Gosport-based Contessa 32 sailor Peter Claydon was found dead in Cherbourg marina following the first Junior Offshore Group race of the season.

He had successfully finished the race, from Cowes, on Easter Saturday, aboard his jointly-owned boat Hurrying Angel.

A spokeswoman at Cherbourg marina said that at around 22.00 his wife, Kathy, had asked at the marina office if her husband was taking a shower, but the facilities were closed at the time.

Divers, police and firemen were called, but Claydon’s body was not found until Easter Monday, when it was spotted floating near a finger pontoon in the marina.