Newport Beach-to-Ensenada yacht race, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Late Sunday, the San Diego County Coroner's office released the names of two of three victims: William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, of Torrance, and Joseph Lester Stewart, 64, Bradenton, Fla.
The identity of the third sailor has not been revealed. All three bodies, all male, were found in "a debris field in the Pacific Ocean off the shore of northern Mexico," according to the coroner's website. The U.S. Coast Guard searched for a fourth body on Sunday, but called it off at 4:15 p.m. after 28 hours of scouring the waters.
The Newport Ocean Sailing Association, the race organizer, said the yacht in the accident was representing the Little Ships Fleet club in Long Beach. Theo Mavromatis, the owner and skipper of the Aegean, was on the boat along with three crew members, the association said in a press released issued late Sunday.
The accident occurred near Mexico's Coronado Islands about 1:30 a.m., the association said. Redondo Beach Patch quoted Ray Pollock of Marina Sailing, which rents out the boat for Mavromatis as saying the Aegean had its regular crew for the race.
Gary Gilpin at Marina Sailing, which rents out the Aegean when Mavromatis isn't using it, said the 49-year-old skipper took the yacht out earlier in the week for the competition.
Gilpin said Mavromatis, an engineer, was an experienced sailor who had won the Newport to Ensenada race in the past. A woman answering a call at a number listed for Mavromatis declined to answer questions.
"It appeared the damage was not inflicted by an explosion but by a collision with a ship much larger than the 37-foot vessel," association spokesman Rich Roberts said in that news release.
Roberts later told the Register by phone that there seem to be few other explanations for the cause of the accident.
He said details were still scarce but it was possible that if the smaller boat was bobbing around in light wind, the crew might not have been able to get out of the way of a larger ship, perhaps a freighter.
The race goes through shipping lanes and it's possible for a large ship to hit a sailboat and not even know it, especially at night, he said.
Roberts said a race tracking system indicated that the boat disappeared about 1:30 a.m. PDT Saturday.
A Coast Guard search turned up the boat's wreckage, including the rear transom with the boat's name on it, the association release said.
Coast Guard boats and two aircraft as well as Mexican navy and civilian vessels were involved.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said around 3 a.m. Sunday that searchers were focusing on an area about 10 miles off the Mexican coast and about 10 miles south of U.S. waters.
Eric Lamb was the first to find debris of the boat — most no larger than six inches — scattered over about two square miles Saturday as he worked safety patrol on the race. He saw a small refrigerator, a white seat cushion and empty containers of yogurt and soy milk.
"We pulled a lot of boats off the rocks over the years and boats that hit the rocks, they don't look like that. This was almost like it had gone through a blender," said Lamb, 62.
A Coast Guard helicopter circling overhead directed him and a partner to two floating bodies. Both had severe cuts and bruises, and one of them had major head trauma.
Two race participants who were in the area at the time the Aegean disappeared said they saw or heard a freighter.
Cindy Arosteguy of Oxnard, Calif., remembers hearing on her radio someone say, "Do you see us?" as she saw a tanker about a half-mile away.
"I got back on the radio and said, `Yes, I see you,"' she said. "It was definitely a freighter."
The Newport Beach Patch website posted a photo that shows the crew at the start of the race Friday. Four men in royal blue T-shits are on the deck as the boat cuts through calm waters. One man is waving and another appears to be smiling.
Other yachts near the Coronado Islands in Mexico reported seeing debris Saturday morning. Searchers in the afternoon found the bodies and debris from the Aegean, whose home port is Redondo Beach, Dunphy said
Two of the dead were recovered by a civilian boat, while the third was found by a Coast Guard helicopter. The Coast Guard said earlier that it hadn't determined what happened to the sailboat.
Dunphy said conditions were fine for sailing, with good visibility and moderate ocean swells of 6 to 8 feet.
The Newport Ocean Sailing Association's press release said that 213 yachts were registered for this year's race, which started off Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on Friday and many boats finished in Ensenada on Saturday, with the last ones due in Sunday.
The association's commodore, reached by phone in Ensenada, told the AP that he didn't know the members of the Aegean or how many people were aboard.
"This has never happened in the entire 65 years of the race that I'm aware of," Chuck Iverson said. "We're all shocked by this whole event."
The Coronado Islands are four small, largely uninhabited islands.
The deaths come two weeks after five sailors died in the waters off Northern California when their 38-foot yacht was hit by powerful waves, smashed into rocks and capsized during a race.
Three sailors survived the wreck and the body of another was quickly recovered. Four remained missing until one body was recovered last Thursday.
The deadly accident near the Farallon Islands, about 27 miles west of San Francisco, prompted the Coast Guard to temporarily stop races in ocean waters outside San Francisco Bay.
The Coast Guard said the suspension will allow it and the offshore racing community to study the accident and race procedures to determine whether changes are needed to improve safety. U.S. Sailing, the governing body of yacht racing, is leading the safety review, which is expected to be completed within the next month.
The 37-foot Aegean carrying a crew of four was reported missing Saturday during a 125-mile Newport Beach-to-Ensenada yacht race, the U.S. Coast Guard said. Late Sunday, the San Diego County Coroner's office released the names of two of three victims: William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, of Torrance, and Joseph Lester Stewart, 64, Bradenton, Fla.
The identity of the third sailor has not been revealed. All three bodies, all male, were found in "a debris field in the Pacific Ocean off the shore of northern Mexico," according to the coroner's website. The U.S. Coast Guard searched for a fourth body on Sunday, but called it off at 4:15 p.m. after 28 hours of scouring the waters.
The Newport Ocean Sailing Association, the race organizer, said the yacht in the accident was representing the Little Ships Fleet club in Long Beach. Theo Mavromatis, the owner and skipper of the Aegean, was on the boat along with three crew members, the association said in a press released issued late Sunday.
The accident occurred near Mexico's Coronado Islands about 1:30 a.m., the association said. Redondo Beach Patch quoted Ray Pollock of Marina Sailing, which rents out the boat for Mavromatis as saying the Aegean had its regular crew for the race.
Gary Gilpin at Marina Sailing, which rents out the Aegean when Mavromatis isn't using it, said the 49-year-old skipper took the yacht out earlier in the week for the competition.
Gilpin said Mavromatis, an engineer, was an experienced sailor who had won the Newport to Ensenada race in the past. A woman answering a call at a number listed for Mavromatis declined to answer questions.
"It appeared the damage was not inflicted by an explosion but by a collision with a ship much larger than the 37-foot vessel," association spokesman Rich Roberts said in that news release.
Roberts later told the Register by phone that there seem to be few other explanations for the cause of the accident.
He said details were still scarce but it was possible that if the smaller boat was bobbing around in light wind, the crew might not have been able to get out of the way of a larger ship, perhaps a freighter.
The race goes through shipping lanes and it's possible for a large ship to hit a sailboat and not even know it, especially at night, he said.
Roberts said a race tracking system indicated that the boat disappeared about 1:30 a.m. PDT Saturday.
A Coast Guard search turned up the boat's wreckage, including the rear transom with the boat's name on it, the association release said.
Coast Guard boats and two aircraft as well as Mexican navy and civilian vessels were involved.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said around 3 a.m. Sunday that searchers were focusing on an area about 10 miles off the Mexican coast and about 10 miles south of U.S. waters.
Eric Lamb was the first to find debris of the boat — most no larger than six inches — scattered over about two square miles Saturday as he worked safety patrol on the race. He saw a small refrigerator, a white seat cushion and empty containers of yogurt and soy milk.
"We pulled a lot of boats off the rocks over the years and boats that hit the rocks, they don't look like that. This was almost like it had gone through a blender," said Lamb, 62.
A Coast Guard helicopter circling overhead directed him and a partner to two floating bodies. Both had severe cuts and bruises, and one of them had major head trauma.
Two race participants who were in the area at the time the Aegean disappeared said they saw or heard a freighter.
Cindy Arosteguy of Oxnard, Calif., remembers hearing on her radio someone say, "Do you see us?" as she saw a tanker about a half-mile away.
"I got back on the radio and said, `Yes, I see you,"' she said. "It was definitely a freighter."
The Newport Beach Patch website posted a photo that shows the crew at the start of the race Friday. Four men in royal blue T-shits are on the deck as the boat cuts through calm waters. One man is waving and another appears to be smiling.
Other yachts near the Coronado Islands in Mexico reported seeing debris Saturday morning. Searchers in the afternoon found the bodies and debris from the Aegean, whose home port is Redondo Beach, Dunphy said
Two of the dead were recovered by a civilian boat, while the third was found by a Coast Guard helicopter. The Coast Guard said earlier that it hadn't determined what happened to the sailboat.
Dunphy said conditions were fine for sailing, with good visibility and moderate ocean swells of 6 to 8 feet.
The Newport Ocean Sailing Association's press release said that 213 yachts were registered for this year's race, which started off Balboa Pier in Newport Beach on Friday and many boats finished in Ensenada on Saturday, with the last ones due in Sunday.
The association's commodore, reached by phone in Ensenada, told the AP that he didn't know the members of the Aegean or how many people were aboard.
"This has never happened in the entire 65 years of the race that I'm aware of," Chuck Iverson said. "We're all shocked by this whole event."
The Coronado Islands are four small, largely uninhabited islands.
The deaths come two weeks after five sailors died in the waters off Northern California when their 38-foot yacht was hit by powerful waves, smashed into rocks and capsized during a race.
Three sailors survived the wreck and the body of another was quickly recovered. Four remained missing until one body was recovered last Thursday.
The deadly accident near the Farallon Islands, about 27 miles west of San Francisco, prompted the Coast Guard to temporarily stop races in ocean waters outside San Francisco Bay.
The Coast Guard said the suspension will allow it and the offshore racing community to study the accident and race procedures to determine whether changes are needed to improve safety. U.S. Sailing, the governing body of yacht racing, is leading the safety review, which is expected to be completed within the next month.