Coast guard waiting for better weather to save injured sailors

ALAMEDA, Calif. ?

Efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard to rescue injured boaters on a yacht hundreds of miles from San Francisco's coast were put on hold Sunday afternoon until weather conditions improved enough that a helicopter could launch off a nearby coast guard cutter.

Three of the 13 crew members aboard the 68-foot Geraldton Western Austrial were injured Saturday when a large wave struck the boat, which was competing in the Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race from China to San Francisco, according to race officials. The wave also swept away some of the boat's steering mounting and wheel and some communications equipment.

Coast Guard officials said the three wounded boaters suffered a range of injuries from suspected cracked or broken ribs to possible pelvic and back injuries.

On Saturday evening, the U.S. Coast Guard dispatched a C-130 aircraft from Fairfield manned by National Guard parajumpers to search for the boat and rescue the injured crewmembers, said Petty Officer Levi Read.

At about 7 p.m., the Coast Guard crew located the yacht roughly 400 miles west of San Francisco.

Crew members dropped medical supplies to the boaters below but due to weather conditions, parajumpers were unable to descend to the yacht and the aircraft had to return to base to refuel, Read said.

Next, he said, "Plan B was put into place."

Later Saturday night, the Coast Guard diverted the Bertholf cutter ship and sent out a rescue helicopter from San Diego, both of which were en route to the yacht's location as of 3 a.m., according to Read.

"The main objective will be to get to the three injured people, evaluate them and see if there are any injuries that haven't been reported," Read said.

Anyone else who wished to leave the yacht was to be rescued.

The cutter ship was expected to be within range of the yacht around 8 a.m. Sunday, and the rescue operation was expected to occur a few hours later.

But minutes before 1 p.m., Coast Guard Petty Officer Caleb Critchfield said that though the cutter was within range of the stranded boat, the rescue was on hold until the helicopter could safely launch.

Although the yacht had some steering problems, it continued to make its way back toward the Bay Area at about 9 mph, the officer said.

Race officials said that as of about 5:45 p.m. Friday, about four of the participating 10 yachts had finished the sixth leg of the around-the-world race, from China to the U.S., and had docked at Jack London Square in Oakland. The boats were scheduled to depart on the next leg on April 14.

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