A DORSET community is hoping against hope that their friend who vanished with three colleagues after their boat capsized in the Atlantic will be found.

Paul Goslin, 56, worked for 28 years at the Brooklyn House Dental Practice in Sherborne before retiring in 2010.

Mr Goslin, Andrew Bridge, James Male and Steve Warren were on board the 40ft Cheeki Rafiki yacht, en-route to the UK after attending a regatta in Antigua.

It is believed their yacht capsized after running into difficulties in the mid-Atlantic Ocean, 620 miles east of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, on Thursday, May 15.

US Coastguards initially called off the search in the early hours of Sunday morning after scanning an area of 4,000 miles without finding the crew.

But, following mounting pressure from the sailors’ families, politicians and celebrities, the coastguards confirmed to the families that they were working with British and Canadian authorities, and would relaunch the search using aeroplanes at 3pm yesterday.

The news that the search was being relaunched was greeted by residents of the town.

Sherborne Town Mayor Cllr Jon Andrews said: “Paul was a dentist in Sherborne for many, many years, and he has looked at my teeth on many occasions.

“He was a very good dentist and was very well known in the town.”