US coastguard calls off search for Cork sailors
Alan Cahill from Blarney and Glounthaune native Elmer Morrissey were part of an eight-member crew racing around the Farallon Islands about 40km from San Francisco on Saturday when their yacht, Low Speed Chase, was forced onto rocks by massive waves.
Five of the crew were thrown overboard by the first 15ft (4.5m) wave. As the boat was turning to get them, a second, equally powerful wave flung all but one of the remaining crew members into the water and the yacht was forced aground.
Other sailboats in the area witnessed the incident, but were unable to get close enough to attempt a rescue.
“It’s a disaster — they were inside, too close to the rocks,” one of the onlooking sailors, Steve Hocking, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Once you get in that close and a wave hits you like that, it rolls you over. There’s not much you can do. The power of those waves is incredible.”
Three crew members were rescued alive and the body of one, Marc Kasanin, was recovered from the water.
However, despite a search of 5,000 square miles using a C-130 plane, helicopters, four coastguard vessels, no sign could be found of the other four crew.
“There’s a window of survivability and we searched well beyond that window,” said coastguard petty officer Caleb Critchfield.
Alan Cahill, a father of two young children, is understood to have developed his love of sailing on his father John’s yacht which was moored in Kinsale. The 36-year-old worked for three years as a private investigator with Enterprise Investigations before he moved to America in 2001 to take up sailing professionally.
His former boss at Enterprise, Jim McNulty, described him as “very charismatic and great company”. He told how, shortly after he moved to the US, he sent Mr McNulty a picture of himself sailing under the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
He made his home in Tiburon, San Francisco, from where he took part in a lot of open ocean racing. He also worked at the San Francisco yacht club taking care of many of the racing and sail boats.
“We are totally heartbroken by this. Alan loved the US and he loved his sailing,” his devastated mother, Noirin, said yesterday.
“But he kept in touch with his family and friends and loved to come back to Cork whenever he could.
“He has friends all over Ireland, especially in the sailing community. Everyone is devastated by this.
“Alan married an American girl called Shannon. They have two beautiful children and live out there [California]. He has been in the US for about 10 years now.”
Elmer Morrissey, 32, had moved to San Francisco a year ago taking up a role with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Mr Morrissey, who received his doctorate from UCC, had previously been employed as a commercial and industrial energy consultant with RPS in Cork.
He was a keen sportsman, enjoying kitesurfing, snowboarding and running. Before he moved to America he took part in a 75km hike in Kerry in support of DEBRA Ireland.
Dominic O’Sullivan of UCC’s department of civil and environmental engineering did his PhD at the same time as Mr Morrissey. He described him as a “very popular guy, who enjoys all outdoor activities”.
“Our thoughts are with him and his family.”
Mr Morrissey’s parents were last night travelling back from Spain to their home in the Highlands estate in Glounthaune.
Fr John Paul Hegarty said he hoped to visit them as soon as possible to offer what support he could. He said he had spoken to neighbours in the Highlands estate, who said Mr Morrissey and his family were very well known and liked. “There is deep sense of sadness there, as well as shock and disbelief. It is unbelievable what has happened to them.”
This is not the first time poor conditions have cost lives in a race at the Farallon Islands. In Apr 1982, six lives and seven boats were lost when a storm smashed into the Double Handed Farallones Race, which takes the same route as Saturday’s race.
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