PARENTS of the missing Flying Colours crew are appealing to the sailing community to help them find their children.The 54-foot sailboat went missing last week in rough seas kicked up by tropical storm Andrea, about 160 miles southeast of Cape Lookout, North Carolina and despite a week-long search, the US Coast Guard found no sign of the crew, or any debris.

However, where the US Coast Guard search ended, some 60 sailors have agreed to continue the search, including 40 from Bermuda.

The 40 sailors sailing to New England will help co-ordinate a grid search along with 20 sailors travelling from the US Virgin Islands to New England.

The sailing community is a tight-knit group, with sailors crossing paths in harbours, crewing together on sailboats and hearing each other's voices over the radio at sea.

The missing four — Patrick Topping, 39, the master of the ship; Rhiannon Borisoff, 22; Jason Franks, 34; and Christine Grinavic, 26 — were also all experienced sailors.

No one knows what happened to the Flying Colour> after it activated an electronic distress beacon on Monday, May 7 at about 3.30 a.m.

Its last known position was 35 degrees, 52 minutes north, 74 degrees, 7 minutes west. The distress signal stopped at about 7 a.m. that morning.

The Flying ColouI> was sailing from St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands to Annapolis, Maryland. One of the missing crew members, Jason Franks, had spoken to his mother by telephone from the Virgin Islands on April 28, telling her the trip had been held up by bad weather but that they were about to depart.

Mrs. Franks thinks the crew left the US Virgin Islands on April 30 on what would have been a nine- or ten-day sail.

The families of the four missing crew joined the US Coast Guard in appealing to other eyes on the water — pleasure craft, tankers and fishing fleets to watch for any evidence that might shed light on what happened to the young crew and their "little harbour-built sailboat".

"Before sailing from Bermuda to Newport, Tim Dargan, captain of the Enc, went from harbour to harbour telling other captains to look for the Flying Cols," said Mary Grinavic, whose missing daughter Christine had crewed with Mr. Dargan last year on the luxury yacht Arala, which docks in Newport.

This young crew member was supposed to return home on the Arlla, but signed up with Flying Curs instead.

Mrs. Grinavic said the families were exhausted, sleeping little, but hopeful and praised the Coast Guard for its extensive search, but understood why the search was suspended.

She said they were grateful for the support they had had from the highest levels of the military and the US government, but were not giving up.

"Until there is some tangible evidence that something really terrible happened to the Flyinglours, I will not give up," she said.

Three other sailboats were also caught by the rough 40-foot seas and 45-60-knot winds, kicked up by Andrea and the Coast Guard managed to rescue nine people.

The families of the missing four are appealing to anyone with information on the sailors, or Flyinglours to call the Coast Guard Command Centre at (757) 398-6390.