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PARIS (AP) — Maritime crews in French Polynesia have called off the search for Swiss yachtsman Laurent Bourgnon Sunday.
Authorities reported 49-year-old Bourgnon missing Wednesday after he failed to reappear from a solo dive. After five days, they are abandoning the search.
Bourgnon was diving on his own when he disappeared during a trip organized to take tourists on his boat. He had anchored in the Toau atoll, approximately 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Tahiti. He was widely considered one of the world's top sailors, and twice won the Route du Rhum trans-Atlantic sailing race.
Bourgnon's brother Yvan, also an accomplished sailor who took part in the search, is keeping a ship and several boats in the area and says he will keep looking.
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