CREW members have been injured after a dramatic storm hit the Round the World Clipper Race earlier than expected.

Teams have been battling through fierce winds with gusts of up to 60 knots as they make their way from Cape Town in South Africa to Albany in Australia.

Boat speeds among the 12-yacht fleet have reached 30 knots while some crews have already been injured by waves crashing over the bows or being knocked off balance by huge rolling seas.

Organisers had anticipated rougher conditions on the approach to the Southern Ocean, but winds have turned out to be more ferocious than anticipated.

Crew member David Griffin aboard Mission Performance was caught by a wave on the bow and punctured his calf on a cleat, resulting in the yacht suspending racing and heading to Port Elizabeth so he could be evacuated for an assessment and treatment.

Skipper Matt Mitchell reports how they got David below deck so that fellow crew member and ship's medic Bee Lian Seet, a Singaporean nurse, could make a full assessment.

He wrote: “Given the tough conditions, both David's fortitude and Bee's overcoming of her sea sickness were admirable. In the mean time I instructed the crew to carry on changing the headsail, as well as drop another reef in the main in order to calm things down a bit.”

However, Matt's report goes on to reveal a story of 'beauty and the beast' with regard to the storm.

“We have taken a few large hits from some of the big waves...with most of the boat enveloped by waves. At night it's been particularly spectacular (as well as slightly scary) because the water is thick with phosphorescence, making the whole boat glow with stars as it is submerged.”

Jamaica Get All Right skipper Pete Stirling added: “The crew have never seen weather conditions or a sea state like this before but they have all been amazing and willingly done everything asked of them and more besides.

“I have only seen weather conditions worse than this once before and that was in the North Pacific on the Clipper 2009-10 Race so, this is great training for those crew on board now who are also on Leg 6, the Pacific Ocean crossing.”