British sailor, 73, missing off French coast after boat found ‘gutted’
British sailor, 73, missing off French coast after boat found ‘gutted’
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The search for a British sailor missing in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of France has been suspended. The 73-year-old man, who has not been identified, went missing after his yacht was discovered ‘gutted’ in stormy weather. He was sailing in a boat named the Tiger PA on Friday evening when the UK authorities raised concerns about a lack of response to radio messages.
A cargo ship later managed to make contact with the yacht and the man said he was safe, according to the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture. However, at 3pm the next day a distress signal from the Tiger PA was detected around 50 miles off the coast of Lacanau and a rescue team was launched.
Two and a half hours later, the helicopter found the yacht ripped open. A pair of divers who were winched down discovered an empty life raft. The search was suspended at 1.33am today due to a lack of new information. A Spanish hospital ship had also joined the search for the missing man, along with a French navy aircraft and a cargo ship sailing under the Portuguese flag.
According to the website VesselFinder, the 12m Tiger PA departed Weymouth port in Dorset on January 20, around a day and a half after arriving there. The prefecture urged people to take ‘precautionary measures’ if going to sea ‘during the winter period with numerous depressions’.
