Search for missing sailor continues

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Rescue crews continued searching on Thursday for a missing 27-year-old man who had been on a small catamaran when it capsized Wednesday evening off Leadbetter Point.
Harbor Patrol officers searched by boat through the night before taking a short break at 6 a.m. yesterday, Waterfront Director John Bridley said. They resumed the patrols an hour and a half later and planned to suspend the rescue efforts at dusk.

“We’ve not recovered any body,” he said. “I will evaluate the situation as of [today] to determine if we will continue to search.”
He said a Coast Guard helicopter and a Sheriff’s helicopter also searched through the night. The missing man, who authorities are not identifying until next-of-kin is notified, had been sailing with a friend when their catamaran tipped in gusty winds at around 6:30 p.m.
The friend made it back to the boat and sailed onto Leadbetter Beach to get help after winds prevented him from turning around. He told authorities the boat capsized about 200 yards off the coast.
Rescuers expanded their search pattern significantly, Bridley said, traveling as far as Summerland to the south and Hope Ranch to the north. They also searched between the coastline and the oil rigs, approximately four miles offshore.