The BBC's Red Harrison: "Two official inquiries have been ordered"

Mr Charles is one of two sailors who are still missing after raging seas claimed the lives of at least four yachtsmen competing in the event.

The search for 33-year-old Mr Charles and the other man has been called off, and Australian authorities say there is no longer any hope of finding the men alive.

Mr Charles, from Emsworth, in Sussex, was taking part in the race in the Bass Strait, between New South Wales and Tasmania, when his boat, the Sword of Orion, was lashed by 30ft high waves and storm-force winds.

He was swept overboard from the 43ft Australian vessel at 0800 GMT on Sunday. The Sword of Orion was believed to be still afloat.

Mr Charles had competed in the race before

A massive search and rescue operation, concentrating on the area off Gabo Island, about 280 miles east of Melbourne, was launched on Sunday after 30ft seas and winds gusting up to 78 knots tore through the 115-strong fleet of yachts.

Mr Charles, who had competed in the race before, was crewing on the Sword of Orion at the invitation of skipper Steve Kulmar. The two men had sailed together previously in the 1997 Admiral's Cup, in England.

He has sailed in four Admiral's Cups and represented Britain at the 1996 Olympic yachting regatta in Savannah, Georgia.

Mr Charles was a leading member of Bosham Yacht Club near Portsmouth. Roly Boissevain, a spokesman for the club, said the death of the Olympic yachtsman would be a great loss to the yachting community.

He said: "He was such a great guy - a dedicated sailor."

Mr Charles had been sailing at the club since he was a boy.

Roly Boissevain: "He was one of the most likeable sailors you could wish to meet."

"When he did so well in the Olympic trials in Barcelona we made him a life member of the sailing club," Mr Boissevain added.

Mr Charles learned to sail at the age of eight and was considered a "bright young hope" of the British sport.

He became a champion dinghy sailer at the age of 22 and later graduated to sailing yachts, competing in the 1996 Olympics.

He was training with the British squad in Sydney for the 2000 games when he was invited to join the crew of the Sword of Orion just days before the race began.