Associated Press
A yacht racing off the coasts of California and Mexico apparently collided with a much larger vessel, killing three crew members and leaving one missing, a sailing organization said early Sunday.
The Newport Ocean Sailing Assn. was hosting the 125-mile Newport-to-Ensenada yacht race when the collision occurred late Friday or early Saturday several miles off the coast near the border.
"An investigation was continuing, but 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 a news release early Sunday.
Three crew members of a sailboat were found dead and a search was under way early Sunday for a fourth, in the state's second ocean racing tragedy this month.
Coast Guard boats and two aircraft as well as Mexican navy and civilian vessels were searching for the missing crew member.
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, Coast Guard Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said.
Two of the dead were recovered by a civilian boat, while the third was found by a Coast Guard helicopter.
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 and capsized during a race. Three other sailors survived the wreck.
