THE family of a Farnham man who died when his racing yacht capsized in the mid-Atlantic have spoken of how their lives have been “shattered and changed forever” after the owner of the yacht was charged with manslaughter last week.

Andy Bridge, 22, who learnt to sail at Frensham Sailing Club and was a former student of Weydon School, was reported missing along with three crew-mates - Paul Goslin, 56, Steve Warren, 52, and James Male, 23 - in May 2014 after their boat the Cheeki Rafiki capsized 700 miles east of Nova Scotia.

An international search effort was launched and eventually found the upturned hull of the Southampton-managed yacht. But there was no sign of the four men whose bodies have never been found.

Two-and-a-half years after the sailors’ deaths, Douglas Innes, the director of Stormforce Coaching which owned the Cheeki Rafiki, appeared at Southampton Magistrates’ Court last Thursday where he was charged with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter.

Mr Innes, 41, of Whitworth Crescent, Southampton, entered no plea and was bailed to appear at Winchester Crown Court on December 5.

Along with his company, he was also charged with failing to ensure the vessel was operated in a safe manner contrary to section 100 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.

It comes after the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced their decision to prosecute Mr Innes at the culmination of an investigation into the tragedy.

Following last week’s hearing, a joint statement was read outside the court on behalf of the four families by Graham Male, father of Andy’s crew-mate James.

Mr Male said: “We are reassured that the MCA have completed their investigation.

“Ultimately, nothing will bring our loved ones back. All our lives and those of our families have been shattered and changed forever by what has happened.

“It has been an uphill struggle and an emotional minefield for all of us with the investigation always in the background.

“On October 7, 2016, we were informed of the CPS’s decision to prosecute and we are fully supportive of their decision.”

An investigation into the sailors’ deaths earlier this year concluded the 40ft-long Cheeki Rafiki ran into difficulties after losing its keel in bad weather while returning from the Antigua Sailing Week regatta in the Caribbean.

Andy, who was skipper of the yacht, grew up in Boundstone Road, Wrecclesham, and joined Frensham Pond Sailing Club aged nine. He quickly made a name for himself in the club’s cadet youth dinghies, winning many races before progressing onto offshore yachts.

On graduating from Weydon School in 2008, he pursued a career on the waves and, after competing in the Round Britain and Ireland Race, began an internship with Stormforce Coaching, a Royal Yachting Association (RYA) training centre.

Friend Charlie Edwards, who knew Andy since primary school and played a key role in the campaign to resume the search, told the Herald in 2014: “Andy has been massively passionate about sailing from a young age and he was always out on the water at weekends. He got to travel a lot and made us all very jealous with his job.

“We always said he’s like a springer spaniel as he has a very bouncy personality and is very outgoing. He always thought positively and I know he would never give up.”

Despite his young age, Andy was a veteran of a number of trans-Atlantic voyages and competed in the 2013 Fastnet race with Stormforce Coaching before becoming one of the company’s Caribbean skippers on-board race yacht Cheeki Rafiki.