Philipsburg:--- The coast guard tried to provide assistance to a yacht that caught fire outside of St. Maarten shortly before 10am. SMN News learnt that the yacht was over one mile away from the coastline and as such the fire department was not able to provide much assistance.Several other boats and seamen that were in the immediate vicinity tried to assist the crew by throwing water on the yacht. An official at the fire department said that they did not have a boat on hand to go on sea but the coast guard was called in to provide assistance. The official said that despite the efforts of the coast guard and others in the area the yacht eventually sank.