Family ‘heartbroken’ as missing sailor named as London father Charles Todd

The family of a British sailor who went missing after his boat capsized off the south-west coast of France say they are “heartbroken by this sudden loss”.

Father-of-five Charles Todd, 73, sent out a distress signal from his yacht on 25 January amid fierce weather brought on by Storm Herminia in the area of the Bay of Biscay.

A French air force helicopter was dispatched as part of an immediate response to try and find Mr Todd, but they found his 12-metre yacht, the Tiger PA, “eviscerated” in the Bay of Biscay.

Mr Todd’s family said the search was called off in the early hours of 26 January after teams were “unable to locate him”.

According to the Préfecture maritime de l’Atlantique, the distress call was detected approximately 80km (50 miles) west of Lacanau at about 15:00 local time (14:00 GMT).

As part of the rescue operation, French officials said a Portuguese cargo ship and a Spanish hospital vessel were both diverted to the area and to help with the search, alongside the French navy.

But, at 01:33 (00:33 GMT) the following morning the Préfecture maritime de l’Atlantique said the search was suspended “due to a lack of new information”.

In a tribute, Mr Todd’s daughter, Nadine Gowan, told the BBC her father was sailing to the Caribbean via the Canary Islands when the tragedy occurred.

His family described him as a “loving, charismatic, young-at-heart” and as someone “who lived life to the full”.

They added that Mr Todd was born in Ghana and moved to Manchester when he was young.

He was a keen musician, a skilled carpenter and lived in Germany for 25 years where he ran his own joinery business, the family said.

Mr Todd returned to London in 2004 and was a well-respected member of the Greenwich Yacht Club for over a decade.

The family has expressed their gratitude to the French rescue teams and the British Consulate in Bordeaux.