Crew survive after tornado strikes

CNN -- A crew competing in the Rolex Middle Sea Race had a lucky escape as their yacht was hit by a tornado off the coast of Sicily.

The 10-strong crew aboard Air Malta Falcon the Air Malta-sponsored Beneteau 40.7 -- one of only 15 boats to have completed the race -- survived after being hit by ferocious winds.

The yacht's skipper Martin Scicluna recounted the horrifying experience:

"We saw it coming , we saw it getting closer, closer and closer, There was nothing we could do about it so we put up a small sail so we had control of the boat. When it hit we were as prepared as we could have been and just rode it out. It was unbelievable - 70kts of wind and hail.

"Yes, it was fairly scary and wasn't particularly enjoyable. The only thing we could do was ride it, we just went through the beam of it. When we were hit we just had to try to survive. The whole ordeal lasted about 12 minutes. I even sent Matthew, my 15-year-old son, below to get the hacksaw because I feared the mast coming down. We needed to be prepared to chop it away if that had happened."

Fortunately Team Air Malta Falcon got through the worst of it without scathe and Scicluna said he was incredibly impressed with the boat.

"The boat was amazing, we had no damage whatsoever. I would never have believed that this boat could have survived such an ordeal."

Despite the horrendous conditions Team Air Malta Falcon crossed the finish line back in Malta in fifth overall in their division. E-mail to a friend

http://www.ybw.com/