At least one person has died after a patch of severe weather disrupted the Dauphin Island Regatta Saturday afternoon, leaving more than 100 sailors to struggle with harsh winds and rain.
At least one person was confirmed dead, said Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier, but he did not know the cause.
"Apparently there were a number of vessels that became distressed, either capsized or what have you. They were scattered anywhere from Dauphin Island Bridge all the way out into Mobile Bay and across to Fort Morgan. It was a wide area," Collier said.
"When the storm came through the sailboats were in varying places -- all the way from Dauphin Island to Middle Bay Lighthouse."
Many needed to be pulled from the water after their boats capsized. The U.S. Coast Guard was still searching for several missing boaters around Mobile Bay Saturday evening.
Richard Mather, 52, of Mobile, was aboard a 39-foot O'Day sailboat along with a crew of seven people, when he saw two boats collide. They had heard about the forecast of thunderstorms, "but we were not prepared for a gale," Mather said, "which is almost like a 30-minute hurricane."
They were not participating in the race, and were able to pull three people onto the vessel about two miles north of the Dauphin Island Bridge. None of the people appeared injured. "They were exhausted but they were fine," he said. "Their boats sunk so fast that they didn't have time to grab life preservers."
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