Low Speed Chase pre-start on Saturday morning. ©2012 Sergei Zavarin/Ultimate Yachtshots

The Loss of Low Speed Chase

April 15, 2012

The docks, forums, and Facebook threads were buzzing today with subdued and stunned discussions of yesterday's loss of the Sydney 38 Low Speed Chase in the OYRA Farallones Race.

Forty-eight boats started the race off St. Francis YC at 09:40. Wind was so light before the start that some boats had to anchor to avoid being swept out past the start line in a stronger-than-predicted ebb, which resulted in some over-earlies.

Light air at the Cityfront start. ©2012 norcalsailing.com

A big sea swell was running, with waves of 10-15 feet. The racers reached a wind line at Pt. Bonita, where they found 15-17 knots. Mains were flogged, then reefed, and #1 jibs were changed down to #3s. The Potato Patch was breaking, but the boats seemed drawn to it anyway, and they found 20-25 knots of wind there. Gusts of 30 knots were reported. The rough conditions discouraged many of even the most experienced and rugged racers.

Among them, Greg Nelsen's Azzura 310 Outsider turned around at the first approach buoy, shortly after which they saw a boat dismasted and called the Coast Guard, who responded right away.

Some of those remaining in the race became seasick and hypothermic.

At approximately 1500 hours, Low Speed Chase's EPIRB went off, and the Cal 40 Green Buffalo called in a mayday on their behalf. Green Buffalo stood off and gave the Coast Guard information about what was happening via VHF 16. According to the Coast Guard press release, they "launched multiple assets including an MH-65 helicopter from Air Station San Francisco, the 87-ft CG Cutter Sockeye, and a 47-ft Motor Life Boat from Station Golden Gate. Search efforts were aided by two Blackhawk helicopters from the 129th Air National Guard unit at Moffett Field." A video shot by the Coast Guard from one of their helos has been making the rounds. See www.d11.uscgnews.com/go/doc/823/469899.

Low Speed Chase was rounding SE Farallon Island at the time of the accident. Apparently, they rounded close to the island and a series of large waves swamped them and swept four people into the water. The remaining crew turned to rescue the fallen, and another big wave knocked the Sydney 38 onto the rocks, throwing all but one of the remaining crew off the boat.

A Coast Guard helicopter rescued two people from the island, and an Air National Guard helicopter rescued a third person from the water and picked up the "deceased individual," Marc Kasanin, 46, of Belvedere. Today, both agencies continued to search for the remaining four crew members: Alan Cahill of Tiburon, Jordan Fromm of San Rafael, Elmer Morrissey of Ireland, and Alexis Busch of Larkspur, who was the only woman aboard. All of them were wearing PFDs. The three rescued sailors were owner James Bradford, Nik Vos, and Brian Chong. The boat remains intact on the rocks.

Low Speed Chase is a San Francisco YC boat, and SFYC happened to be serving as race committee for this OYRA race. The club is mourning the loss. Our sympathy and condolences to those involved and to the families and friends of the lost sailors.

A very thorough and up-to-date article can be found on SFGate. The blog of the Express 27 Elise also has a gripping tale about the race on their boat. Sergei Zavarin's video, from the Olson 34 Red Sky, shows how nasty the waves were.

Thirty boats completed the race, led by Andy Costello's J/125 Double Trouble, which finished at 15:56.

We received several letters in response to this story, and have posted them in a follow-up.