Photo: BBC NEWS

The crew of the Cheeki Rafiki 40ft performance racer-cruiser ran into difficulties on Thursday while returning from Antigua Sailing Week.

Contact was lost in the early hours of Friday as they diverted to the Azores.

They are feared to have capsized and abandoned to a life raft, Southampton charter firm Stormforce Coaching said.

US and Canadian aircraft and merchant vessels looked for them on Friday and Saturday but have now called off the search, Stormforce director Doug Innes said.

Three of the four crew members were named by the company as Andrew Bridge, 21, Paul Goslin, 56 and Steve Warren, 52.

They are thought to have been delivering the vessel back after it participated in Antigua Week, regarded as one of the world's top regattas.

All three were described as "very experienced offshore yachtsmen".

'Lost contact'

Mr Innes said Cheeki Rafiki started taking on water on Thursday.

He said: "We were in contact with the skipper and at the time the yacht and crew were keeping the situation stable.

"They had not been able to ascertain where the water ingress was from and were diverting to the Azores.

"Unfortunately we lost contact during the early hours of Friday morning and we believe it is possible the crew abandoned to the life raft."

He added the search efforts were "exceptional" but the company was "devastated that the search has now been called off so soon".

The Foreign Office confirmed it was aware of the missing yacht.

"We are in contact with the US Coastguard and have offered consular assistance to the families".