A group of injured military personnel taking part in the Fastnet Race 2013 have been forced to quit after a winch was ripped off the deck of their boat.

The crew including ten wounded and injured British servicemen, among them single and double amputees, was on a Farr 52 race yacht owned by the charity Toe in the Water.

The vessel had only been sailing for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon when the winch “pulled itself from the boat”, leaving a “gaping hole”, the crew said.

None of the crew was injured and they were safely brought back to shore. Speaking to BBC News, Skipper Lloyd Hamilton said it was the “shortest Fastnet I have ever done”.

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