Bermuda yacht rescue: We expected to die, say Britons #CarryGobySeanKellz #FutureGroupNG via @i_amreginaldjr

A BRITISH couple told last night how they thought they were going to die after their yacht sank 900 miles off the coast of Bermuda.

The Rorkers with Dexter and left, Mr Worthalter after the rescue[PA]

A tanker plucked Leonard Rorke, 55, from a flimsy life raft in the Atlantic along with his wife Lisa, 50, Belgian crewman Henri Worthalter, 29, and the couple’s Jack Russell terrier, Dexter.

The 50-foot vessel, Blue Pearl, sank on Thursday after being battered by 48 hours of appalling weather.

Mr Rorke, from Oundle, Northants, said: “We were preparing to die.” He said they were holding on “for dear life” as they faced 25ft waves and 40mph winds.

He added: “We were bailing water. It was life and death. We’re very grateful. We are very lucky.”

Mr Rorke said the yacht sank after the bulkhead broke up and the vessel began taking on water.

“The last thing we did was step off into the life raft. Well, we didn’t step off. We had to jump and hold for dear life.”

The ship was fitted with an emergency position-indicating radio beacon which allowed US coastguards in Portsmouth, Virginia, to direct nearby ships toward them.

Three ships diverted their course to help in the search and the Tilda Kosan, a 350ft tanker, managed to locate the stricken Britons on its third pass of the area.

Mr Rorke was full of praise for the coastguards’ response and the ship’s crew’s skill in finding them, adding: “They were 32 nautical miles away in the pitch black.”