yesterday to be examined by Police.

The 21-foot Cutty Cabin had been missing since January 26, and the three men who were aboard have still not been found. But the families have not abandoned hope they are alive, a spokesman said yesterday.

A massive search was launched for brothers Mr. Randy (Scorcher) Outerbridge, 30, and Mr. Jeffrey (Jakes) Outerbridge, 25, and their friend Mr. Geaige Minks, 26. They had set off on a fishing trip that morning.

On Thursday at about 8:30 p.m., occupants of a yacht leaving Bermuda for the Mediterranean spotted the Simply Red , upside down, 50 miles east of the Island, a spokesman for Harbour Radio said.

The boat was empty and lying low in the water, and there was no sign of the missing men, Marine and Ports said in a news release.

After a US Navy helicopter spotted the pleasure boat at 10 a.m. yesterday, the pilot boat St. David was dispatched to tow the Simply Red to the Island.

She arrived at Ordnance Island last night. Marine and Ports planned to move the Simply Red to Police custody at Prospect.

Mr. Custerfield Crockwell, uncle of the Outerbridge brothers and spokesman for the families, said relatives were "still hopeful'' the men had been rescued by a foreign vessel. "That's the only hope that they're hanging on to,'' he said.

"We're not going to give up unless something more is found where we definitely know that they are gone.'' Meanwhile, Harbour Radio confirmed yesterday that it interrogated a passing ship it detected on radar the day the Simply Red disappeared.

The Liberian-registered bulk carrier Success Bulker passed about 20 miles to the northwest of the Island and was picked up on radar late in the afternoon.

The ship was contacted by radio after some difficulty and reported no contact with the Simply Red , the spokesman said.

And the Success Bulker , on her way from Houston to the Suez by way of Gibraltar, was at least 25 to 30 miles away from where the Simply Red was thought to be, he said.

The bulk carrier was scheduled to arrive in Gibraltar on February 6, and is believed to be again at sea.

Meanwhile, Police have not given up hope of finding taxi driver Mr. David (Bushes) DeSilva, 62, who went missing on January 28.

Mr. DeSilva's car was found abandoned at Watch Hill Park in Smith's Parish. A search of the park, shoreline and water turned up on sign of the man.