THE SEARCH off Cape Horn for the Canadian yachtsman Gerry Roufs, missing since January 7th, will be halted today, the French air-sea rescue centre said yesterday.
The search off the stormy tip of South America will end once an Argentinian aircraft, which has been overflying the search zone since Monday, makes one last look for Roufs and his yacht Groupe LG2, it said.
"Security messages will continue to be transmitted by the Inmarsat (maritime satellite) system in the southeast Pacific Ocean and the South Atlantic in an attempt to find and locate Groupe LG2," it said.
Montreal-born lawyer Roufs (43), competing in the Vendee Globe Challenge solo non-stop round-the-world yacht race, was last positively heard from in an area south of Easter Island and west of Cape Horn.
His automatic satellite position transmitter then fell silent. However, the French rescue center said it was possible that Roufs was still alive.
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