Tragedy on ‘YachtCruz’

We’re saddened to report that YachtCruz has likely met a tragic end. The Coast Guard confirmed in a phone call with Latitude yesterday that they’ve identified the remains of Patrick Wolfgang, who was found just offshore and about 10 miles south of Ensenada. The Coast Guard said that the Mexican authorities located the remains of a female onshore, but have yet to confirm the identity of the woman. Wolfgang was the partner of Sandi Foree. The couple had been cruising on the Irwin 52 ketch YachtCruz and were recently in Central America.

According to Ensenada.Net, YachtCruz, which was apparently headed north to Chula Vista in San Diego County, ran into trouble late at night on January 7 (there were reports of strong winds around this time). A distress call was received by the Mexican Navy, which "conducted a search in the subsequent days without success," Ensenada.Net reported. The USCG said that the Mexican Navy eventually asked for assistance, and two Coast Guard aircraft began to search a 3,200-nautical-mile area over three days, when they spotted the remains of Patrick Wolfgang and directed Mexican authorities to the location.  

The Coast Guard said they also found an EPIRB and life jackets, both presumably from YachtCruz — it’s not clear if the EPIRB was manually activated, or was triggered automatically. Any wreckage of YachtCruz itself has not been found. The Coast Guard said their role was strictly to assist in the search and rescue. The cause of the accident is apparently being investigated by Mexican authorities. 

The Coast Guard said they wanted to express their condolences to the families of YachtCruz, and we here at Latitude would also like to send our best wishes to the families of those involved in this tragedy. We will be putting a story together about the life and times of YachtCruz for the February issue.