THE tale of how a Teignbridge family of four survived a nightmare shipwreck shipwreck made headlines in August 1977.

Alan Matthews, 38, his wife Angela, 31, and their two sons, Mark 11, and Stephen, 9, spent two hours in a flimsy raft after abandoning their boat in a fierce gale in the Irish Sea.

When they arrived back in Teignmouth, a tired Mr Matthews admitted: ‘The life raft had a lot of water in it, and I was exhausted. I do not think I would have lasted the night’.

‘We have absolutely nothing now except for a few pounds in the bank and a few bits of clothing my wife managed to grab.

‘We have no home and no possessions – I sold our house to buy the boat and it was not insured.

‘Our life savings of several thousand pounds also went down with the boat.

‘But at least we are all alive and unharmed. I am grateful for that.’

An engineer who used to live in Fore Street, Kingsteignton, Mr Matthews bought the 47-foot gaff cutter Fulmar for £20,000 from Oban.

He and his family were sailing back to Teignmouth for fitting out before setting off to start a new life in South Africa.

Although she was built in 1901 the yacht was an extremely strong ocean going craft with a good pedigree – she once came second in the Fastnet race.

Mr Matthews added: ‘I did not think there was any need to insure such a strong boat for such a short journey.

‘We had already gone through two gales without trouble. But during the third one I suddenly looked up to see the floorboards and other things floating about.

‘That was it. With two children on board you do not muck about. The seas were as high as the mast. It was extremely dark, but we all managed to scramble safely into the inflatable life raft.

‘I had been sending up flares without success, but after two hours in the raft we were spotted by an Irish fishing boat. They told us the yacht went down so quickly they thought everybody was aboard it. Luckily for us they were searching around for survivors, just in case.

‘My wife and the boys were tremendous, and there was no panic. I am very strict on safety, and we had rehearsed the emergency drill many times.

‘But after looking after the boat all day during the gale, I was just about gone by then. When I took to the raft I was in my pants. The jeans I am wearing now were given to me by one of the fishermen. I have no idea what we are going to do now.’

The family are staying with friends on Chelsea Place, Teignmouth, and will start picking up the pieces again next week to try and begin a new life from scratch.’