A SAILOR from East Lancashire used a mobile phone to ring a friend in the UK when his yacht sank in a mid-Atlantic storm.

Frank Walling, 57, from Barnoldswick, made the desperate Mayday alert as the 14-metre yacht began to sink 300 miles off the coast of Portugal.

Today builder Frank said he thought he was going to die as 30ft waves crashed round the vessel, overturning it.

He said he used the ship's satellite phone to call a friend when he heard no reply from an international distress signal he put out on the boat's radio.

The father-of-five, who has been sailing since he was 16, said the yacht, which he had borrowed from a friend, ran into difficulties on Monday night, just hours after it left Gibraltar for England.

But within hours of departure the weather changed dramatically and mountainous seas began tossing the yacht round, called the Herrikka, like a cork.

After several hours frantically pumping out the listing boat - and failing to get a response to the SOS - he called his friend, Michael Smith, 40, from St Helens, who, in turn, alerted the Liverpool Coastguard.

They immediately alerted Portuguese maritime rescue authorities who mounted an international search operation.

After abandoning the sinking Herrikka, Frank's two ship-mates, a Russian woman and a Spanish crewman, were rescued by a freighter that diverted to the spot, a Norwegian gas carrier called MV Berge Challenger.

But Frank said he endured a further 20 hours in the life raft until rescuers hauled him aboard the tanker.

Shocked Frank, speaking from the MV Berge Challenger in mid-Atlantic as it made its way towards the Azores, said it was a miracle he survived and paid tribute to his quick thinking pal.

He said: "I honestly thought I was going to die. The waves were enormous - 30ft high with pure white tops.

"It was like a scene from The Perfect Storm. I've been sailing all my life and I have never seen anything like it. The sea tore holes in the hull.

"Luckily I had my satellite phone on the boat and I had my friend's number back home in England.

"He is an experienced sailor himself and I knew he would know what to do. He was vital in saving all our lives.

"The coastguard knew exactly where to find us because of his description and the satphone signal.

"I will definitely buy him a beer when I get home."

It was not the first time Frank endured a nightmare at sea. In 1981 he was plucked to safety from the Bay of Biscay when his yacht sunk while he was looking for treasure.