Oceanside Man Killed When Sailboat Hits Jetty

OCEANSIDE — A crew member of a 30-foot racing sailboat died Saturday after rough waters smashed the boat into a rock jetty in Oceanside harbor, tossing all seven crewmen overboard, authorities said.

Frank Lucksinger, a 67-year-old retiree who lived in Oceanside, was declared dead at 4:02 p.m. at the Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, said David Lodge, a deputy coroner in San Diego County. Six other crewmen survived the wreck, officials said, although one other man was treated briefly at the medical center.

The accident occurred about 3 p.m., when waves tossed the boat against the jetty and “smashed it in a million pieces,” said Officer Joe Spurgeon of the Oceanside harbor police. Shortly afterward, a harbor police rescue team found an unconscious Lucksinger floating near the scattered wreckage of the craft. Efforts to revive him with oxygen and cardiopulmonary resuscitation were unsuccessful, police said.

Two other crewmen, both conscious, were pulled from the water; the remaining four crew members had made it safely to the jetty, police said.

The craft, known as the Pudmuckle, was apparently returning home to Oceanside after a race, officials said.

An autopsy was scheduled to be performed on Lucksinger today.