A British couple were rescued at sea around 320 miles south east of Bermuda after a nightmare 40 day ordeal on a broken yacht.

Stuart Armstrong, 51, and his partner Andrea Davison, 48, tried to head to the Island after disastrous technical failures on board their yacht Sara.

However, their remote location in the middle of the Atlantic meant they were out of range for a rescue vessel to be dispatched from here.

Amid worsening weather, they were picked up by a supertanker over the weekend after finally being forced to abandon ship.

According to British media reports, the drama began on January 9, six days after the couple left the Cape Verde Islands on board their £60,000 ($86,000) yacht and headed for Antigua where they intended to anchor until April.

Midway through the 2,550-mile journey disaster struck when the rudder on the 13-metre yacht jammed to starboard.

Attempts to fix it were useless and the couple were left in the middle of the Atlantic, sailing around in circles.

Ten days later an alternator that turned seawater into drinking water also broke.

Because of their remote location, a rescue attempt was impossible and the couple carried on drifting with the current pushing them slowly towards the Caribbean.

During their weeks at sea the couple's yacht was battered by storms but miraculously they managed to escape unscathed.

However, as they neared the infamous Bermuda Triangle after more than a month at sea the conditions began to worsen and they got battered by a hurricane force storm.

With food and water rations beginning to run out, the couple's plight ended around 320 miles south east of the Island when their SOS was picked up by the supertanker Indian Point which was en route from South America to Amsterdam.

The 183-metre tanker changed course and rescued the couple from the Sara.

Quoted in British news reports, Captain Michele Cancrini said: "It was actually a very difficult and complicated rescue because we had to line up a 30,000 tonne, 183-metre supertanker alongside a 16 tonne, 13-metre yacht, all that in a heavy northerly swell."

Last night, the duty officer at Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre said: "They were calling us every day telling us their position. Their intention was to come to Bermuda and we were relaying weather information and giving them support and guidance."

He explained that a boat was on standby to go out and rescue them if they managed to get within 50 miles of the Island but their attempts were thwarted by the weather.

"They stuck it out for a long time. It's a shame they lost the willpower to keep going in the end," said the officer.

The Indian Point was yesterday reported to be in the mid-Atlantic sailing towards Amsterdam where it is expected to dock next Sunday.