KIHEI - The Coast Guard personnel assisted the operators of a speedboat that sank Thursday in shallow waters off Charley Young Beach in Kihei.
Around 4 p.m., the boat quickly took on water until its stern rested on the bottom about 200 yards offshore. Meanwhile, its bow reared up out of the water.
Kihei resident George Hahn said he was reading a magazine at Charley Young Beach when the boat sank.
"It went down fast," he said. "He had just tied it up. I read a paragraph, looked up, and the boat was standing straight up."
Hahn said the powerful boat sounded like a dragster as it roared to a stop.
"You could hear that boat. That's a speedboat. Just while they were tying it up. It was like going to the drags," he said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Clayton said he did not immediately have details about the boat's owner or its size or type.
He said personnel from Coast Guard Station Maui at Maalaea Harbor were at the scene of the vessel, which had sprung a leak and sunk in shallow water.
The boat posed no danger to people and no pollution threat, Clayton said.
Coast Guard personnel were preparing to use floats to try to bring the rear of the boat to the surface and then pump water out of it, he said. Officials then planned to tow the boat to another location for repairs.
