The families of four British yachtsmen who went missing when their yacht capsized in the mid-Atlantic Ocean appeal for coastguards to resume their search.
The 40ft Beneteau performance racer/cruiser yacht ran into difficulties some 620 miles east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts on Thursday while returning to the UK from a regatta in Antigua.
Contact with the ship’s experienced captain Andrew Bridge, 22, and crew members James Male, 23, Steve Warren, 52, and Paul Goslin, 56, was lost in the early hours of Friday while they diverted to the Azores.
It’s an utter nightmare … we are grateful for the US and Canadian coast guards … but it’s stopped too soon. Kay Coombes, the sister of Mr Warren
US and Canadian aircraft assisted by three merchant vessels looked for them throughout Friday and Saturday but called off the search on Sunday at 5am local time amid treacherous weather.
Some 4,000 square miles were scanned for the “very well-equipped” vessel’s two personal location GPS beacons until no more transmissions were received from the small devices, which have a short battery life.
On Saturday, a cargo vessel which was helping with the search spotted and photographed an overturned hull which matched the description of the Cheeki Rafiki but reported no signs of people on board or a life raft.
Kay Coombes, the sister of Mr Warren, said that she and their mother, Margaret Warren, were convinced that he was still alive.
She said: “It’s an utter nightmare, we are grateful for the US and Canadian coast guards for what they have done so far but it’s stopped too soon after two days, it’s not long enough, we believe they are still alive.
“They are four strong-minded, physically strong sailors, they knew they were in difficulties and had every opportunity to get into the life raft which would have had provisions for several days. But if no one is looking for them, they won’t be found.”
Mrs Coombes, 46, said she did not believe the US Coastguard had any intention of resuming the search even when weather conditions improved.
She said: “Everyone is just trying to put pressure on the US Coastguard using every channel possible. They said they would only continue the search when any debris was found but if no one is looking how can they find it, there are only passing ships in a very big ocean.”
Mrs Coombes said her brother, who works as a project manager for an electrical company in Wincanton, Somerset, was an experienced sailor who was on a working holiday aboard the yacht.
She said: “He has always been around on the water, he had several sailing holidays in the Mediterranean and three years ago he sailed from the Azores to Southampton when he had a real taste of what it’s like to sail on the oceans.”
She added that their mother was very upset and added: “It’s very, very difficult, especially being so far away.”
Mr Bridge’s aunt, Georgina Bridge, said the family, including his parents David and Mary and brother William, 19, were devastated by his disappearance and at the search being called off.
She said: “Obviously we are all devastated by what is happening, we just want the search to resume.
“We have great appreciate on for the efforts the US Coastguard and our Foreign Office have made but obviously we believe there is hope and there is a possibility of them being found alive.
“The hull has not been examined so that is a possibility, there is a possibility they may have been able to launch a life raft, we just do not know.
“Obviously the conditions are difficult, we appreciate every effort is being made but we were surprised the search was called off so early. We are in contact with the Foreign Office and they have been helpful.”
Caroline Nokes, the Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, said that she had been told by the Foreign Office that it was “investigating every avenue it can do” to try to encourage the US Coastguard to act for longer.
She told the BBC: “They (the families) are desperately keen that the search be resumed, that although conditions are not good they’re better than they were when the search started.
“So they’re keen to emphasise the life raft could well have been deployed, that the men are trained to survive this sort of eventuality and so really they’re beseeching the US Coastguard to carry on with that search and just give them a bit more of a chance.”