A British sailor is missing after his yacht was discovered severely damaged in poor weather off the coast of France. The 73-year-old sailor sent out an emergency beacon on Saturday, when he ran into trouble approximately 80km west of Lacanau. The Tiger PA, the sailor’s 12-metre yacht, was found “eviscerated” in the Bay of Biscay. French air force rescue teams were dispatched to search for the sailor, however the search had to be called off due to a shortage of information on the man’s whereabouts.
Two divers also searched the wreckage but only found an empty raft. A Spanish rural medical vessel and a Portuguese cargo vessel have been redirected to assist with the search. The French navy joined in with the search and rescue operation, however, due to poor stormy weather conditions, the search teams have had a difficult time finding the missing sailor.
The search was officially abandoned in the early hours of Sunday morning, as there was nothing the search team could do without any information on the whereabouts of the sailor. The Préfecture maritime de l’Atlantique issued a warning to people to be careful in the stormy weather, after the storm Herminia battered western France and northern Spain bringing with it heavy rains and floods.
Agencia Estatal de Meteorología, the Spanish weather service, dubbed the storm Herminia on Friday, bringing its own set of challenges. The strong gale winds had exceeded 62mph, whilst heavy rain swept the areas. Buildings and cars had also been left submerged due to floodwaters brought on by the storm
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