The owner of a 44-foot sailboat that ran aground off Kahala will try to tow the vessel off the reef today, after failing to free the boat yesterday.

The Fast Forward ran aground Sunday afternoon about 150 yards offshore, stripping the former racing boat of its keel. The boat was on its side yesterday afternoon as the owner worked to take the mast off the vessel so it could be moved.

State Department of Land and Natural Resources spokeswoman Deborah Ward said the owner was hoping to tow the vessel from the reef yesterday, but postponed the move after realizing the boat would be tougher to move than he originally thought.

She said once the boat is moved, DLNR will be able to better assess how much damage the boat did to the reef. The owner of the boat could face fines, Ward said.

The boat is registered to Leif Hart, who did not return a call for comment yesterday. Hart is the owner of Pipe Dreams Smoke Shop on Kapahulu Avenue.

The grounding is the 20th this year statewide, compared to 30 in all of 2008.

Ed Underwood, administrator of the DLNR Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation, said the number of groundings each year fluctuates greatly, depending on the weather and other factors. Of the groundings this year, 16 have been on O'ahu.

Underwood said the grounding incidents are helping to build support for a DLNR rule change that would require vessels moored at state boat harbors to have $300,000 liability insurance. The required insurance would help the state when vessels run aground and their owners are not able or willing to tow the boats away.

The insurance could also pay for any damage to the environment.

The new insurance rules could be in effect by the end of the year.

The owner of the Fast Forward has not indicated that he will abandon the ship.

Ward said yesterday that the owner wants to tow the boat to Sand Island and put it in dry dock so it can be repaired. She said the owner had anchored the boat off Kahala on Sunday when he paddled to shore to meet up with friends. When he returned to the ship, it had run aground and he could not free it.

The Fast Forward was built in 1985.

A former owner of the sailboat said yesterday that the Fast Forward sailed in several races, and won the Lipton Cup.

The 12,000 pound vessel was built in Copenhagen.