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Life raft 'still on capsized yacht'

Written By blogger on Friday, May 23, 2014 | 10:26 PM

Cheeki Rafiki's life raft was not deployed and is still secured to the yacht, the US Coast Guard has said.

The upturned hull of the 40ft racing boat was discovered on Friday but there was no sign of the crew.

The four British sailors have been missing since their boat began taking on water as they attempted to sail back to the UK from a regatta in Antigua.

Their families have been told. Coastguards suspended the search at midnight local time (03:00 BST).

Earlier a US Navy warship discovered the wreckage in the North Atlantic ocean after the search for the missing men was resumed on Tuesday.

James Male, Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren, Paul Goslin James Male, Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren and Paul Goslin (l-r) are all experienced yachtsmen

The four-strong crew got into difficulties on 15 May in the Atlantic Ocean 620 miles (1,000km) east of Cape Cod.

They are Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset; Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, Somerset; skipper Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey; and 22-year-old James Male, from Romsey, Hampshire.

No sign

A surface swimmer identified the name on the back of the boat and knocked on the hull but there was no response, the coastguard said.

A spokesman said: "The US Coast Guard has confirmed the life raft aboard the capsized sailing vessel Cheeki Rafiki was secured in its storage space in the aft portion of the boat, Friday, indicating it was not used for emergency purposes."

There was no sign of the men and there are no further indications as to their whereabouts.

Last Thursday, they contacted Cheeki Rafiki's owners in Southampton to say they were taking on water and diverting to the Azores.

Hopes for the four men had rested on the yacht's life raft

Contact was lost the following day and it is thought the yacht may have capsized. Locator beacons activated by the crew indicated they were in a position 1,000 miles east of Massachusetts on the morning of Friday 16 May.

'Cabin flooded'

When rescuers arrived on the scene on Friday they found the cabin of the yacht was flooded and the windows shattered.

The yacht's keel was also broken, causing a breach in the hull, a coastguard spokesman added.

The overturned hull of the Cheeki Rafiki
The overturned hull of the Cheeki Rafiki

An image showing the life raft still in position had been "shared with and acknowledged by the [men's] families", the Coast Guard said on Friday night.

Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson expressed his "sincere condolences" to the men's families.

"The UK government is grateful to the US Coast Guard and the Canadian search and rescue services for their efforts to locate the men," he added.

"Their dedication has been unwavering, and they have done everything they could during the course of the search."

Mr Warren's family said in a statement: "We are very sad that the US has now suspended the search for Stephen and his friends.

"From the beginning we, together with the other families involved, have continued to hold out hope that he would be found alive."

RAF search

They paid tribute to the US Coast Guard for leading an "exceptional search", adding: "This is now an incredibly difficult time for all the family.

"We would therefore request that we are given privacy to come to terms with today's decision."

An RAF Hercules plane was due to keep looking for the yachtsmen on Saturday.

It is understood it will probably fly two search missions on Saturday - one in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Tuesday's decision to resume the search followed an official request from the UK government.

An online petition, set up to put pressure on the US Coast Guard, had attracted more than 200,000 signatures.


Life raft 'still on capsized yacht'

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