A grieving father told today how his son was washed overboard by a giant wave in the Atlantic - and had to be abandoned by his brother.

Police officer Philip Hitchcock, 47, fell overboard while sailing with his brother David, 52, on his yacht during a transatlantic sail race.

The pair were piloting the 50ft Toutazimut from Las Palmas in Grand Canaria to St Lucia in the prestigious Atlantic Rally for Cruisers.

Mr Hitchcock was harnessed to the boat by a lifeline but was already dead by the time his brother tried to reel him in.

Unable to haul the body on to the yacht, he dragged it into a liferaft which he towed behind the boat.

The damaged yacht was struggling with the weight of Mr Hitchcock's body behind it and coastguards and police persuaded him to cut adrift his brother's body as swirling seas and high winds buffeted the craft.

Event organisers said a beacon attached to Mr Hitchcock's clothing had led coastguards to his body, although high seas meant recovery was still too dangerous.

Mr Hitchcock's father Eric, 76, of Homelands Close, Bexhill, said today he believed his son had had a heart attack before falling overboard.

He and his ex-wife Mamie, 74, faced an agonising wait for news as the extreme weather disabled communications.

Mr Hitchcock said: "I spoke to David by satellite telephone this morning and he was quite obviously cut up. He said the weather was still quite bad, too bad for anyone else to get on board to help him out.

"But we're hoping the bad weather will abate soon. We just want David safely home. The past few days have been terrible.

"He was beside himself when he hat to cut Philip loose. He is trying to bear up but it must have been awful for him. It was a dreadful thing to have to do but he had no choice.

"Philip was such a marvellous man. We're all desperately sad."

Mr Hitchcock, a property developer, was today in mid-Atlantic limping towards the Caribbean at a speed of six knots.

Rescue vessels were standing by to put extra crew on board the yacht once the bad weather had receded.

Colleagues paid tribute to father-of-three Mr Hitchcock, of Sevenoaks, Kent, an officer with the Kent force for 27 years.

Sergeant Gary Fittal said: "Phil had a heart of gold. He will be greatly missed. He was such a good friend and an excellent police officer."

About 250 yachts are racing in the annual event for amateur sailors.