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Subject: TWL: Grand banks stolen
From: Keith (klemmons@XXX.XXX)
Date: Mon Dec 02 2002 - 08:46:07 EST
Check this out. They sent pix as well... you could never tell it was a
GB after washing up on the rocks...
_______________
Hi all!
We had some real excitement here this week. An almost new GB 42 was
stolen from SFYC and
wrecked a few miles south of our house.Its similar to ours though five
years newer and
an Europa Sedan (different cabin configuration). I know from talking to
my friend Craig
at Oceanic Yachts (Oceanic sold the boat brand new to the owner this
spring) that the
boat was almost out of fuel when stolen.Im attaching some pictures of
the wreck which
were on The Sea Ranch membership web site and also including a SF
Chronicle article
about it below...
> $500,000 yacht taken for joyride
> Mystery sailor wrecks S.F. man's boat in Sonoma County after daytime theft
>
> Carl Nolte, Chronicle Staff WriterThursday, November 21, 2002
> The cops and the Coast Guard are looking for a daring seagoing thief who stole
> a luxury yacht in broad daylight from San Francisco's spiffiest yacht harbor,
> sailed it 90 miles north of the Golden Gate and ran it up on the rocks.
>
> The yacht, a 42-foot Grand Banks Classic motor trawler worth at least half a
> million dollars, belonged to Monroe J. Wingate, former commodore of the
> exclusive St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco.
>
> Person or persons unknown took the vessel, a new Grand Banks that Wingate had
> named Casablanca, from its berth in the shadow of St. Francis' ornate
> clubhouse in the city's Marina district.
>
> Whoever took the vessel Monday had to know what he or she was doing, said Brad
> Gross, harbormaster at the city-owned yacht harbor.
>
> The thief started the engines, backed the boat out of the slip and sailed off.
> The vessel has twin diesel engines developing 435 horsepower and takes an
> experienced sailor to handle.
>
> Later, whoever stole the boat anchored the Casablanca off the posh Sea Ranch
> development in SonomaCounty, launched an inflatable Zodiac tender and pushed
> off. There are several different things that might have happened next --
>
> the boat could have dragged its anchor, or the anchor might never have reached
> the bottom -- but the net result is that the boat ended up wrecked on the
> rocks, and the thief vanished.
>
> The Casablanca's tender was found on the rocks, several miles up the coast.
>
> "Whoever it was knew something about boats," said Gross. "It was not just some
> casual target of opportunity."
>
> Gross himself saw the boat sail out of the harbor about 10 a.m. Boats come and
> go all the time, he said, so seeing the Casablanca sail off was not unusual.
>
> He described the Casablanca as "a beautiful boat," handsome enough to turn
> heads. He took an admiring look at it himself, but he did not see who was at
> the helm.
>
> What happened next was a mystery. Apparently the boat was steered out the
> Golden Gate, turned right and motored north, past Point Reyes and BodegaBay.
> The next sighting was reported to the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department at 5:
> 37 p.m. by a resident, reporting that a boat had capsized on or near the rocks
> at Sea Ranch.
>
> Authorities think the thief or thieves either ran low on fuel or had some
> other problem and dropped anchor off the coast. Then the person or persons
> launched the Zodiac and zoomed off, possibly to go for help.
>
> For some reason, the boat came loose and drifted up on the rocky shore, where
> it was wrecked.
>
> The Coast Guard responded, found no one aboard, and launched a search with
> patrol boats and a helicopter. They found nothing but a mystery.
>
> Then, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Brian Greer, authorities tried to find
> the boat's owner. Since the boat did not have a registration number visible,
> the search took all day Tuesday.
>
> Finally, they contacted the San Francisco yacht harbor and learned that a
> similar vessel named Casablanca was one of 700 boats berthed there. A member
> of Wingate's family then reported the boat missing and apparently stolen.
>
> Wingate himself did not return phone calls seeking comment. A typical 42- foot
> Grand Banks has a cabin with a teak interior and spacious accommodations,
> including a main saloon, a fully equipped galley, a head and shower, and a
> large owner's stateroom.
>
> Gross said he thought the boat was new. A 3-year-old similar vessel usually
> sells for more than $500,000.
>
> Wingate owns two other vessels. One is a 44-foot sailboat named Marilyn, which
> won the Big Boat Series on San FranciscoBay seven years ago. His other
> sailboat is a 16-foot vessel.
>
> E-mail Carl Nolte at cnolte@XXX.XXX
>
-- __________________ Keith An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys. _______________________________________________ http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawler-world-list
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