Hampshire sailors continue to be battered by a dramatic storm as 90mph winds ravage the Round the World Clipper voyage.

The past 24 hours have proved to be eventful as one man suffered a blow, which left him with a hole in his leg, with another sailor sustaining a dislocated his shoulder.

Despite the storm calming the fleet are still facing gale force winds of up to 57mph as the boats continue their journey into the notorious Southern Ocean towards Albany in Western Australia, during the latest leg of the race.

Many skippers have praised crew members on their bravery and perseverance in the rough weather as they battled with gusty, fast and wet conditions.

Vicky Ellis, skipper of Switzerland, explained the conditions crew have been facing. “In gales, the wind whistles through the rig, in storms it screams, but this wind howled a roar that sent a chill right through you.

“The wind alone physically shifted crew off their seat on the deck so they have been using double clips to anchor themselves in place.  ‘It’s just like summer in Scotland,’ I told the crew cheerfully.”

The yacht Mission Performance has now continued racing, after the craft carrying Hampshire’s William Ferguson, Sigi Goolden and Peter Wilcock, was forced to suspend racing and divert to Port Elizabeth in South Africa after crew member David Griffin punctured his calf on a cleat.

Race Director Justin Taylor said: “This leg has historically been a tough one for the Clipper Round the World Race.  As the yachts plunge down into the Southern Ocean and the Roaring Forties they will begin to experience the full force of nature. 

“It would only be the naive to think that we could eliminate all the risk of sailing in the harshest of environments.”

At 1100 UTC, the current race standings see Qingdao leading the fleet (3871 miles to finish) with Henri Lloyd in second place (3957.3) and OneDLL (3990.3) third.