of North Carolina on the Cup Match weekend.

But professional fisherman Robert Lambe, 30, said he and the three American holidaymakers, who had just enjoyed a fishing trip off Bermuda, kept their cool as the US-registered fishing boat No Excuses started taking on water after hitting submerged debris.

"There was nothing scary,'' he said. "Luckily it was broad daylight and everybody pretty much knew what they were doing the whole time.

"It wasn't like being woken up in the middle of the night and finding your feet in water.'' Mr. Lambe was hired as a deckhand for the 55-foot US-registered sport fishing boat's return to the US.

But as the boat neared the East Coast, it struck submerged debris and the captain, a businessman from North Carolina, decided to abandon ship and put out a Mayday call.

Mr. Lambe said it took about an hour for the boat to go down -- by which time a US tug boat picked up the Mayday call only eight miles from No Excuses' position.

He added: "When we got off, we stepped right into a life raft and paddled straight to the ship.

"It was the owner's first time bringing the boat to Bermuda -- he was really hurt bad about losing the boat, but his main concern was everybody getting off safely.'' Mr. Lambe said the incident, while rare in Bermuda waters, happens regularly around Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

He added: "As far as the States goes, no. They just have a lot more debris floating about from the Gulf Stream. Boats run into things pretty regularly off that stretch of coast.'' Mr. Lambe, of Sandys Parish, said he spent five days on the tug before being dropped off on the Caribbean island of St. Croix, where he spent less than an hour before flying to Philadelphia, on to Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Virginia, then to Baltimore for the flight back home, arriving on August 5, six days after the sinking.

But he added the experience had not put him off acting as a crew member on visiting boats.

"These things happen. I'd be quite happy to do it again,'' he said.