Sailboat capsizes, killing three

CHICAGO – A 35-foot racing sailboat capsized, struck a breakwater and broke apart in rough conditions on Lake Michigan, killing three of the four men aboard, authorities said Thursday.

The men, part of a racing team, were sailing to a dry-dock facility on the Calumet River on Chicago’s far South Side on Wednesday night when one of them fell overboard, Coast Guard Boatsmate 1st Class Michael Arnold said.

The three men on board called the Coast Guard and local authorities, then began searching for the missing man, he said. As they tried to pull him from the water, the boat struck the breakwater and broke up in the 10-foot waves, Arnold said.

The men had been in the 58-degree water for about 45 minutes. All four were wearing lifejackets, Arnold said.