Search for race at Mackinac boater resumes: "The whole sailing community is quite torn by this"

The search for a missing yachtsman competing in the Chicago Yacht Club's Mackinac Race resumed Sunday morning, a day after he fell to the sea in turbulent waters, officials said .

Crews suspended their search of Jon Santarelli, 53, of Lincoln Park, at sunset, after a multi-hour interdepartmental effort, including the Coast Guard and the Chicago Police and Fire Brigades

researchers were private boaters like Graham Sauser, announcer of the race. Heard what had happened, caught his father and another person, and took a 53-foot sailboat to help.

"If it was me in the water, I hope someone there was looking for me," Sauser said.

"From all I know, he was very much loved, respected sailor," said Sauser. "The entire sailing community is quite torn by that."

Sauser helped search Saturday night and planned to resume Sunday morning as soon as conditions cleared up.

The Chicago Sailing Community is Closely Related The search Saturday, Sauser said.

"If we hear from one of our fellow sailors in trouble, I think most people would move on to action," he said. "I think most people would feel like that."

Sauser said that he has already done the Mackinac, and the conditions this weekend were not out of the ordinary for the race.

informed him that a man had fallen from a competing boat at about 3 pm Ron Dorneker, deputy district chief of the Chicago Fire Department, said that they had "immediately sent" a rescue team after receiving a call from a person at sea. "We had a helicopter in the air … we had our fast boat and our big boat, " he said.

But Saturday's conditions were "difficult," said Dorneker, adding that winds were blowing north at about 15 mph.

Divers and rescue boats searched between Navy Pier and 31st Street to find the disappeared yachtsman, the Cmdr. Frank Velez declared Saturday afternoon

The race at Mackinac is the oldest freshwater distance race in the world and this year has attracted sailors from 39 states and 16 countries, according to race officials

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