Coastguards have suspended their search for a missing
skipper whose yacht was found aground with the sail up, the engine running and
no one on board.

Hany Mustapha was last seen at Poole, where he purchased the
vessel at a private sale on Saturday morning. The 46-year-old from Kingston
upon Thames told staff at the yacht club that he was planning to sail to
Hayling Island just hours before the boat was found stranded on the Isle of
Wight.

A five-hour air, land and sea search was launched after a
member of the public alerted the coastguard. The search resumed Sunday morning
but was called off after an unsuccessful eight-hours.

“The search has been suspended but if we get any new
information that prompts us to an area then we will recommence a search,”
explained a Solent coastguard spokesperson.

Mustapha is described as being around 6ft 3in tall, of
mid-European appearance with a stocky build. He has short dark receding hair
and a goatee beard.

Anyone with information about Mustapha’s whereabouts is
asked to call Dorset Police on 101.