A bit of help/advice from SAR crews would be welcome.

[Say again s l o w l y]

I've just had some news that my Uncle's yacht has been notified as missing around 300 miles off Cape Cod and that a large scale search has been initiated.

They put out a MAYDAY by Sat. phone yesterday afternoon (15th June) and their EPIRB went off around the same time.

The EPIRB has been found this afternoon, but there has so far been no sign of the vessel or it's crew and no contact via any other means. I understand that Coast Guard crews from both the States and Canada have been involved so far.

My question is, how long do you chap's keep on looking?
The weather in the area has been very bad with 20-30ft seas and 50+kts of breeze, how much does this hamper the efforts?
What is the most likely outcome? Do these things just vanish in these conditions or is it more likely they are just sitting getting banged about after having been dismasted?

We are all pretty concerned, especially as the crew consists of my Uncle, my 18 year old cousin, his girlfriend and another friend.

We are in contact with the coast guard in Boston but I'd rather let them get on with their jobs than bother them with questions at this moment.

Cheers in advance, you all do a pretty superb job no matter what the outcome.

[Say again s l o w l y]

SaSless,

The yachts name is Free Spirit 1 and it's home port is currently Rhode Island, though it is coming over to the UK.
They were en-route to the Azores and the Captains name is Jack Bielecki.

Cheers.

[Say again s l o w l y]

http://www.uscgnewengland.com/go/site/778/

Thanks to all those who've offered their support.

[[email protected]]

Say again slowly - USCG are clearly throwing a lot of assets at the search but it is a big area and a small target. The quality of search depends on the sensors used and how thoroughly the area is searched. I am sure they will have searched with radar from fixed wing and possibly helicopters but the high sea state and the small size of the boat will make that less than easy. A visual search in those conditions will also be difficult since the sea state will reduce the detection distance considerably. Once the EPIRB was found ( and by that I think you mean its GPS coordinates were known) they would have used that as a datum for the first search and saturated it - again not easy in that sea state as they would have to assume they were looking for either a dismasted or capsized vessel or even just debris and people in the water. The size of the likely target, along with the sea and weather conditions, determines the likely detection distance and that will determine how close each pass of the searching vessel needs to be to the last one (we call it track spacing). So a small target in poor conditions means closer track spacing and a longer time to search a given area. The USGC have expanded their original search area, based on computer predictions of the boats probable position taking into account wind, tide and any other information they may get ( a sighting from another vessel perhaps).

Your relatives may yet be safe and sound, thay just haven't been found yet, so keep a positive mindset. Hopefully they had appropriate safety and survival equipment which will protect them even if they end up in the water.
In this situation I wouldn't expect the USCG to stand down the search for some while since there appears to be no wreckage or debris and they would assume the boat is still floating.

[Say again s l o w l y]

Latest update is that nothing has been found yet apart from some "debris", though this cannot be linked to the yacht.

The coast guard has said that if nothing has been found by this evening, then they will be "redeploying the assets" despite having found nothing, not even identifiable debris.

The EPIRB hasn't actually been found, rather they have a signal from it.

I know I'm emotionally attached to this situation, but I am very surprised that there is even thought of stopping searching after less than 48 hours when there is no evidence of good or bad news.
Is this a normal thing? I understand that searches like this are incredibly expensive, but surely that shouldn't be an issue at an early stage like this.
Or am I being a bit delusional?

[Daysleeper]

First off I'm sorry for your situation.

While there are likely to be more experianced SAR people on the forum in my limited experience of providing fixed wing support, 48 hours with absolutely no sign is probably about the average. I was involved in a yacht search in the North Sea in 2000 just before I went to do other things and the majority of the search assests including all the helicopters and lifeboats were called off after about 2 days.
MCGA Archive (http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-dops_pr_newsroom-press-releases-release.htm?mcga_news_id=877&month=8&year=2000)

The families successfully campaigned the minister in charge of the MCGA for more search time and we went back out on a "last chance" search for another day which found nothing.

Good Luck

[[email protected]]

Sayagain, I would expect them to try and physically locate the EPIRB since it could still be attached to the boat but if they have looked around the area of the signal (most modern 406 mhz EPIRBS transmit a GPS position so finding it should be easy, however older ones don't and rely on 121.5 homing to find the beacon). The USCG only have a limited number of assets and there may be more than one search going on at any one time. The only reason for calling off the search is if there is conclusive evidence that the boat has sunk (identifiable debris) or if they are found; scaling down the search is not unusual or they may be revisiting the search areas and trying the computer programme that determines search areas with different criteria.

[Say again s l o w l y]

Thanks for that, it seems the EPIRB has now been recovered and they are continuing the search, though as time goes on, it's getting harder to to see how this can have a positive ending, especially as the wx has improved and is now "perfect searching conditions." (Coast guard phrase.) The EPIRB was a 406 mhz beacon.

The SAR crews have done an amazing job so far and I'm sure if there is anything to find, they'll locate it.

[Say again s l o w l y]

The coast guard has called off the search, so I guess that's it.....

I think it's harder not knowing anything, than knowing the worst.

They haven't found any identifiable wreckage, bodies or the boat itself but I suppose they are the professionals.

[MrEdd]

Sorry to heat that mate. A thougt goes to the familys.

[MightyGem]

I've been paying more attention to this than normal as it involves a fellow ppruner. Sorry it's come to a sad ending. :(

[Nigel Osborn]

Don't give up yet, I've spent up to 7 days in successful searches. As they knew they were in trouble, I'm sure they would have taken some sensible actions for survival.
Don't forget how that pommie solo round the world sailor survived upside down in his yacht near antarctica before the RAN rescued him.

[[email protected]]

Sayagain - Nigel is right, if they got themsleves into a dinghy they could survive for weeks if they have enough fresh water. Here's hoping for a positive outcome.

[Rotorchick]

We just had a group of 3 people in the Torres Strait found alive after three weeks missing at sea.
Don't get too despondent just yet.