The Sailing vessel FREE SPIRIT has been lost at sea and Coast Gaurd has called off it's search after a couple of days.
The Free Spirit was a 41 foot sloop out of Newport R.I. that was making a trip to the Azores with 4 people aboard and experienced storm conditions 400 miles east of Cape Cod, 200 miles south of Nova Scotia. Four People were lost. I find it sad because a 19 year old young girl from Newport, Molly Finn, who signed on for the adventure was lost.
The boat ran into storm conditions, the remnats of tropical storm Alberto. Once a storm reaches the high latitudes it begins to move much faster. If you have a storm packing 30 to 40 mph winds and is traveling at 40 to 50 mph over ground, the winds could translate to 90 to 100 mph if you are at the wrong quadrant at the wrong time. It does not need to be a hurricane to sink you.
It hits me hard because I have tried that trip twice in the past 3 years, both times becoming so seasick that I had to return.
(baby) I know what it takes. Much has to do with a safe weather window. My trips were towards the winter when contitions are much more crucial. You need the right people, the right boat and equipment, and the right weather window. I think perhaps that the Free Spirit, at the very least, lacked at least two out of the three. To Bad.....The northern Atlantic can swallow you up, even in the spring or summer. 
Have no idea who Molly Finn was, but need to admire her courage......Just a note of interest, at least to me....
