DAY 16

The BBC's Hilary Bowden was so worried she started praying

I'm sure they never mentioned anything about tropical storms when I signed up for this race.

To watch video shot on board Spirit of Hong Kong during the storm click here.

There haven't been many days when I thought my number's up but today's definitely been one of them.

Spirit of Hong Kong has just emerged battered and bruised from somewhere near the centre of Storm Helene, south west of the Grand Banks, near Nova Scotia. A stomach churning 61.4 knots of jaw-dropping wind power.

The crew had to work frantically to pull down the massive sail

It was the speed that the wind built up to, force 12, that caught everyone by surprise. One minute we were steaming along at 10 knots on our merry way to Boston, the next minute all hell breaks loose and I'm on the set of the Perfect Storm.

The barometric gauge had dropped eight milibars in the space of an hour and they say that you should get really worried if it drops by four milibars.

Howling winds, rain and spray smashing into our faces. The yacht started to keel over at an impossible angle. Stephen Wilkins the skipper took over the helm immediately but we had too much mainsheet up to keep the ship upright.

To see the approximate position of Spirit of Hong Kong, click here.

The big guys in our watch ran down to the mast and started to struggle to pull the massive sail down before the boat turned over completely. In the pit they were working furiously to free up the ropes needed. But the boom was so far tipped over it was starting to drag in the water and the mast was heading the same way.

I mountaineered sideways and started winching with the kind of devotion that only mortal fear can inspire Hilary Bowden

As the gusts starting getting stronger and stronger I started mentally praying, wondering what the hell I could do to help and calculating how long it took to drown.

The mainsail was taking too long to drag down because of the horrific conditions. To make matters worse the halyard attached to it broke free and was swinging wildly. In the distance I could just about hear Steve shouting something about a boat hook and gesturing that we should use that to help pull the sail down.

One of the guys down below pushed the hook towards me through the hatch and we passed it forward. Thank God it seemed to do the trick.

Then Steve started shouting that the mainsail needed pulling in so I mountaineered sideways and started winching with the kind of devotion that only mortal fear can inspire.

Part of the sail was shredded by the wind

As soon as the crew managed to get the mainsail under control, the guys on the foredeck bravely dropped the headsails, despite 25ft waves crashing on their heads, and put up the smaller storm staysail and trysails.

The wind had taken its toll on some of the batons in our mainsail, ripping off metal bolts and shredding part of the sail. But the main thing was that everyone was safe and sound apart from a few cuts, bruises and wrenched shoulders. Everything else could be repaired.

Even when the height of the storm subsided, there were mountainous sea swells to contend with. The boat would surge up one side of a wave and go slamming 25 ft down into the trough, leaving the foredeck guys dangling in mid-air for a few seconds.

Smoking a post-hoolie cigarette Aussie Steve said: "Welcome to the 60-plus knot club, guys."

I'll never forget the people who joined the club with me. Nobody freaked out, everybody did their job and worked as a team. They are an amazing bunch of people to sail alongside.

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BBC News Online's Hilary Bowden is filing reports on the first leg of the BT Global Challenge from the yacht Spirit of Hong Kong.