This image provided by the US Coast Guard shows one of three crew members from the yacht Low Speed Chase being rescued from the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco

A powerful wave swept four crew members off a sailboat during a race near San Francisco and the craft hit rocks attempting a rescue, leaving one person dead and four others missing.

The eight-member crew aboard the 38-foot Low Speed Chase was taking part in a yacht race from San Francisco Bay around the Farallon Islands Saturday afternoon as their craft ran aground.

Seas were running high at 10-12 feet when the Low Speed Chase was hit by a larger wave and the four were washed overboard, Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said.

This image provided by the US Coast Guard shows one of three crew members from the yacht Low Speed Chase being rescued from the Farallon Islands west of San Francisco

"They turned the boat around to go rescue those people and they got hit by another wave," sending the boat onto rocks, he said.

A Mayday call reporting the accident went out at about 3pm PDT.

Coast Guard and National Guard helicopters and water craft rescued three crew members who were clinging to rocks, Read said. The body of the other crew member was pulled from the water.

A Coast Guard helicopter, a cutter and a smaller boat were searching the waters around the islands, 27 miles west of San Francisco, as well as shoreline areas early Sunday for the missing crew members.

Dozens of boats were registered for the Full Crew Farallones Race, running from the St. Francis Yacht Club on San Francisco Bay to the islands and back, about 60 miles round trip, Read said.

Rescuers found the three crew members on or near the shore clinging to rocks, about 300 feet from where their vessel was breaking up because of the powerful waves, he said.

They were wearing life vests and cold weather gear — equipment that gave rescuers hope in the search for the missing.

"There is the possibility that the other four were also in the same kind of gear," Read said.

He said he didn't know if the four missing were the same crew members who were swept from the boat.

The search was expected to continue through the night, as long as there was a chance there were survivors, the Coast Guard said.

The names of the eight crew members were not released and there was no immediate word on the condition of the three survivors.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Low Speed Chase is based out of the San Francisco Yacht Club, located in Marin County's Belvedere Cove. The manager of the club declined immediate comment.