By all accounts, a storm knocked out their engine, probably leading to a loss of power to their chart plotter. It appears from the available photos and video (and contrary to what some news outlets are reporting) that the mast and at least one sail were still intact. Pending further evidence, it seems to me that they were simply lost.
They had enough sense to pack a year's worth of food...but not enough to have a backup navigation system. Celestial navigation is a passion of mine, and that certainly could have helped them. But, in today's day and age, it would have been a trivial matter to pack a handheld GPS (or two) into ziplock bags along with some spare batteries. Not to mention a couple of spare sails.
They were found thousands of miles from their intended destination headed on a completely wrong course. SMH.
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