3 dead, 1 missing from racing yacht

LOS ANGELES — Three crew members of a sailboat were dead and a fourth person was missing Saturday after their yacht ran into trouble during a race off the coast of California and Mexico.

The 37-foot Aegean was participating in the 125-mile Newport (Orange County) to Ensenada, Mexico, yacht race when vessels near the Coronado Islands in Mexico reported seeing debris from the sailboat Saturday morning, Coast Guard Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said.

By midafternoon, searchers found the bodies and debris from the Aegean, whose home port is Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County), Dunphy said.

The Coast Guard said it doesn’t know if the yacht was in some sort of wreck and is trying to determine what happened to it.

Dunphy said conditions were fine for sailing, with good visibility and moderate ocean swells of 6-to-8 feet.

The dead were not identified pending notification of relatives.

A total of 210 boats were registered in the 65th annual yacht race, according to the Newport Ocean Sailing Association’s website.

The deaths come two weeks after five sailors died near the Farallon Islands when their 38foot yacht was hit by powerful waves and capsized during a race.

That accident prompted the Coast Guard to temporarily stop races in ocean waters outside San Francisco Bay.

The Aegean is owned by Marina Sailing, a sailing club that rents the sailboat for $325 per day.