The families of three men who disappeared from their yacht off Australia in mysterious circumstances have reluctantly called off a search for the missing sailors, acknowledging that they may never know what happened to them.
There has been no sign of the skipper, Derek Batten, and brothers Jim and Peter Tunstead since their catamaran, Kaz II, was found adrift in calm waters off the coast of Queensland on April 18.
Rescuers who came upon the boat were puzzled because everything appeared normal. The engine was ticking over in neutral, mobile phones, laptops, wallets and cameras were in the cabin and food and cutlery had been laid out for a meal.
A half-read Sunday newspaper was lying on the table.
The only sign that something had gone amiss was a ripped sail and fenders hanging over the side of the boat.
A massive air and sea search was launched, but the authorities scaled down the operation within days, saying there was no hope of finding the men alive.
The sons and daughters of the three sailors had until Tuesday to continue scouring the sea and the 74 Whitsunday islands nearby, hiring helicopters and boats, in a last attempt to find them.
Family spokesman Glenn Tunstead said the family felt a "sense of failure," but they had done everything they possibly could.
"We didn't achieve the outcome that we wanted. It's very, very tough for the family," he told ABC radio.
There has been speculation that the men jumped into the sea to try to pull the boat off a sandbank and were stranded when wind set the catamaran free.
More sinister theories are that they staged their disappearance and escaped by speedboat in an insurance scam, or that they could have been part of a drug ring, or attacked by pirates.
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