A BOURNEMOUTH woman whose father has been missing at sea since January says she is clinging to the hope he will be found safe and well.

Storme Robertson’s father, Reginald Robertson, 59, and his crewmates, Anthony Murray, 58, and Jaryd Payne, 20, last made contact on January 18.

Now their families are calling for the public to join a satellite-based online search in a bid to trace the missing boat.

The three men, who are all from South Africa, were due to deliver a Leopard 44 Catamaran to Thailand after setting sail from Cape Town in mid-December.

The yacht, which was last tracked to approximately 2,200 nautical miles off the Australian coast, was in the vicinity of the tropical cyclone Bansi.

The crew took evasive action to avoid the cyclone’s path just a few days before they lost contact.

It is thought that they only had enough food on board to last until the end of February.

The website tomnod.com has launched a campaign in a bid to find the yacht by allowing people to scour satellite images of the Indian Ocean and “tag” objects resembling a boat or life craft.

Miss Robertson said: “More people doing it will provide better results.

“Anyone can do it – you don’t have to be an experienced yachtsman.

“This is the only way you can get eyes on the water.”

The EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) on board, which is similar to the black box fitted on airplanes, has not been activated.

Miss Robertson added: “That has halted the search and rescue from the start.

“We know it doesn’t always activate for various reasons.

“The biggest hope we have is that they are just drifting.

“I have to be strong for my dad,” she said. “He did everything with a smile no matter what hardship he went through in his life.

“He taught us that whatever life throws at you, you just have to smile through it. That’s what I’m trying to do now.”

To join the search go to tomnod.com