by A British sailor is missing at sea after his yacht was found in the Bay of Biscay, according to French authorities.
A French Air Force helicopter was sent to search for the 73-year-old man, who was not named, after his emergency beacon was fired about 50 miles from Lacanau in Gascony on Saturday.
According to the Atlantic Maritime Prefecture, a government agency, the Tiger PA, a 12-meter-long American-flagged yacht, was spotted by a helicopter but was later found to be empty.
A yacht with the same name was last located in Weymouth, Dorset, last week, according to the Vesselfinder website.
French authorities said they received a warning from the British coastguard on Friday evening after the yacht failed to respond to radio messages.
The yacht was found in the Bay of Biscay off the coast of southwestern France and a cargo ship “managed to establish radio contact after several attempts,” the prefecture said.
It said: “On board alone, a 73-year-old male of British nationality stated that he was safe and was continuing on his way.”
The helicopter crew then discovered on Saturday that the yacht was “gutted” and two divers found it empty.
A Portuguese cargo ship, a Spanish hospital ship that treats fishermen at sea and a French navy maritime surveillance aircraft took part in the search before it was called off on Sunday.
This comes after gusts of up to 150km/h were recorded off the west coast of France on Sunday.
A small French sailboat capsized near the coast off the Atlantic resort of Les Sables-d’Olonne and the sailor was rescued by a surfer.
Meanwhile, six people in kayaks got into trouble off Saint-Nazaire in Brittany before being rescued by French rescue boats in 55mph winds.
In the UK, a tree crashed into a 19-year-old’s blue Ford Focus in Mauchline, East Ayrshire, at around 6.45am on Friday and he died the following day.
In Ireland, 20-year-old Kacper Dudek died after a tree fell on his car in Feddyglass, Raphoe, County Donegal, early on Friday. Irish police are investigating the incident.
