But it will not be as bad as the catastrophe which overtook the Fastnet race, between Britain and Ireland, 20 years ago.

Fifteen competitors lost their lives in the 605-mile race and only 85 out of 303 yachts made it back to the finishing line off the English port of Plymouth.

The Fastnet race is the last in a series of five which make up the Admiral's Cup competition, the world championship of yacht racing.

It takes place in August - when the weather should normally be fine in the Irish Sea - but the 1979 race was hit by a freak storm which had caused havoc as far away as New York.

Calm before the storm

On Saturday, 11 August 1979 the field of 303 set off from Cowes on the Isle of Wight on a sunny day with a pleasant breeze behind them.

The course took them westwards, across the Irish Sea, around Fastnet Rock off the coast of the Republic of Ireland and back to Plymouth.

Sir Edward Heath's boat, the Morning Cloud, survived the Fastnet race

By the Monday lunchtime force seven winds were on their way but the field, who included former UK Prime Minister and sailing enthusiast Sir Edward Health, were confident of weathering the storm.

But the forecasters had under-estimated the strength of the winds which buffetted the competitors throughout that day and whipped up mountainous waves.

Walls of water 40 feet high crashed down on the field and tricky tides further exacerbated the situation.

'Mayday, mayday'

A string of mayday calls were sent out and British and Irish naval vessels, lifeboats and even a Dutch frigate came to the rescue of the stricken sailors.

A total of 114 seamen were rescued by ships and helicopters but 23 yachts had to be abandoned to the cruel sea.

The crew of the Ariadne, who had been battered by huge waves for several hours, were too tired to climb a ladder dangling from a rescue helicopter.

Four of the ship's six-strong crew died.

There were also casualties on the yachts Grimalkin, Trophy, Festina Tertia, Flashlight and Veronier II.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), which organised the event, said attempts to abandon the race had been frustrated by the lack of proper radio equipment on about half of the competing boats.

Sea claims 15 lives

Six lives were lost because their safety harnesses broke while another nine drowned or died of hypothermia in their yachts or life rafts.

Afterwards the RORC was heavily criticised but its secretary, Allan Green, said: "Sailors must make up their own minds whether to face the risks of the sea or not."

Later the Daily Telegraph, the champion of the overwhelmingly middle class yachting community, said in an editorial: "If we still value the qualities of daring, comradeship and endurance in our national life we should cherish the sports which foster them with the risks they carry.

"The lessons of the Fastnet should be studied carefully and applied sensibly but in the knowledge that they can never expel the danger from yachting and the conviction that it will be a sad and bad day when the seafaring people declines the challenge of the ocean."