CHEEKI RAFIKI; LIFE RAFT FOUND ON DAMAGED YATCH

The US Coast Guard issued photographs of Cheeki Rafiki's upturned hull showing its keel had broken off

The wreckage of the yacht crewed by four UK sailors missing in the North Atlantic was found with its life raft still onboard, the US Coast Guard says.

The upturned hull of the 40ft Cheeki Rafiki was found on Friday but there was no sign of the crew. Their families have been told.
The men have been missing since they began taking on water as they sailed to the UK after a regatta in Antigua.
The US search ended at midnight local time and the RAF will no longer go out.
Earlier, a US Navy helicopter crew discovered the wreckage about 1,000 miles (1,600km) east of Massachusetts after the search for the missing men was resumed on Tuesday.

James Male, Andrew Bridge, Steve Warren and Paul Goslin (l-r) are all experienced yachtsmen

The four-strong crew got into difficulties in the same area on 15 May.
They were Paul Goslin, 56, from West Camel, Somerset; Steve Warren, 52, from Bridgwater, Somerset; skipper Andrew Bridge, 22, from Farnham, Surrey; and 22-year-old James Male, from Romsey, Hampshire.

Mr Warren's uncle, Albert Davey, told the BBC: "Prior to setting off on this return trip to Southampton, the Cheeki Rafiki had won its class in the Antigua Yachting Regatta.
"It's not the ending we would want but we have got to gain some small consolation that Steve was doing what he thoroughly enjoyed doing and I think we have got to cling on to that."
No sign A Navy boat crew was deployed after the sighting, the US Coast Guard said. A surface swimmer identified the name on the back of the boat and knocked on the hull but there was no response.
A spokesman said: "The US Coast Guard has confirmed the life raft aboard the capsized sailing vessel Cheeki Rafiki was secured in its storage space in the aft portion of the boat, Friday, indicating it was not used for emergency purposes."
There was no sign of the men and there are no further indications as to their whereabouts.
The US Coast Guard added it did not perform salvage operations as a matter of policy.
On 15 May, the yacht contacted Cheeki Rafiki's owners in Southampton to say they were taking on water and diverting to the Azores.

Hopes for the four men had rested on the yacht's life raft

Contact was lost the following day and locator beacons were activated by the crew on the morning of Friday 16 May.
'Cabin flooded' On 23 May the US Navy boat found the cabin of the yacht was flooded and the windows shattered.
The yacht's keel was also broken, which had caused a breach in the hull, a US Coast Guard spokesman added.

An image showing the life raft still in position had been "shared with and acknowledged by the [men's] families", the Coast Guard said on Friday night.

Foreign Office Minister Hugh Robertson expressed his "sincere condolences" to the men's families.
"The UK government is grateful to the US Coast Guard and the Canadian search and rescue services for their efforts to locate the men," he added.
"Their dedication has been unwavering, and they have done everything they could during the course of the search."
Mr Warren's family said in a statement: "We are very sad that the US has now suspended the search for Stephen and his friends.
"From the beginning we, together with the other families involved, have continued to hold out hope that he would be found alive."
They paid tribute to the US Coast Guard for leading an "exceptional search", adding: "This is now an incredibly difficult time for all the family.
"We would therefore request that we are given privacy to come to terms with today's decision."
Jeremy Wyatt from the World Cruising Club sailing organisation said the chain of events was still "all speculation".
But he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the yacht would have become unstable after the keel came off and it would have capsized "very quickly" and the crew may not have had time to launch the lifeboat.
RAF search An RAF Hercules C-130 plane operating from the Azores had been due to keep looking for the yachtsmen on Saturday.
But following the US Coast Guard announcement the Foreign Office said: "In light of the US Coast Guard's decision to suspend their search for the crew following photographic confirmation that the life raft is in the hull of the boat, the C-130 will now return to the UK."
Tuesday's decision to resume the search followed an official request from the UK government.
An online petition, set up to put pressure on the US Coast Guard, had attracted more than 200,000 signatures.