The historic yacht has docked in Egypt after the longest leg of the round-the- world voyage to date.

For the final days of the leg the crew were rocked back and forth on massive waves that towered above the boat.

But they have now reached Port Ghalib and are getting some well-deserved rest.

Project mastermind and skipper Alan Priddy said: 'Without doubt, the past five days have tested everyone and you had to dig very deep inside yourself.

'The passage up the Red Sea turned into a feat of endurance and bravery for the two young adults on board, when storm force winds forced them to head off in the wrong direction to avoid the worst of it.

'Even down to the last 500 metres of the journey the seas were huge.

'But in the end we all arrived safe in harbour with no damage to Lively Lady or her crew.'

Those on board the testing leg from India were Jay Williams, 22, of Portsmouth, and Vicky Henton, 17, from Cosham.

Jay, who has already sailed across the Atlantic on the first leg of the trip in 2006, said: 'I didn't think seas and waves could get that big. They were standing 40ft above us and Lively Lady was being thrown around like a pea in a pod.'

Vicky added: 'We had made such good progress from India and we were all looking forward to a hot shower and real food when all of a sudden the storms hit us and what should have only taken two days turned out to be five.'

For the next leg of the trip the historic yacht will make its way up the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea and then to Malta, with youths Coral Williams and Michael Bennett on board.

The boat will then take in a handful of countries around Europe before returning victoriously home to Portsmouth on July 5.