The weather conditions were particularly bad. Thursday morning, while storm Frederico was sweeping part of France, a catamaran sent out a distress beacon off the coast of Glénan, in Finistère. The emergency services, who were unable to communicate with the boater, went looking for him shortly after 8:30 a.m. with a major rescue device, reports the Atlantic maritime prefecture.
Two helicopters were notably engaged until they located the boat, which had capsized. But after investigating the hull, there was no trace of the skipper, a 75-year-old man. While the wind was blowing very strongly and the sea was very rough, the launch of the National Society of Sea Rescuers then had to return to the dock after a crew member fell into the water and was recovered safely, reports the prefecture.
The search continued throughout the afternoon using helicopters, to no avail. They were arrested shortly after 5:30 p.m., “for lack of new information”.