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| Missing yacht: US Coast Guard resumes search | Missing yacht: US Coast Guard resumes search |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The search for four British sailors missing in the Atlantic has resumed after it was called off on Sunday. | |
| The US Coast Guard confirmed it had begun searching again after an online petition gathered 200,000 signatures. | The US Coast Guard confirmed it had begun searching again after an online petition gathered 200,000 signatures. |
| Cheeki Rafiki, the 40ft racing yacht, was sailing from a regatta in Antigua back to the UK when it got into difficulties. Contact with the men was lost on Friday. | |
| Members of the sailors' families said they were "over the moon" at the news. | |
| They met ministers at the Foreign Office earlier and are due to go to the US Embassy to meet the homeland attaché, one of the men's nieces said. | |
| The boat began taking on water 620 miles (1,000km) east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts and diverted to the Azores on Thursday. | |
| The four missing crew members are Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset; Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey, the yacht's skipper; Steve Warren, 52, also from Somerset, and 23-year-old James Male, from Southampton. | The four missing crew members are Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset; Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey, the yacht's skipper; Steve Warren, 52, also from Somerset, and 23-year-old James Male, from Southampton. |
| Mr Warren's son-in-law, Dan Carpenter, said: "We are holding out hope. We are aware that it is still a long shot but while there is some hope, we are concentrating on that." | Mr Warren's son-in-law, Dan Carpenter, said: "We are holding out hope. We are aware that it is still a long shot but while there is some hope, we are concentrating on that." |
| Earlier, the UK government said it had been assured the US rescue service "did everything they could". | |
| 'You never know' | 'You never know' |
| The Americans had said the estimated survival time past the time of distress was approximately 20 hours and that their crews had searched for 53 hours. | The Americans had said the estimated survival time past the time of distress was approximately 20 hours and that their crews had searched for 53 hours. |
| But the decision to resume searching came after family members insisted they could still be alive in the yacht's 12-man life raft. | But the decision to resume searching came after family members insisted they could still be alive in the yacht's 12-man life raft. |
| Twelve-person life raft | |
| A raft, such as that on board the Cheeki Rafiki, is required to meet the international standard ISO 9650, which stipulates how the craft must be constructed and what it must have on board. The rafts are highly visible and buoyant and can be boarded quickly in an emergency. | |
| More: How long can you survive on a life raft? | |
| Skipper Mr Bridge's grandmother Valerie said: "We are delighted. It is at least something and that is all we were asking for, all we wanted was another search. | Skipper Mr Bridge's grandmother Valerie said: "We are delighted. It is at least something and that is all we were asking for, all we wanted was another search. |
| "It might not come to anything but people want them to do it and they are trying. It seemed too quick, just two days and we were saying 'if only they could do it for a bit longer'. You never know what could happen." | "It might not come to anything but people want them to do it and they are trying. It seemed too quick, just two days and we were saying 'if only they could do it for a bit longer'. You never know what could happen." |
| The men's families met Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson in London while Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, local MP to one of the sailors, tweeted his appeal to the US Coast Guard to keep searching. | The men's families met Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson in London while Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, local MP to one of the sailors, tweeted his appeal to the US Coast Guard to keep searching. |
| Mr Goslin's daughter Claire, who on Monday made an emotional plea to the Americans, said she was "over the moon". | Mr Goslin's daughter Claire, who on Monday made an emotional plea to the Americans, said she was "over the moon". |
| "I just hope and pray with all my heart that now they find them." | "I just hope and pray with all my heart that now they find them." |
| 'Appalling' | |
| Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-women crew around the world, said the men had been failed by the coastguard. | Tracy Edwards, who skippered the first all-women crew around the world, said the men had been failed by the coastguard. |
| "I'm absolutely delighted they've resumed the search, appalled that it's taken the British public to force the prime minister to do something," she told BBC News. | "I'm absolutely delighted they've resumed the search, appalled that it's taken the British public to force the prime minister to do something," she told BBC News. |
| "These men are experienced, fit, healthy and they've got modern equipment. How sad they they should've done all the right things... and then we failed them. | "These men are experienced, fit, healthy and they've got modern equipment. How sad they they should've done all the right things... and then we failed them. |
| "The US Coast Guard and the UK coastguard have decided they haven't survived and I think that's appalling." | "The US Coast Guard and the UK coastguard have decided they haven't survived and I think that's appalling." |
| The US Coast Guard said locator beacons activated by the crew indicated they were in a position 1,000 miles east of Massachusetts on Friday morning. | |
| The yacht was facing 15ft waves, 50mph winds and sea and air temperatures of 15C (60F), the US Coast Guard added. | |
| A spokesman said over the weekend it had "saturated the area" in a two-day search involving three US and Canadian aircraft and three merchant vessels and "we would have found them" if it had been possible. | |
| On Saturday, a cargo vessel which was helping with the search spotted and photographed an overturned hull which matched the description of the Cheeki Rafiki. | |
| Graham Male, from Romsey, Hampshire, father of crew member James, said: "We haven't got the full details yet as we are in the process of travelling to the Foreign Office. | |
| "From what we have heard it's really what we have been campaigning for." | |
| Nicola Evans, a friend of Cheeki Rafiki's skipper Mr Bridge, said: "When we started this campaign, we didn't know who would listen, just that our boys were lost at sea and we refused to let go of hope." |