The US Coast Guard was facing calls last night to return to the doomed British yacht Cheeki Rafiki, to check whether the bodies of any of its four crew members were trapped inside. The coastguard located the boat a week after the vessel went missing.
An RAF Hercules has joined three other search and rescue aircraft in the hunt for the missing British sailors.
The aircraft are being coordinated with commercial and private shipping in the search area as the rescue effort enters a highly crucial period.
With no sign of a life raft or of debris, and with nearly 20,000 square miles having been searched, the hunt continues for another day.
Veteran yachtsman Tony Bullimore tells ITV News that there is a "strong possibility" the yachtsmen are still alive in the life raft.