Yachting: Movistar limps towards safe harbour

Volvo Ocean Race yacht Movistar headed to port for repairs today after the crew worked frantically to stop a massive leak and keep the boat from sinking in the Southern Ocean, the Associated Press (AP) has reported.

The Spanish yacht sent out a distress signal after taking on water about 450km off Cape Horn on the New Zealand-to-Brazil leg of the around-the-world race.

The boat was limping toward an emergency port in Argentina after the crew got the leak under control.

Movistar was second, behind Dutch entry ABN AMRO ONE, in the race's fourth and longest leg when water started pouring in from the keel housing.

Skipper Bouwe Bekking said the crew radioed for the closest boats in the six-yacht fleet to be on standby for a rescue, AP says.

An email from the boat described the dramatic scene, with the sailors knee-deep in water trying to seal the leak and bail with buckets.

"We are sinking. Everybody up," commanded Bekking.

"The water is coming in very fast."

The Dutch skipper told AP that the situation was so serious that if "we had rats onboard they would have jumped off."

Part of the 10-man crew scrambled to get rescue gear on deck and take down the massive sails of the 21m carbon fibre racing yacht.

Below decks, the rest fought to save the boat in a darkened chaos of cold sea water, filled with floating gear, food and sails.

"With the personal torches on, it looked like a scene that Hitchcock could only dream of," AP reported Bekking as saying.

The crew was bailing with buckets, which Bekking likened to "someone using one small water hose to protect his house against a raging bush fire."

The water was shorting out electrical systems, so Australian watch captain Chris Nicholson dived under the water to connect powerful bilge pumps directly to the boat's batteries.

Bekking said the crew stopped most of the leak and that the yacht was heading for Ushuaia, Argentina, for repairs before resuming the leg to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The new generation of Volvo Ocean 70 yachts are currently the world's fastest single hull sailboats.

However, the complex canting, or swing, keel systems that help make them so fast have been a weak point, with hydraulic failures, leaks and structural cracks.

Movistar won the last leg, from Melbourne to Wellington, nine seconds ahead of overall race leader ABN AMRO ONE.

Last night (NZ time) ABN AMRO ONE was in first place, 4334km from Rio de Janeiro.

United States entry Pirates of the Caribbean was second, Brasil was third, movistar was fourth but falling behind, the No 2 Dutch boat ABN AMRO TWO was fifth, and Sweden's Ericsson Racing Team was sixth.

The seven-month, 58,000km race stops in 10 ports, and the winners will be decided when the fleet reaches Goteborg, Sweden in June.