( CNN ) -- The Coast Guard has suspended its search for four sailors missing since Saturday after their yacht ran aground off San Francisco . Coast Guard and Air National Guard crews spent two days searching for the four before announcing the suspension Sunday night . `` The decision to suspend a search-and-rescue case like this is never an easy one to make , '' said Capt . Cynthia Stowe . `` The Coast Guard extends our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the lost crewmen and the deceased . They will all be in our thoughts and prayers . '' At least one person died and three were rescued from the Low Speed Chase after it grounded near the Farallon Islands , 28 miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge . But the remaining four people aboard remained unaccounted for . The 38-foot sailboat was taking part in the Full Crew Farallon Race , a contest that dates to 1907 , according to the San Francisco Yacht Club . On Sunday , the yacht club identified three of the missing sailors as Alexis Busch of Larkspur , California ; Alan Cahill of Tiburon , California , and Jordan Fromm of Kentfield , California . The yacht club did not identify a fourth person because it said authorities had not notified that person 's relatives . It said that Marc Kasanin , 46 , of Belvedere , California , had died . The vessel 's skipper reported that the yacht was hit by a series of large waves that rolled it over , tossing several crew members overboard and running it aground , the Coast Guard said Sunday . The search effort included three helicopters , a C-130 transport and four Coast Guard vessels , including the cutters Aspen , Pike and Sockeye . Late last month , the Coast Guard rescued racers taking part in an around-the-world contest when a giant wave damaged their yacht off the coast of San Francisco . The Geraldton Western Australia was on the sixth leg of an eight-leg , 11-month race when it was struck March 31 .
The yacht was hit by several large waves , causing it to roll over , the Coast Guard says . A man who lives on a nearby island told CNN that he saw the boat go down and heard people screaming. The yacht race took place near the Farallon Islands , near San Francisco .