A family whose yacht was damaged when it was struck by a huge whale arrived safely in Bermuda late Monday night.

Georg Reygers said the whale hit their 49-foot yacht Compinche in calm waters, 320 miles off Bermuda on Friday.

Mr. Reygers, was in the salon below with his daughters Cecilia, six, Tatiana, 10, and Tamara, 12, while his Brazilian wife Ingrid was steering above.

"My wife was enjoying the sun and the calm water conditions, then there was an enormous bang like an explosion and we all jumped out," Mr. Reygers told The Royal Gazette.

"My wife screamed and saw this huge whale which was bigger than the boat. The only thing I saw was a big spot of blood on the water when it had dived away.

"I immediately checked the boat because it was a horrible crack. There was chaos onboard and I dived down to see the damage and realised the rudder and the skeg (which protects the prop shaft) were damaged.

"You always think the worst because I knew it wasn't rocks. I was quite calm but the panic was when we realised there was a water intake of about a gallon a minute."

Mr. Reygers, 43, a German business administrator who works with German companies in Brazil, sent out an emergency signal which was eventually picked up by the US Coast Guard, which offered to helicopter the family off.

Mr. Reygers said he declined because the yacht could still sail, and the pumps were working, though he was unable to sail quickly for fear of causing further damage to the rudder and skeg.

He was also in regular contact with Harbour Radio in Bermuda, which he said reassured him and lifted morale onboard.

He was able to skipper the yacht to Bermuda, arriving in St. George's at 11 p.m. on Monday night.

The family are on the third year of sailing expedition from Brazil up Central America. They were on their way to Bermuda, then the Azores as part of a return trip to Europe when the accident happened.

Mr. Reygers praised Harbour Radio for the support, including alerting all ships in the area to keep an eye on them.

"I was not in a panic because I knew I was being observed by the US Coast Guard and Rescue Control (Bermuda Harbour Radio).

"Rescue Control especially were extremely kind, building up morale for us. I am very thankful to those guys."

He revealed the QEII, which arrived in Dockyard yesterday, pulled alongside and the captain invited him for a drink when got to Bermuda.

Yesterday, Mr. Reygers was hoping to celebrate arriving safely in Bermuda on a high note by having a beer with the captain onboard the luxury liner.