At least one is dead after a powerful storm capsized several sailboats participating in a regatta, and crews searched late on Saturday for at least four people missing in the waters, the Coast Guard said. The storm rolled through the area about 4 p.m. and a man was plucked from the waters by the Coast Guard around 9 p.m., Petty officer Carlos Vega said. He said crews would search through the night. 'We knew we were totally lost at sea,' said regatta participant Rhonda Morgan Gilreath, right, shown with her boyfriend Randy Rutledge of Rome Georgia on Saturday . Dauphin Island Regatta sailors gather near their docked sailboats on Saturday, April 25, 2015, in Dauphin Island, Alabama where Coast Guard officials said they responded to a report of multiple capsized vessels . More than 100 sailboats and as many as 200 people were participating in the Dauphin Island regatta in Mobile Bay. Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier told Al.com  that at least one person was confirmed dead, but he did not know the cause. 'It's been a very tragic day,' Michael Smith, with the Buccaneer yacht club, told WSFA-TV. 'We've had a lot of breakage, missing people, fatalities.' Susan Kangal, who was on a boat, told WSFA it was the worst storm that she has seen. 'We were probably an inch from capsizing; everybody was ready to jump. I didn't have a life jacket on,' she said. The boats were part of the 57th iteration of the race. Scattered boats: 'They were scattered anywhere from Dauphin Island Bridge all the way out into Mobile Bay and across to Fort Morgan. It was a wide area,' said Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier . Feeling blessed: Well-wishers congratulate regatta participant Robert Luiten of Mobile, Alabama, in blue shirt, on word that his son, Leonard Luiten, was found several hours after their boat capsized in a storm on Saturday . 'Apparently there were a number of vessels that became distressed, either capsized or what have you,' the mayor said. 'They were scattered anywhere from Dauphin Island Bridge all the way out into Mobile Bay and across to Fort Morgan. It was a wide area,' said Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier. AL.com reports that Richard Mather, 52, of Mobile, was aboard a 39-foot O'Day sailboat along with seven people, when he saw two boats collide. He said that they expected thunderstorms but not as severe as they were. 'But we were not prepared for a gale,' Mather said, 'which is almost like a 30-minute hurricane.' Mather wasn't in the race and was able to pull three people onto his vessel about two miles north of the Dauphin Island Bridge. He said the boaters seemed extremely tired but none of them were injured. 'They were exhausted but they were fine,' he said. 'Their boats sunk so fast that they didn't have time to grab life preservers.'
A powerful storm capsized several sailboats participating in a regatta, and crews searched for at least four people missing in the waters .
Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said that at least one person was confirmed dead, but he did not know the cause .
'It's been a very tragic day,' Michael Smith, with the Buccaneer yacht club .
The identities of those who are dead and missing have not yet been revealed .