Memorials in Ireland and US for yacht tragedy sailors

Friends of the missing San Francisco yachting tragedy sailors held memorial services in Ireland and the US at the weekend.

Alan Cahill, 36, and Elmer Morrissey, 32, both from Cork, were among eight crew on board the 38ft Low Speed Chase when it was hit by 12ft waves during a race off the coast of California last Saturday week. Several crew were washed overboard. One was killed, three survived, and four are still missing, presumed drowned.

The body of Marc Kasanin, 46, was later recovered from the water.

Mr Cahill, Mr Morrissey, Alexis Busch — who was in her mid-20s and the only woman on board — and Jordan Fromm, 25, are still missing, presumed dead.

The US Coast Guard called off an extensive air and sea search of about 5,000 square miles of ocean after the “window of survivability” had passed.

Mr Morrissey’s family, including his parents, Michael and Ena, attended a Mass in his honour in Glounthaune, Co Cork, on Saturday.

Yesterday, members of Mr Cahill’s family attended a remembrance ceremony at St Brigid’s Church in Crosshaven. A wreath-laying ceremony took place afterwards in the Royal Cork Yacht Club.

Meanwhile in the US, friends of the lost sailors held a memorial flotilla in their honour. Several boats congregated off S Elephant Rock in Tiburon, in the San Francisco Bay area, for the Low Speed Chase Memorial Flotilla on Saturday. They lowered wreaths and flowers into the water before a memorial service in the bay.

Boats from the US Coast Guard and Tiburon Fire Department also took part.

Mr Morrissey, originally from the Highlands, Glounthaune, was a post-doctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Mr Cahill, originally from Killeens, near Blarney, had been living in California for about 10 years.

Mr Cahill is survived by his wife, Shannon, and two young children, who live in Tiburon, San Francisco.