One of two sailors who abandoned their boat in rough seas en route to Bermuda was found in the water yesterday and pulled to safety on a merchant ship while the other sailor was found dead.

Lochlin Reidy, 58, from Woodbridge, Connecticut, was spotted about 4 a.m. after a Coast Guard plane saw a strobe light in the ocean about 400 miles east of Virginia Beach and flew over the area to investigate, said a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

He was taken aboard the merchant vessel Sakura Express and his condition was not immediately available.

Later yesterday, Thomas Tighe, 65, from Patterson, New York, was found dead in the water. Three other sailors who were rescued from the 45ft sailboat on Sunday night said Tighe and Reidy got into a life raft after the boat began taking on water from 16- to 20ft seas.

The life raft broke away and a merchant ship that searched the area on Sunday night found the raft empty.

The other three sailors were airlifted to Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Sunday night. The sailors were on a voyage from Bridgeport, Connecticut to Bermuda when they encountered the severe weather, including winds up to 33 knots.

The Coast Guard picked up their electronic distress signal around 6 a.m. on Sunday.

The Coast Guard also rescued six people on Saturday and Sunday off North Carolina after nasty weather battered their sailboats.