Hurricane warning worries yachtsmen: ATLANTA '96

Olympic yachtsmen were forced to flee from their regatta base in Savannah, Georgia, in the United States yesterday after warnings that Hurricane Bertha, which has claimed three lives as it passed through the Caribbean, could arrive there soon.

The Olympic sailing events spokesman, Marcus Hutchinson, said competitors and larger yachts had been evacuated from the "day marina'', a huge metal barge in the Savannah estuary.

Smaller boats had been dismantled and lashed to the structure. "They'll be safer out there than back in Savannah, where we could have cars and telephone poles flying around," Hutchinson said.

The main Olympic marina, a collection of tents and trailers on nearby Wilmington Island, was also being stripped down until the storm threat passed.

"The situation is a little more optimistic than it was this morning, but we're still under a hurricane warning. We've been taking the place apart," Hutchinson said.

"We're definitely going to get winds tomorrow in excess of 35 knots, which is about gale force eight in European terms, but whether we get the full hurricane we don't yet know."

Bertha, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, was blowing off the Bahamas at 115 mph (195 kph) yesterday and curving northwards in a way that suggested the south-eastern coast would be spared.

Officials of the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami said the next 12 hours would be crucial in determining whether or not it hit the United States.

Around half of the total 450 yachting competitors have already arrived in Savannah, 10 days before racing starts.

Hutchinson said the "day marina'' would remain closed on Thursday and that training was unlikely to start before Friday or Saturday.