Four people pulled from sinking yacht off Laguna Beach coast
- Share via
Four individuals were rescued from a sinking sailboat on Sunday, a few hundred yards offshore from Laguna Beach’s Heisler Park area, after the vessel struck a submerged rock structure, officials said.
Laguna Beach Marine Safety Capt. Dane Doran said the collision took place shortly before 4 p.m., disabling the boat and briefly stranding its four occupants. The name of the craft — “Esprit de l’Eau” — was visible to those who watched the incident from nearby Monument Point.
Fortunately, a department rescue boat was patrolling the shoreline and was able to immediately respond to the scene, according to Doran.
“Our lifeguard rescue vessel, Wave Watch, rescued all four people on the boat,” the watch commander told the Daily Pilot Monday.
“The [sailboat] sustained enough damage that it submerged overnight. It’s since been recovered by a tow service out of Newport Beach and is being towed back to Newport Harbor.”
Because the boat could not be immediately retrieved, the Coast Guard and California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Spill Prevention and Response deployed a boom overnight to contain any potential leakage from the sunken craft, Doran said.
The occupants of the boat were taken ashore with no injuries reported, according to Doran.
As of Monday afternoon, no reports of any spill or debris had been reported in the area.
It is unknown if the vessel belonged to the people who were using it or whether it had been chartered. A boat by the same name, connected to the Balboa Yacht Club, may have participated in the 2025 Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race, according to a social media posting for the event.
Doran noted that the weather and ocean conditions were relatively calm at the time the wreck occurred. Members of the sheriff department’s Harbor Patrol also responded to the incident.
