Guo Chuan, 51, lost contact with his team while attempting to break world record for crossing ocean alone

The US Coast Guard has suspended its search for a Chinese sailor who lost contact with his team on Tuesday during an attempt to break the world record for a solo crossing of the Pacific.



Rescuers boarded Guo Chuan’s drifting yacht and found his lifejacket but he was not there, they said.

Guo “was a professional mariner with a deep passion for sailing”, Captain Robert Hendrickson said. “Our deepest condolences go out not only to his family and friends but also to his racing team and the sailing community.”

Footage released showed Guo’s 30-metre (97ft) trimaran, Qingdao China, drifting across the waves hundreds of miles west of Hawaii, its red sail emblazoned with the words “Peace and Sport”.

A US navy helicopter crew and a Coast Guard Hercules aircraft flying over the vessel were unable to contact Guo.

In 2013 Guo, 51, became the first Chinese sailor to complete a non-stop solo circumnavigation of the globe. He set off from San Francisco on 18 October in an attempt to set a record crossing of the Pacific, but his team lost contact with him on Tuesday afternoon. They alerted US authorities, and rescuers from the USS Makin Island reached the Qingdao China on Thursday.

“The boat crew confirmed Chuan was not on the vessel although his life jacket remains aboard,” the Coast Guard said.

They lowered the mainsail and left the Qingdao China – originally built as the Idec 2 for the French yachtsman Francis Joyon – at sea, it added, saying his racing team was arranging to salvage the vessel.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A US Coast Guard photo of Guo Chuan’s empty trimaran. Photograph: AP

On a verified Weibo social media account the team said Guo’s personal items had been recovered.

In a sailing diary entry for 20 October, posted by his team, he said listening to a recording of his two sons’ laughter on his computer was “the world’s most beautiful song, the song that puts me most at ease”.

Guo had previously said his greatest fear was to fall in the water, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported, citing him as saying: “I fear being separated from the ship when I am sailing solo.”

Guo’s team said they had observed his speed slowing on Tuesday and attempted to contact him, but he did not answer either satellite calls or internet communication. The US searchers had found a broken sail in the water, they added.

Chinese fans expressed fear for the mariner, with one writing that it was “likely he was adjusting or repairing the sail when he was struck or an accident occurred and he fell”.

The US Coast Guard said it was called when Guo’s team had not received notification from him for 24 hours. The sailor had previously been “in constant contact” with his shore team and family and was “not likely to miss scheduled calls”, it said.

The search covered an area of about 4,600 sq miles (12,000 sq km) over two days.