Search Planes Comb Sea for Missing Solo Sailor

WASHINGTON —  Coast Guard C-130 aircraft crisscrossed a 43,200-square-mile stretch of the Atlantic about 700 miles northeast of Bermuda on Saturday, searching for Mike Plant, one of the world’s most experienced solo sailors, who disappeared while attempting a United States to France crossing.

A Coast Guard spokesman in New York said the three rescue aircraft have covered 37,680 miles of the area where Plant’s 60-foot sailboat, Coyote, is thought to have been lost. The search is scheduled to resume today.

A weak emergency radio beacon signal now known to have been from Plant’s boat was picked up by the Canadian coast guard on Oct. 27. But the Canadians said they did not at that time notify the U.S. Coast Guard because the beacon was unregistered, so they did not know that an American was involved.

The signal was identified as coming from Plant, 41, on Thursday after friends in Rhode Island obtained the identification number from the store where Plant bought the equipment.

Friends and family of the sailor, who lives in Minneapolis, are asking why the Canadians took no action after receiving the initial radio burst, even if officials did not know what vessel was in distress.

Canadian officials said the signal was too weak to pinpoint a location. But Plant’s friends say that if the location is good enough to direct a search now, it should have touched off a search last month.

The current search is of the approximate location of the Oct. 27 signal.

Plant left New York on Oct. 16 bound for Les Sable D’olonne in France. According to the Coast Guard, he was last seen on Oct. 20 by a commercial vessel. At that time, Plant reported electrical problems but said he planned to continue his voyage. The boat’s builder notified the Coast Guard on Nov. 6 that the Coyote was overdue.