The sheriff's office says the boat owners had their equipment, identification and passports on the boat. | Courtesy of the Curry County Sheriff's Office

From the Curry County Sheriff's Office:

On May 4, 2024, during the World Jet Boat Races here on the Rogue River in Gold Beach, a race boat from Mexico sunk at the Foster Bar boat ramp in the Agness area. No injuries were reported, but the boat sank in the high murky swift water and crews were not able to locate it.

The operator and navigator were able to escape but lost all their equipment including their identification and passports. Local crews searched for days, trying to locate the race boat. Curry County Sheriff’s SAR members used drones to search but were not successful due to the unfavorable water conditions.

On Friday, May 18th, 2024, after trying for days, local recovery expert, Ryan McGinnis located the boat with an underwater camera about 540 feet below the Foster Bar boat ramp in about 24 feet of water. The next day, several others including Levi McGinnis, Gary Moore, Steve Dicicco, Darrell Hunt, Cole Hunt, and Bill Mellor, joined in on the recovery efforts. Divers went down in the swift water and found the boat had lodged against bedrock. Divers were able to attach lines to the boat and the boat was pulled to the surface and the water pumped out. The boat was then towed back to the boat ramp, put on a trailer and towed down to Gold Beach.

All the personal items were located in the boat that had been strapped in a backpack. The owner of the boat was contacted, and arrangements have been made to pick the boat up.

All credit for the recovery goes out to those mentioned and others that were part of the search that were unnamed. They never gave up and the race boat was recovered without incident.

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