Savage Beauty, a Flying Tiger 10 owned by San Francisco’s John Lymberg, expired on the rocks of the Marin Headlands in Saturday’s Second Half Opener race to Point Bonita. The race started near the Berkeley Pier, and boats short-tacked against a strong flood current, hugging the Marin shore for relief.

Savage Beauty’s 7.5-ft keel struck a rock in Kirby Cove east of Point Diablo.

Savage Beauty tried to motor off, but the prop got fouled. Express 34 Two Scoops, which was also racing, didn’t see anyone else standing by yet, so they fired up their engine and motored over. They called the Coast Guard. Soon after the Savage Beauty crew dropped their sails, photographer Peter Lyons motored past Arcadia, and Arcadia’s crew told Peter of the grounding. He went over to see if he could help. Photographer Erik Simonson also came on scene, as well as a fishing boat. Two Scoops passed a line to Peter Lyons, who took it over to Savage Beauty and attempted to pull her off, but the line tore.

A Marin County Sheriff’s Marine Patrol RIB was the first rescue vessel on-scene, followed by a USCG cutter, which stood off and coordinated operations. Erik Simonson picks up the story: “The Marin County Sheriff‘s Department quickly assessed the situation and ordered the crew off. Between sets, their RIB dashed in and grabbed crew members and hauled them into their boat.”

A San Francisco Police boat also arrived on scene. All stood by while they waited for Vessel Assist to arrive from Alameda. The plan was for Savage Beauty to be towed into nearby Horseshoe Cove. “But within an hour or so,” said Erik, “the boat was reduced to large pieces of flotsam and jetsam which littered the area between the Golden Gate Bridge and Point Diablo.” The boat had broken free of the rocks and was dashed on the shore.

John took delivery of the Chinese-built Savage Beauty brand new in late 2007. He sailed her about as much as a guy with a young family and a career can sail a boat. She was one of three Flying Tiger 10s that race regularly in the Bay Area.

Savage Beauty was not the only boat to encounter hard places on Saturday. After standing by Savage Beauty for 40 minutes and grazing a rock themselves, Two Scoops set the spinnaker and headed home to Richmond rather than seeking redress and finishing the race. The deep-keeled JS9000 sportboat JetStream touched bottom northeast of the North Tower, but was able to continue racing. Back in the Estuary, along the Alameda seawall, the J/29 Plan B struck a rock and had to fire up her engine to get unstuck, dropping out in the last leg of the long race.

We’ll have a race report on the Second Half Opener tomorrow.