The Regatta Gear team would like to extend our condolences to the families of the fine crew of the vessel Low Speed Chase, slammed by waves and pushed onto rocks during a race around South Farallon Island off San Francisco, Sat., April 14. Five of the eight-member crew perished in the accident.
The boat’s owner, James “Jay” Bradford, 41, of Chicago, survived along with Bryan Chong and Nick Vos, who suffered a broken leg. Rescuers recovered the body of Marc Kasanin. The missing sailors – Alan Cahill, Alexis Busch, Elmer Morrissey and Jordan Fromm – are all presumed to have drowned.
Low Speed Chase was a 38-foot (11.5-meter) racing and cruising sailboat. It was one of 49 yachts competing on Saturday in the 105th edition of the Full Crew Farallones race. The 54-mile, daylong regatta – sponsored by the San Francisco Yacht Club – starts in San Francisco Bay, passes through the Golden Gate and rounds a craggy outpost known as South Farallon Island.
As Low Speed Chase approached the island, large wave initially swept four crew members into the ocean and when those remaining aboard tried to turn the craft around, another wave tossed three more people into the water and pushed the boat onto rocks, where it foundered.
Life vests were mandatory for every yacht in the race. The sailors who were rescued were wearing inflatable life vests and had on cold-weather gear, according to reports.
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