A Sussex woman has drowned after being swept overboard just hours from completing an 18-month round-the-world voyage with her husband.

Rose and Serge Paris, from Chichester, were sailing the Adriatic Sea towards the Croatian port of Pula - where they have a holiday home - when tragedy struck.

Mr Paris, 52, of Lavant Road, told of his horror as he attempted to save his 57-year-old wife before she disappeared beneath the waves.

He said: "I have lost the most precious thing in my life. I just wanted to go around the world. It was my life's ambition and now I feel terrible.

"I tried to do it many times before but Rose would never agree to it. This time she did - but at a terrible cost."

Mr Paris said their £350,000 yacht, called Ilyria - I Love You Rose In Abundance, was hit by storms as they sailed between the Italian towns of Brescia and Ancona on October 1.

He said his wife must have fallen overboard as they tried to secure a flooded rubber dinghy. He threw her a rope.

Mr Paris said: "I was shouting at her to hang on for her life. The sails were up so I had to slow the boat down. I turned to pull in the main sail. When I turned back, to my absolute horror she had let go of the rope.

"I had to turn the boat round to pick her up but when I got back in the spot where I had last seen her she had disappeared."

Mr Paris said they had life jackets but his wife wasn't wearing hers, possibly because they were so close to their destination.