Mike Slade’s giant sloop Leopard is now moored safely in La Coruna, Spain after being towed by a tug following her abandonment in the Atlantic.

She sustained no further damage, after losing her rudder off the Azores, during her ordeal at sea in which her lazarette was flooded with water. It is expected she will be back in commission within two to three months.

Her seven-strong crew were taken off by a freighter after the rudder was lost because of impending bad weather.