World yacht race pair rescued off Australia

AUSTRALIA: Two Britons half way through a world yacht race were rescued off the far north coast of Queensland in Australia on Sunday after their yacht hit a reef, local media reported.

The two men were not injured.

The pair set off distress beacons after their yacht started sinking early on Sunday and were rescued about three hours later by helicopter after being spotted by another aircraft.

Peter Turner, thanked the rescuers, whom he said were quick to arrive.

"I don't feel bad, I just feel very sad I've lost a super yacht that was less than a year old," he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

The rally started in the Caribbean in January, sailed through the Panama Canal, down to Ecuador and the Galapagos and across the south Pacific to Fiji. The British pair were en-route from Vanuatu to Cairns when they hit the reef.

The race is due to finish back in the Caribbean in late March 2009.

Melbourne, Sunday, Reuters