Missing ship: U.S. Coast Guard ends search for missing British sailors

An air and sea search for four British sailors missing since last Friday was called off on Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The missing yachtsmen departed for Southampton, England on Thursday after spending a week at the Antigua Sailing Week regatta in the Caribbean. After the Cheeki Rafiki cruiser started to take on water on Thursday night, the yacht's 21-year-old skipper got in touch with Southampton charter firm Stormforce Coaching. The crew was directed to try to keep the boat stable. The sailors said they were diverting course for the Azores right before they lost contact with the charter company early on Friday around 1,000 miles east of Cape Cod." Three U.S. and Canadian aircraft and three merchant vessels were involved in a search for the missing boat that lasted through Saturday. The search covered an area approximately 4,146 square miles directly east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. A merchant ship located an overturned hull that matched the description of the missing yacht on Saturday, but there was no sign of the missing men.