A 73-year-old British sailor is lost at sea and his yacht has been found “eviscerated” off the French coast in stormy weather.
A French air force helicopter was dispatched to find the man after he set off his distress beacon at 3pm on Saturday, approximately 50 miles (80km) west of Lacanau in south-west France.
The helicopter arrived to find his 12-metre yacht, the Tiger PA, “eviscerated” in the Atlantic, according to Atlantic Maritime Prefecture, a French government organisation.
Two divers were then winched down to the wreckage, where they discovered an empty raft.
A Portuguese cargo ship and a Spanish hospital ship were diverted to the area and mobilised to begin a search to find the sailor, whose identity is not yet known, alongside the French navy.
After several hours, the search was called off at 1.30am on Sunday “due to a lack of new information”, the prefecture said.
French authorities first received an alert from their British counterparts about the yacht on Friday evening, which was flying under an American flag, because it had stopped responding to radio messages.
A nearby Portuguese ship then managed to establish radio contact after several attempts, according to the prefecture.
A 73-year-old man of British nationality reportedly indicated that he was alone on board, safe and continuing on his way.
French news channels have reported gusts of up to 98mph in the Atlantic during Storm Herminia, which hit parts of France this weekend straight after Storm Éowyn.
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