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The Newport to Ensenada Race announced the loss of the Hunter 376 Aegean off the Mexican border on Saturday. The full press release is here, dateline Ensenada:
Newport Ocean Sailing Association (NOSA) officials learned late Saturday that three sailors in their Newport to Ensenada offshore race had died in an apparent collision with a large vessel several miles off the coast near the border.
Theo Mavromatis is the owner and skipper of the sailboat Aegean, a Hunter 376 representing the Little Ships Fleet club, but it was not known if he was one of the victims. A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter led Vessel Assist to two bodies and later retrieved another. None of the bodies had been identified. A crew list was not immediately available, nor was it known how many other crew may have been on the boat, which is usually sailed by five or more persons.
The first indication of the incident was at 1:30 a.m. Saturday when the boat's image vanished from the online race tracking system in place for the race. A Coast Guard search was launched that led to discovery of the boat's wreckage, including the rear transom with the boat's name on it.
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-ft vessel.
The race started off Newport Beach mid-day Friday and many boats finished in Ensenada on Saturday, with the last ones due in Sunday. Weather conditions were lighter than normal at the time and place of the incident, with boats reporting winds of only 1 or 2 knots.
These would be the first fatalities in the 65-year history of the race, in which as many as 675 boats have competed in 1983. 213 were entered this year.
- Rich Roberts, Press Officer, Lexus Newport to Ensenada Yacht Race
With two boats lost in two weeks on the West Coast should we expect more Coast Guard scrutiny?
Our condolences to the family and friends of the lost sailors.
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