the world was wrecked on the rocks of Bermuda.

Miss Anita Page, 41, had to swim for safety in the early hours of the morning after her boat ran aground and began to break up.

She was rescued from her perch on a rock, but her $100,000 boat was smashed to pieces by the waves.

Yesterday Miss Page, a sailing teacher from Florida, described how she left New York on October 14, determined to be the first solo woman to sail non-stop round the world the long way, using its full circumference.

She set out in the 35-foot sloop Sparrow , knowing she had already proved herself with a solo trip to Europe.

But she could not have known that Hurricane Frances, the storm that narrowly missed Bermuda at the weekend, was heading her way.

Despite the ribs cracked in her ordeal, she joked: "It bounced off me. I think I deflected it from you.'' The hurricane hit her 450 miles southeast of the Island on her way to the Caribbean, she recalled.

"It literally rolled over me. The winds were 35 mph and then the next thing I knew they were 60 mph.

"I fought it for eight to 10 hours, and it knocked my mast down in the water five times. It just slam dunked me. And the back side of it was worse.'' With aching ribs and winds still at 55 mph, Miss Page decided to sit the storm out.

"I couldn't get any sail up, I was too hurt,'' she said. "I just hove to like that for three days.'' Coast guards, who told her she had been the only boat in the middle of the hurricane, arranged for a freighter to pick her up. But she refused to abandon Sparrow and decided to head for Bermuda for repairs and medical attention.

"I had intense pain in my back,'' she recalled. "I couldn't walk around the boat, so if I wanted to do anything I had to crawl. The boat was taking in water but I had to sponge out the bilge because I couldn't use the pump.

"I got maybe 20 miles from Bermuda and told Harbour Radio on the VHF where I was. They said come to St. George's and we'll have someone to meet you.

"I set out, but after a while I kept falling asleep. I was near land and I knew my parents had come to Bermuda and I felt safe. I thought I'd just get 20 minutes cat nap.

"I had already picked out the clothes I was going to wear in port and washed my hair. I was relieved and my body just let go.'' Miss Page set her alarm, but she never heard it. She woke around 4.30 a.

m. to find her boat had hit rocks near Sonesta beach.

"I tried to get her off but she was so lightweight that the waves just picked her up and we went over the rocks and became embedded.'' After making a Mayday call, Miss Page tried to protect the hull from the sharp rocks with cushions.

"I stayed on her and tried to hold things together, but when the water started coming in I realised I had better get off.

"I grabbed a flashlight and half leapt, half swam to the nearest rock and climbed up on it.

"I watched her thrashing around for a while, but then I couldn't watch her die any more.'' Miss Page was rescued by Marine Policemen Sgt. Paul Cranage and Con. Reggie Horseman, who braved the waves and rocks in Rescue I .

She was cared for at Sonesta Beach hotel before joining her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Ruel Page, at a North Shore tourist cottage.

Divers were yesterday working to recover what they could from the wreckage of the sunken boat.

Miss Page was unable to get insurance for the voyage and does not know if she can relaunch her round-the-world hopes.

"It was my savings account, bank account, contributions from friends and family. Right now I've got to go back and pay for a boat that doesn't exist.'' A Harbour Radio spokesman praised her as a "valiant'' yachtswoman who had been beaten by nature.

DEATH OF A DREAM -- Solo yachtswoman Miss Anita Page (inset) was rescued from rocks off the South Shore early this morning, her hopes of a round-the-world trip wrecked.