A Fastnet Race tragedy survivor has visited Dartmouth to share her experience and raise funds for Dart RNLI’s new station.

Frances Reincke told her emotional story to a sell-out audience at the Dart Marina Hotel on March 26, saying: ‘It was a moment in history that will never be forgotten.’

Frances was just 21 when she competed in the 1979 race from Cowes to south-west Ireland, during which an unexpectedly fierce storm hit.

There were 19 sailing fatalities and 22 boats wrecked in the worst ocean racing disaster in history.

The scale of the disaster saw 65 people rescued by boat, and 75 saved by RAF helicopters in an event that reshaped safety at sea.

With her 19-year-old brother Mathew and six others, Frances’s yacht Autonomy felt the full force.

Crew were injured, two briefly swept overboard, and water poured through the main hatch as the crew battled to stay afloat.

At one point, the 36-foot yacht capsized, before coming back up.

“It was like being in a roller-coaster,’ said Frances.

“I remember silently sobbing while passing up buckets of water.

“When one wave hit I did a full summersault and ended up on the chart table.”

Autonomy’s spinnaker pole fittings were ripped out and the masthead fittings rendered useless and the rudder jammed, leaving no steering.

The crew sent up a red flare, and although that was missed the yacht was eventually towed to safety by RNLI Dunmore East.

A plaque at the station still commemorates ‘eight lives saved’ and Frances recalled how the quayside was packed with emergency services and townsfolk when they arrived in darkness in the early hours.

Only then did the crew realise the size of the tragedy, with communication so different in that era.

Now chair of the Haslemere and Hindhead RNLI branch, Frances recalled: “It was a terrifying experience. My father had bought a copy of the Evening Standard and Autonomy was listed as ‘Missing, presumed drowned.’”