Friends, family call off searches for missing US sailor

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) – Trevor Moore’s friends and family have called off their own searches for the missing U.S. Olympic sailor.

The Naples-based sailor was last seen June 25 when he left Miami’s U.S. Sailing Center in a 15-foot inflatable powerboat. The boat was found idling later that day near Dinner Key with Moore’s belongings still in it.

The U.S. Coast Guard and state authorities suspended their search for Moore last weekend after three days.

Moore’s fiancée Libby Patton tells the Naples Daily News (http://bit.ly/1GV0klF) that private searches continued through Thursday afternoon, when they finally gave up.

“It felt like the right place to be,” Patton said. “I felt closer to him doing that.”

Moore, 30, was a member of the U.S. sailing team that competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

With his partner Erik Storck, Moore competed in the men’s 49er sailing event against 20 other teams. The 49er is a 16-foot, two-man vessel built for short-course racing and speed. In a boat named Wendy to honor Moore’s mother, who died when he was 12, they finished 15th.

According to a statement from U.S. Sailing, after the Olympics, Moore switched from the crew position in the two-man 49er to skipper, and campaigned for the upcoming Summer Olympics in Brazil in 2016. Moore retired from campaigning last year but remained involved in Olympic sailing as a coach.

Moore also competed in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Trials in the Laser class, finishing fourth. He also won College Sailor of the Year honors for Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, in 2007.

Moore’s family moved from New England to Naples when he was 7. He learned to sail as a child at the Naples Community Sailing Center.

“I can remember a number of conversations we had about him trying out for the Olympics,” said Moore’s college sailing coach, Scott Ikle. “In his mind he always knew he would go – he was just so naturally gifted and talented it was no surprise that he made it.”

Mitch Brindley, president of the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association, said Moore had one of the best reputations in sailing.

“It was both on and off the water,” he said. “Other sailors respected him, and he had an outstanding reputation among his competitors. He wouldn’t let anyone get away with anything dishonest, and around him, nobody tried.”