Hull of missing British yacht found in Atlantic

The US Navy has found the hull of the missing yacht Cheeki Rafiki — though there is no sign of the four-strong British crew on board the flooded vessel, the US Coast Guard (USCG) said tonight.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said the families of experienced captain Andrew Bridge (22), from Farnham in Surrey, and crew members James Male (23), from Southampton, Steve Warren (52), from Bridgwater, Somerset, and Paul Goslin (56), from West Camel, Somerset, are being kept informed of developments.

USCG said a US navy warship helicopter crew discovered the overturned hull 1,500 km off Massachusetts.

A close inspection of the debris confirmed the identity of the yacht, which had been flooded.

A coast guard spokesman said: “The swimmer determined the boat’s cabin was flooded and windows were shattered, contributing to the complete flooding inside.

“The swimmer also knocked on the hull and reached an arm’s length below the waterline with no results. Surface swimmers are not trained divers and do not perform sub-surface operations.”

Officials said the coastguard still intended to call off the search as the latest development failed to suggest the crew would still be alive.

“Navy crews observed that the sailing vessel’s keel was broken off, causing a breach in the hull,” the spokesman said.

“The hull sighting has not impacted search planning as teams continue to look for a bright-coloured life raft as their search object.

“The US Coast Guard made an announcement, Thursday, that search operations would be suspended at midnight Friday unless new information or sightings suggested the crew would still be alive. None of the current developments indicate that to be the case.”

All four men were on board the yacht when it is thought to have got into trouble about 900km east of Cape Cod last Thursday.

Earlier, the Foreign Office said the families “still hold out much hope that their loved ones will be found soon” after US officials said they were preparing to stand down the search operation at 5am tomorrow.

The Foreign Office said: “They were obviously saddened to hear that the US Coast Guard will be suspending the search. But they were prepared for the fact that this would have to happen.”