Cruise ship the Nordic Empress picked up two stranded crew members clinging to the hull of their upturned boat on Friday.

Americans Tim Kent, 50, and Richard McKenna, 39, were stranded 110 miles north west of Bermuda on Friday when their 50-foot sail boat The Everest capsized after part of the keel broke off in perfect weather.

They managed to grab some flares and fired off them off as the Nordic Empress came into view 9.30 p.m. - an hour after the boat hit trouble.

The Nordic Empress launched her fast rescue boat and, despite 30 knot winds, managed to safely transfer the pair on board.

Mr. Kent, of Wisconsin, had just completed the Around Alone race and had started the second leg of a race back from Bermuda to Newport, Rhode Island when the boat capsized.

Mr. McKenna, a Milwaukee attorney, had just joined the 50-year-old Kent for the second leg of the race.

Harbour radio said the men were in good shape as the cruise ship resumed its voyage to New York. The Everest was abandoned in the Atlantic.