The mother of a sailor killed in a ferocious storm 200 miles east of Bermuda yesterday paid tribute to her son who died “doing what he loved”.

Father-of-two Steve Hobley, 50, from Devon in the UK, succumbed to hypothermia and was swept away to sea after the boat he was skippering capsized on Monday evening.

His colleagues, Olof Templeman and Kevin Klinges, spent ten hours clinging to the upside-down vessel while being battered by 45-foot waves and winds of up to 58 knots. They were finally rescued in a dramatic operation by US Coast Guard crews at about 3 a.m.

Yesterday, Mr. Hobley’s devastated mother, Ann, 77, who lives in Devon, paid tribute to her “wonderful” son.

She said he had been sailing since 1974, taking it up as a profession five years ago. He had travelled across the Atlantic several times, working for a company transporting vessels for the past 18 months.

“Everybody thought he was wonderful and he did a lot of things for people,” Mrs. Hobley told Devon’s Western Morning News newspaper. “I’m absolutely devastated but he died doing what he loved.”

Mr. Templeman and Mr. Klinges had been wearing storm suits, but Mr. Hobley was not. He is understood to have unfastened his life jacket after growing delirious through hypothermia.

“I’m sure he was going to put his survival suit on once he sent the SOS,” said Mrs. Hobley. “He felt his responsibility was for his crew.”

Mrs. Hobley discovered the news when her grandson phoned her to say he had been informed of the news by coastguard officials in the UK. “His children were always worried about this happening, which of course I was too,” she said.

“But he went into it with his eyes open and knew it was dangerous. He was extremely competent and took sailing extremely seriously. He absolutely loved it.”

The victim leaves a 25-year-old daughter, Frances, and a 23-year-old son, Jonathan.

Mr. Hobley’s friend Gyles Westcott, a fellow sailor who worked with him in Devon, also paid tribute. “He was an amazing man who absolutely loved his sailing,” Mr. Westcott told The Royal Gazette>

“His plan had been to make a go of it as a career. He saw the opportunity to set up sailing charter boats, mainly from the Mediterranean to the US.

“He invited me to join him. We were talking about the possibility of working together, but I didn’t like the idea of being away from home. His children were growing up, and it was a chance for him to follow his dream.

“The last time I spoke to him, he told me he was living his dream and having an absolute ball. He had found his place. He died doing what he absolutely loved. I was devastated to hear the news, but if there was a person who earned the right to die doing what he loved, he was it.”

The two survivors have told this newspaper how one US Coast Guard team member swam to reach them before hauling them to safety in a steel basket attached to a helicopter.