Hunt for British sailor Luke Stimson missing in Pacific called off

Rescue crews have stopped their search for a British sailor who fell into the Pacific Ocean from his yacht.

The US Coast Guard and Navy said they suspended the hunt after 50 hours of hunting for Luke Stimson, 38, who was sailing the 16,000 miles home from Japan with pregnant fiancée Laura Vernon.

The rose breeder fell overboard from his 38ft yacht Jonetsu — Japanese for passion for life — when it was 2,000 miles west of the Hawaiian island Oahu. Miss Vernon, 39, was rescued early on Sunday after raising the alarm by satellite phone.

The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Honolulu said: “Suspending a search is never an easy decision, nor is it one that is made quickly.” Mr Stimson’s mother Betty, 65, said from her home in Wellington, Shropshire: “It’s a very distressing time.”

Mr Stimson, Asian director of David Austin Roses, had been living in Japan for the last three years. His friends and colleagues yesterday paid tribute to him, describing him as a “truly remarkable person”.

Neighbours in Shifnal, Shropshire, where Mr Stimson owns a house, said they knew of his passion for sailing.

Mary Jackson, 79, said: “He worked away from home a lot but often told me he was off sailing again. He’d been taking exams to get certificates.”