All options are on the table, including canceling the America's Cup this summer, as investigators review the death of an Olympic gold medalist and the safety of new space-age yachts that are pushing the limits of technology, U.S. yachting administrators said Friday.

Andrew "Bart" Simpson, 36, the chief strategist for the Artemis Racing team, died Thursday when the yacht he and 10 colleagues were on capsized during a practice run near Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.

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Iain Murray, chief executive of America's Cup Race Management, which runs the world's most prestigious yacht race, said at a news briefing Friday that Simpson's 13,000-pound AC 72 catamaran nose-dived and broke into pieces. Simpson was submerged for more than 10 minutes — possibly trapped under the overturned boat — and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

All practice runs were canceled through the weekend as America's Cup officials, San Francisco police and Coast Guard investigators try to piece together what went wrong, said Stephen Barclay, chief executive of the America's Cup Event Authority.

Asked whether the regatta, which is scheduled for July through September, could be canceled, Barclay said, "Nothing's off the table," twice adding: "We will not be held to a timetable."

Canceling the 162-year-old regatta, the world's third-largest sporting event after the Summer Olympic Games and soccer's World Cup, would be a major blow to both the sport and the Bay Area.

In a report  commissioned when the city was bidding for the regatta in 2010, the Bay Area Council Economic Institute projected that the three-month event would create 8,840 jobs and generate a total economic impact of $1.4 billion in the region — "three times the estimated impact of hosting the Super Bowl," it said.

Authorities provided few details about Thursday's accident, noting that the investigation was less than 24 hours old. But Murray acknowledged that the futuristic AC 72 boats, which made their debut last year, have raised questions in yachting circles.

Racing experts said the catamaran features a new design that allows sailors to lift the hull completely out of the water, leading to speeds as much as three times previous records — and sometimes to hydroplaning.

A similar AC 72 run by the current America's Cup holders, Oracle Team USA, capsized near the Golden Gate Bridge in October. No one was injured, but the boat sustained at least $2 million in damage.

"The safety onboard the boats has been discussed earlier, yes," Murray said.

Annie Gardner, who skippered the America³ Women's America's Cup team in 1995 and won a bronze medal in the 2006 World Sailing Games, said the AC 72 was meant to push the limits as far as they could go.

"This new America's Cup is a lot more like car racing than anything else we've ever done," Gardner told NBC 7 of San Diego.

Conditions on Thursday weren't considered unusual, with gusts between 25 mph and 35 mph and waves at 4 to 6 feet. But Rich Jepsen, chief executive of the Olympic Circle Sailing Club in San Francisco, told NBC Bay Area that at the speeds AC 72s can reach — 40 to 50 mph — "there is no room for error."

Dennis St. Onge, a renowned yachting photographer, said the boats were thrilling to watch, "kind of like spaceships for the technology."

"But when it comes down to it," he told NBC San Diego, "you just have human beings hanging on trying to operate them."

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Related: 

British sailing mourns death of Simpson

IOC President Rogge pays tribute to Simpson

Witnesses at the Tahoe Keys Marina say they heard screeching, the sound of tearing metal, and a passenger yell, "oh, no!" late Sunday night. 

By about 3 a.m. Monday, a three-story, $3.2 million yacht so big that it has its own helicopter pad was sunk, one end of it touching the South Lake Tahoe marina bottom at a Titanic-esque tilt. 

It's still not clear what sent the Sierra Rose to the lake bed, where it remained Wednesday waiting for a private contractor to remove it in the next few days. 

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Witness Heather Contreras, who was visiting the marina from Turlock, Calif., told the Tahoe Daily Tribune that more than a dozen people were on the vessel at the time when they heard what sounded like "a loud and prolonged tearing of metal." The boat, which The Daily Tribune reported is 86 feet long, didn't immediately sink; Contreras said some people stayed on it for more than an hour after the apparent mishap. 

Nobody was injured, marina general manager Robert Spinnato said. South Lake Tahoe police are investigating, but likely won't know what caused the sinking until the vessel is lifted above water, Lt. David Stevenson told The Daily Tribune. 

On Monday, a big-screen TV, leather couches and floating slices of bread were visible inside the partially submerged watercraft, which was billed as the largest noncommercial boat on Lake Tahoe as recently as 2006. 

Agents listed on the boat's tourist rental website declined to comment to The Associated Press and msnbc.com about the situation. 

A website detailing the three-room, three-bathroom Sierra Rose for potential renters says it's inspired by the streamlined luxury vessels of the 1930s, but with state-of-the-art amenities. Features include granite counters, remote-controlled fireplaces, mahogany floors, a spa and custom crystal and china. 

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The boat rented for $2,000 a night, according to a brochure from 2008-09, or $8,000 for four hours. 

El Dorado County Environmental Health Manager Barbara Houghton said the sewage and fuel tanks were sealed and hadn't leaked into the lake, but she said inspectors from the county would be on hand to monitor efforts to pull it out of the marina. 

While the sunken vessel sat unceremoniously in the water, at least a few homeowners in the area were saying good riddance. 

Several complained to the Reno Gazette-Journal that they thought the yacht was too big and blocked views of the alpine lake. 

"It's the ugliest thing I've ever seen," Tahoe Keys Property Association front desk clerk Ron Parker said, according to the newspaper. "My idea is it was so ugly someone had to sink it." 

Others complained to the Gazette-Journal that the yacht's size -- which is what apparently kept it from completely sinking -- blocked views in the area.

The Sierra Rose was sold at auction in 2008 for $3.2 million to an unidentified buyer who outbid more than 40 other potential investors, according to the Gazette-Journal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended a search for 21 people who abandoned ship after a reported explosion Monday on a yacht off the coast of central New Jersey, saying the incident was believed to be a hoax.

The FBI in New Jersey has opened an investigation to determine whether any federal laws were violated, according to NBCNewYork.com. It is being conducted jointly with the Coast Guard. 

The rescue mission was launched after authorities received an emergency radio transmission around 4:20 p.m. Monday from a boat identifying itself as Blind Date, according to a Coast Guard press release. The caller reported the yacht carrying 21 passengers, seven of whom were injured, sank about 17 nautical miles east of Sandy Hook, N.J., after an explosion destroyed the boat’s electronics and GPS. The caller said all passengers had made it on to life rafts.

The Coast Guard deployed two boat crews and four helicopters in Monday’s search. Response units from the New York City Police Department, Fire Department, the New Jersey State Police and the Nassau County Police Department were also on the scene.

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Additionally, Commander Kenneth Pierro of Coast Guard Sector New York said that more than 200 first responders had assembled at mass casualty stations, and officials said several good Samaritans had assisted authorities in the lengthy search, reported NBCNewYork.com.

But after hours of searching, rescue crews found no sign of any distress in the water, and it became clear there was no explosion.

“We believe it was a hoax,” said Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Troy Loining. “We didn’t find anything.”

Making a false distress call is a felony, with a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of performing the search.

While no official cost estimates have been released, Coast Guard spokesperson Jetta Disco told msnbc.com that the price of covering the Coast Guard’s response in this rescue mission alone will be well over $100,000.

So far, no state or local agencies have received any missing person reports, according to NBCNewYork.com.

The Coast Guard and other state and local agencies responded last year to more than 60 suspected hoax calls in the northern Hudson River region, including one claiming a 33-foot sailboat was sinking, according to the Coast Guard press release. A 10-hour search costing almost $88,000 turned up no boaters, and an investigation was launched. No one has been prosecuted.  

“Sham sinkings, like bomb threats and other hoaxes, needlessly risk the lives of first responders and waste resources dedicated to keeping the public safe from harm," Rebekah Carmichael, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, told NBCNewYork.com's Jonathan Dienst. "We are working with the Coast Guard and our other law enforcement partners who are looking into this matter, and urge anyone with leads to contact the Coast Guard or the New Jersey FBI immediately.” 

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ENSENADA, Mexico - Eric Lamb was doing safety patrol on a 124-mile yacht race when he spotted a boat that appeared too close to Mexico's Coronado Islands. He never got there.

As his twin-engine boat neared the uninhabited islands just south of San Diego, he stumbled on sailboat shards that were mostly no more than six inches long strewn over about two square miles. He saw a small refrigerator, a white seat cushion and empty containers of yogurt and soy milk.

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Over several hours, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter directed him in his search and led him to two dead bodies floating with their backs up, badly scraped and bruised. The Coast Guard recovered a third body and the fourth member of the crew was missing early Monday in California's second deadly accident this month involving an ocean race.

Lamb, 62, said the 37-foot yacht looked like it "had gone through a blender."

"It was real obvious it had been hit just because the debris was so small," he said Sunday.

Three sailors were killed in the accident and a fourth was missing, officials said. The Coast Guard, Mexican navy and civilian vessels scoured the waters off the shore of both countries for the fourth sailor before suspending their search Sunday evening.

Hundreds of race participants held a moment of silence at the Newport Ocean Sailing Association's award ceremony, many of them stunned and puzzled. Skies were clear and winds were light when the boat went missing on the course from Newport Beach, Calif., to Ensenada.

3 dead, 1 missing in accident during Newport-Ensenada sailing race

A GPS race tracking system indicated the Aegean disappeared about 1:30 a.m. PT (4:30 a.m. ET) Saturday, said Rich Roberts, a spokesman for the race organizer. Race organizers weren't closely monitoring the race at that hour but a disappearing signal is no cause for alarm because receivers occasionally suffer glitches, he said.

"Somebody may have thought the thing was broken," Roberts said.

Lamb, who has been patrolling the race for eight years as captain for a private company, saw the debris nine hours later, called the Coast Guard, and searched for identifying information. He and a partner found a life raft with a registration number and a panel with the ship's name.

'Horrified'
The Coast Guard said conditions were fine for sailing, with good visibility and moderate ocean swells of 6-to-8 feet. Officials have not determined the cause of the accident, and would not speculate on what ship, if any, might have collided with the sailboat.

Race officials said they had few explanations for what may have happened to the Aegean other than it must have collided with a ship like a freighter or tanker that did not see the smaller vessel.

The episode immediately sparked a debate over safety of ocean races.

"Quite honestly, I'm amazed it hasn't happened before," said Lamb. "You get 200 boats out there, they lose their way, and they're just bobbing around."

Gary Jobson, president of the U.S. Sailing Association, said his group will appoint an independent panel to investigate.

"I'm horrified. I've done a lot of sailboat racing and I've hit logs in the water, and I've seen a man go overboard, but this takes the whole thing to a new level," Jobson said. "We need to take a step back and take a deep breath with what we're doing. Something is going wrong here."

Chuck Iverson, commodore of the sailing association, said the collision was a "fluke," noting how common night races are along Mexico's Baja California coast.

Shipping lanes crossed
The race goes through shipping lanes and it's possible for a large ship to hit a sailboat and not even know it, especially at night, said Roberts, the race spokesman. Two race participants who were in the area at the time the Aegean vanished told The Associated Press they saw or heard a freighter.

The deaths are the first fatalities in the race's 65 years. The race attracted 675 boats at its peak in 1983 before falling on hard times several years ago amid fears of Mexico's drug-fueled violence.

Participation has picked up recently, reaching 213 boats this year. The winner, Robert Lane of Long Beach Yacht Club, finished Saturday in 23 hours, 26 minutes, 40 seconds.

The race attracts sailors of all skills, including some who are new to long distances. The Aegean competed in one of the lower categories, which allows participants to use their motors when winds drop to a certain level.

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Two of the dead were William Reed Johnson Jr., 57, of Torrance, Calif., and Joseph Lester Stewart, 64, of Bradenton, Fla. The San Diego County Medical Examiner's office was withholding the name of the third sailor pending notification of relatives.

The Aegean is registered to Theo Mavromatis, 49, of Redondo Beach, Calif. The race sponsor didn't know if he was aboard but Gary Gilpin at Marina Sailing, which rents out the Aegean when Mavromatis isn't using it, said the 49-year-old skipper took the yacht out earlier in the week for the competition.

Gilpin said Mavromatis, an engineer, was an experienced sailor who had won the Newport to Ensenada race in the past.

The deaths come two weeks after five sailors died in the waters off Northern California when their 38-foot yacht was hit by powerful waves, smashed into rocks and capsized during a race. Three sailors survived the wreck and the body of another was quickly recovered. Four remained missing until one body was recovered Thursday.

The accident near the Farallon Islands, about 27 miles west of San Francisco, prompted the Coast Guard to temporarily stop races in ocean waters outside San Francisco Bay. The Coast Guard said the suspension will allow it and the offshore racing community to study the accident and race procedures to determine whether changes are needed to improve safety. U.S. Sailing, the governing body of yacht racing, is leading the safety review, which is expected to be completed within the next month.

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Rescuers halted the search for four sailors missing after they were swept overboard from their yacht by powerful waves off the coast of San Francisco, raising the likely death toll from the accident to five.

"An air and sea search was suspended indefinitely around sundown and we will not go back tomorrow," U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Caleb Critchfield told Reuters late Sunday.

 

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"We kept searching 12 hours past what we consider the survivability window. We extend our deepest sympathy and our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victims," he added.

 

The 38-foot yacht, called Low Speed Chase, was competing in a race Saturday around South Farallon Island with 48 other yachts.

Officials said a large wave swept four sailors into the water, and when the yacht tried to turn to go back for them, another wave hit the boat, pushing it onto rocks.

Shortly after the accident, three people were rescued and the body of Marc Kasanin, 46, of Belvedere, California, was found.

San Francisco Yacht Club, where the Low Speed Chase was based, said the missing sailors were Alexis Busch of Larkspur; Alan Cahill of Tiburon; Jordan Fromm, 25, of Kentville; and an additional crew member whose identity was being withheld because his family had yet to be notified.

One dead, four missing after California yacht race

A Facebook page, called In Memory of Low Speed Chase, was set up, and it posted the words to the hymn "Eternal Father, Strong to save," also known as "For Those in Peril on the Sea" or the "Navy Hymn."

"My goodness - my heart is broken by this loss of Alan and Marc. I pray and have hope - but not much," one person wrote on the page.

"Pray in sorrow for the five poor souls lost in this tragedy... pray in thanks for the fortunate three still with us," another said.

The Associated Press reported that the entire crew was believed to have been wearing life vests and foul weather gear, and that had made rescuers optimistic they might find survivors.

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