middle of the Atlantic Ocean last month for the safety of a cruise ship, one of the first things he did was call around for a salvage firm.

A Bermuda company had wanted $40,000 to fetch his multihull, while the Newport-based Ocean Response Inc asked $15,000.

The veteran sailor wasted no time calling the latter.

And within three days Ocean Response owner Tom Bandoni called with the good news; Cox's racing trimaran had been rescued from an eternal life at sea.

The happy sailor this week acknowledged that without Ocean Response Inc, his beloved 42-foot Dick Newick design trimaran, Triad , valued at more than $180,000, probably would never have been found.

"Now, three days later she has gained a new lease on life thanks to a coordinated effort orchestrated by Tom Bandoni of Ocean Response,'' Cox said.

He noted Bandoni had tactical assistance from Delta Air Lines pilot Dave Merena and a briefing by Bob Rice's Weather Window of Wolfeboro.

Triad was salvaged by Osprey , an 85-foot trawler out of Newport, Rhode Island, which Bandoni chartered because his salvage boat was not overboard yet.

Triad was first spotted by the 421 Golden Eagle twin engined plane chartered from General Aviation Services some three miles from the position predicted by Bob Rice. A line and man were put aboard Triad from the Osprey three hours later.

Cox pointed out, "Had another vessel come to grief by collision or entanglement with the unlit wreck, it could have cost millions (in insurance money). Multihulls like Triad are virtually unsinkable owing to the their design.'' Triad dismasted falling off a rogue wave on a return trip to Boston from Bermuda after placing second in the New England Multihull race.

She has been towed safely to Newport, where Cox is repairing her. Bandoni bought his own salvage boat, a 100-foot used oil-rig supply boat (currently being refitted) which allows him to travel 7,000 miles in a single search.

The former trimaran sailor told the New York Times in an interview recently that he decided to start the salvage company after seeing long distance yacht racing was expanding as fast as the number of professional sailors who were making a living out of their high seas adventures.

"But what to do when one of the high-priced race boats capsises, or dismasts as has happened several times this year on the Atlantic?,'' he thought.

Bandoni decided to address the problem by starting Ocean Response Inc. "Our wonderful boats don't have to be left as floating debris and broken dreams,'' Bandoni told the Times in a June 30 article.

"It is normal and common for a skipper to be saved from an awful situation, and not care what happens to his or her boat until sometime later when it is too late, and too difficult to find.'' Unlike a salvage company, which traditionally charges cost and a percentage of a boat's value to pick it up, Bandoni says he will do it for far less.

Noting a spate of sea mishaps of late including two solo sailors' boats capsising in the single handed trans-Atlantic race last month, Bandoni expects to be kept fairly busy -- and also hopes for a few movie contracts as a support boat.