Dream yacht breaks up tackling moderate seas

The futuristic catamaran cost £4m million to build and was designed to cope with the world's most treacherous seas. Made from materials normally used in aerospace, it featured two razor sharp hulls which supposedly allowed it to slice through waves rather than bounce over them.

But yesterday the state-of-the-art dream boat built by maritime hero Pete Goss in the hope that it would take him around the world lay in pieces after breaking up off the Isles of Scilly as the crew put it through its paces. The revolutionary vessel, the world's largest carbon fibre structure, was towed into the port of St Mary's on the Scillies by a lifeboat after the catamaran's 120ft long port hull snapped off.

The huge craft, designed to reach speeds of up to 40 knots, was on the third day of Atlantic sea trials when disaster struck. Mr Goss, 38, and his Team Philips crew radioed for coastguard assistance around 9am. The wind speed was a modest 18 knots, described by coastguards as "moderate to fresh".

The crew reported that the bows were beginning to break up on the hulls and then the port side sheared off completely, leaving the vessel listing precariously to one side. St Mary's lifeboat was immediately scrambled by the Marine Rescue Coordination centre at Falmouth, Cornwall, as thecrew donned their emergency immersion suits. An air-sea rescue helicopter from RAF Culdrose was also placed on standby amid fears the boat would disintegrate further.

Team Philips crewman Mike Calvin, who was at the helm, said: "I was on a two-hour watch and suddenly we felt something. It was a bit like having a puncture on a motorway. You knew something was wrong but could not see what it was. The boat carried on as if it was on casters but it became clear the bows were damaged."

Mr Calvin said the crew adopted their emergency procedure and were prepared to jump off the back of the central pod if necessary, but soon realised the boat was not sinking and settled down to a cup of tea while waiting for the lifeboat. Team Philips later said there had been a "significant structural failure of both the port and starboard bows" but the cause was still a mystery.

The vessel was built specifically to take on the world's greatest yachts in a non-stop round-the-world "drag race" which heads off from Barcelona on 31 December. Regarded as the world's fastest and most high-tech ocean racer, the 70ft wide catamaran is bigger than centre court at Wimbledon. It also has two rotatable masts taller than the height of 10 double decker buses and boasts satellite telecommunications enabling the crew to stay in touch with headquarters in the roughest of weather.

Last night, veteran round-the-world yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnson said: "After all the hope and hard work it is tragic. I suspect it is not all over. It is a setback, not a major disaster. Carbon fibre is immensely strong material. Maybe there wasn't enough there, as obviously there was a flaw. Although it is very depressing for the crew it is better to find out there is something wrong now than in the Southern Ocean."

Vicky Bartholemew, Team Philips spokeswoman, said the team was "bitterly disappointed", adding that engineers and divers were now inspecting the damage to see whether the boat was repairable. She said Team Philips still planned to be on the start line for the race.

Mr Goss had hoped Team Philips would help him and his five teammates to smash the Jules Verne record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by sail. The vessel was named by the Queen earlier this month after the launch at Totnes, south Devon, which was watched by tens of thousands of people.

Mr Goss said last night: "Obviously there is a huge sense of disappointment. There were times when I saw water wash over the hull names on that port side - it made me feel like crying. This is obviously a major setback, and I feel most for the team who have put their heart, bodies and soul into this. It is a sad, sad day, but we are going to regroup and come back stronger - it is not over yet."

Mr Goss, who launched Team Philips after a two-year building programme, expected to start the Jules Verne attempt within the first two weeks of April. Team Philips was built at Mr Goss's own Baltic Wharf yard to drawings produced by respected yacht designer Adrian Thompson.

Mr Thompson was looking forward to seeing his radical craft tackle the gale-force winds forecast for the Atlantic trials, saying before last month's launch how he had drawn inspiration from nature, adapting the way the fibres of a tree run into the trunk.

Mr Goss was hailed a hero when he turned back in a Southern Ocean hurricane to rescue fellow competitor Raphael Dinelli in the 1996-97 Vendee Globe round-the-world single-handed race.