Yacht racing accident: 3 killed in Newport-Ensenada race
Team Korea leads Emirates Team New Zealand during the America’s Cup World Series, San Diego Match Racing Championship Fleet Race, on Nov. 20, 2011 in San Diego Bay in California.
Three sailors are dead and one is missing after a collision in a 125-mile sailing race organized by the Newport Ocean Sailing Association, MSNBC reported.
The 37-foot sailboat Aegean, one of the 200 boats participating in the race from Newport, Calif., to Ensenada, Mexico, went missing early Saturday near the Coronado Islands, CNN reported.
"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," Newport Ocean Sailing Association spokesman Rich Roberts said in a statement, according to MSNBC.
Association officials said the Aegean’s wreckage suggested that the vessel collided with a much larger boat, CNN reported.
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One body was recovered by a Coast Guard helicopter and two others by crew from a nearby vessel, MSNBC reported.
The deaths are the first in the race's 65-year history, organizers said, according to CNN. However, just two weeks ago, five sailors died in a race from San Francisco to the Farallon Islands after waves swept them overboard, MSNBC reported.
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