U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for Chinese sailor attempting world record

HONOLULU, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for Guo Chuan, a Chinese sailor attempting to set a world record by sailing from San Francisco to Shanghai within 20 days.

The boat carrying Guo, 50, was seen in waters near the Hawaiian islands with its mainsail snapped off and without him on board. A search plane was sent to his last-known coordinates, about 600 miles from Hawaii's Oahu island.

Chuan set sail from San Francisco on Oct. 18 in a 97-foot trimaran boat called the Qingdao China, which was found with Chuan's life jacket on board.

"Mr. Chuan was a professional mariner with a deep passion for sailing," Coast Guard Capt. Robert Hendrickson said in a statement. "Our thanks to our Navy partners who helped us search for this vessel in a timely manner so far from shore in an attempt to locate Mr. Chuan. Our deepest condolences go out not only to his family and friends but also to his racing team and the sailing community."

The Coast Guard searched more than 4,600 square miles over a two-day period in search of Chuan. Chuan's support team is making arrangements to recover the Qingdao China, which remains adrift.

China's Maritime Rescue Coordination Center reached out to the Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu on Tuesday after it had not heard from the Qingdao China in 24 hours, which prompted the search operation.

The Guo Chuan Sailing Facebook page said the Coast Guard "collected all Guo's belongings aboard for his family" after the USS Makin Island traveled to where the Qingdao China was located.