Search called off for 4 missing yachtsmen

A 40 ft yacht returning to Britain from the West Indies with four on board went missing 1000 miles off Cape Cod Friday morning. Their last radio report was that they were taking on water, but were stable, and diverting to the Azores. Visibility was 1 mile or less, 30-50 knot winds, 13-15 ft seas. After 2 days of searching by 3 C-130s and 3 merchant vessels, the search was called off.

Two 406 MHz personal locator beacons were activated. US Coast Guard, US Air Force, and Canadian Air National Guard C-130s flew to the transmitted GPS coordinates, but no luck. Small pieces of debris was spotted, and and an inverted hull was spotted, but not investigated.

Since PLBs also transmit a 121.5 Mhz homing signal, and the USCG says they can also home on the 406 Mhz signal, it seems like the visual visibility would not have been the limiting factor. I wonder at what range the C-130 can detect those homing signals? I found a spec sheet for a PLB homing receiver for airborne SAR here, but detection range isn't evident to me.

USCG Bulletin announcing end of search
USCG audio interview on BBC
USCG Initial Report
BBC News report at search end
Daily Mail report at search end The Guardian report at search end

What does it mean that an inverted hull was "not investigated"? It seems that that was what they were looking for? I'll check all those links. Very say. Even a PLB is no guarantee of safety.

Yeah, that seems weird. Checking an inverted hull is what saved Tony Bullimore and Harrison Okene.

The USCG routinely gets over 100 miles homing on 406MHz DF from at higher altitudes.

As of the 21st May 2014 USCG have resumed the search. A British aircraft has also been sent to aid in the search.

It is considered improbable that the crew will be found alive. Even if they abandoned to the raft successfully it is unlikely, given the present sea state and weather conditions, that even sheltered in a raft they will have survived to the present time.

Unfortunately the resumed search is due to public pressure and is putting lives in unnecessary danger.

Unfortunately the resumed search is due to public pressure and is putting lives in unnecessary danger.

Been there, done and ordered that at the request of CONgress person before.

I regret to have to inform you that they appear to have perished.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27553902


I rather fear that they were taken by a wave.

Here's the Coast Guard report;
Coast Guard report of inspection of overturned hull

Is that because of cold? I'm surprised that a modern life raft doesn't help more. Could you (or anyone) say a bit more about the challenges?

Yep. 50 F is 10 C.
In air that is survivable with reasonable clothing.
In water that is killing cold.

Why wouldn't the life raft keep them out of the water? Even if they were wet when they got in it, I'd have hoped the raft would have enough cover to keep the wind and rain off them, and their body heat would eventually warm up the water in their clothes, and then they'd largely stabilise.

For example this at £600 was one of the cheaper ones I found when I searched. It has an integrated tent-like canopy and an insulated floor. Wouldn't something like that protect from exposure for many days?

In heavy seas you get water ingress into the raft. That can vary from a few millimeters to completely flooded. Also the raft will chill to ambient temperature. Not a good situation, even in ideal situations. The blunt truth of the matter is that liferafts are only intended to provide short term sanctuary for a few hours to a few days depending on the conditions.
Long term survival in a raft only occurs in tropical waters under unusual conditions.

It appears that in this instance the Crew had no chance to abandon. That strongly suggests to me that they were taken by a wave.

An excellent account of just such a survival is Steve Callahan's 76 day survival and recounted in "Adrift." I think most folks here are familiar with it. If not, I highly recommend it.

For the super short version, read his "5 Realities of Being Lost at Sea" here:
http://www.cracked.com/article_21145_5-things-i-learned-about-survival-while-i-was-lost-at-sea.html