Sailboat Sinks Near Balboa Peninsula

A sailboat washed ashore on the Balboa Peninsula and later sank, but no one was injured in the incident, a fire official reported today.

At about 7:50 p.m. Wednesday, Newport Beach lifeguards and the Sheriff's Harbor Patrol responded to a call about a 28-foot sailboat that had run aground between B and G streets on the Balboa Peninsula, according to Jennifer Schulz, of the Newport Beach Fire Department. Firefighters found the sailboat rocking in the surfline at F Street and the skipper was onshore.

"Lifeguards swam out to the Harbor Patrol boat, brought a line in and tied it off to the sailboat," Schulz explained. "Unfortunately, even with a rising tide, repeated attempts to pull the sailboat out of the inshore trench failed."

Police responded to the scene and tried to assist with recovering the boat, but it sank after taking on water from incoming surf. Late Wednesday the mast was peeking out above the water, but today authorities said the sailboat had broken apart and is unsalvageable. 

The Newport Beach Municipal Operations Department and lifeguards were working together to extricate the pieces of the boat and remove debris from the shore and surfline, Schulz said.