WAILUKU — Crews aboard a fishing boat and a Pacific Whale Foundation vessel plucked three boaters from waters near Lanai Thursday afternoon after they abandoned their burning fishing boat.

The rescued boaters had been participating in a women's Lahaina fishing tournament. The boat's captain told Lahaina Harbor officials that a woman aboard the boat suffered some scratches, but two men who also had been on the boat were not seriously injured.
The 38-foot "Crystal J" fishing boat from Oahu was in waters off of the Lanai Lighthouse when it caught on fire, harbor officials and witnesses said. It was articipating in the 2009 Wahine Fishing Tournament, said tournament Chairman Norval Ayers.
The rescued boaters declined to comment.
Ayers said the women's tournament went on as planned and that today's Lahaina Jackpot Tournament will proceed.
Capt. Doug Hunt, who was operating the Pacific Whale Foundation's Ocean Quest boat, said he was conducting his snorkeling tour shortly after noon Thursday near the Lanai lighthouse when he saw smoke coming from a vessel that was heading straight at him about a mile away.
When he got a closer look, Hunt saw more smoke coming from the boat and "three items in the water," he said. "I saw human bodies holding on coolers and (wearing) life jackets."
By then, the boat was in flames, and Hunt had called the Coast Guard. Because Hunt didn't want to get too close to the burning boat, he deployed kayaks and members of his crew to help the people in the water. They returned with a middle-aged man and a woman believed to be in her early 20s.
Meanwhile, the crew of an 18-foot fishing boat with two men aboard showed up and pulled another man from the water, Hunt said. Then, the two rescued people aboard the Ocean Quest were transferred to the fishing boat, which took the boaters to the Manele Small Boat Harbor for evaluation by medical personnel there.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Angela Henderson said a Coast Guard crew aboard 45-foot boat from Maalaea responded to the scene and worked to put out the fire until Maui firefighters arrived to take over.
Maui fire officials said Rescue Boat 3 from Lahaina responded to the scene as well as Rescue 10 personnel from Kahului. The Kahului-based firefighters flew to the scene in the Fire Department's Air One helicopter. Lanai firefighters went to help the boaters at the Manele Small Boat Harbor.
Henderson said a Coast Guard helicopter from Oahu also did a flyover of the vessel, which did not pose a pollution threat because it was in waters at least three miles off of Lanai.