A young sailor from South East Cornwall has told of her dramatic escape from the Tall Ship Astrid when it sank off Ireland.

But Katie Spencer, 15, of Morval, was out on Siblyback Lake with her local sailing club the day after she returned to her home – none the worse for her experience.

'What happened hasn't put me off sailing,' said Katie. 'I would love to go on a similar voyage again.'

Katie, the daughter of Michael and Kim Spencer, of Wringworthy Cottages and Farm, was one of the only three young people from the UK on board the Astrid, a two-masted 137ft vessel, although there were 23 other young sailors from Europe enjoying the European funded sail training adventure and cultural exchange.

The Astrid was among a flotilla of 50 vessels, part of Ireland's 2013 Gathering Initiative, making for Kinsale off the coast of Co Cork when disaster struck.

Katie said: 'The sailing had been quite rocky and I had been on an early watch and was heading downstairs for a nap. I noticed the engine had stopped and next thing the crew were running around banging on all the doors telling us to get upstairs and put our lifejackets on. With no power, the captain tried to get the sails up to turn around from the rocks but it didn't work.

'It was quite hard to stand up, the ship was really rocking, and all the stuff in the galley was sliding about and crockery was smashing on the floor.

'We were all sent to the poop deck at the rear and told to sit down and hold on.'

Captain Pieter de Kam sent out a mayday and a major rescue swung into operation involving four RNLI vessels, two helicopters and another tall ship which was close by. Katie said an RNLI inflatable rig came alongside and took 12 people off and she was among those getting into the ship's own liferaft which was towed to a bigger RNLI vessel.

The Astrid slipped under the water within minutes of the rescue and an RNLI spokesperson said: 'It happened very quickly – thanks to God the rescue was successful.'

Katie said: The captain and crew were brilliant. The ship sank but we were all saved and there wasn't a scratch on anybody. We escaped in just the clothes we stood up in and lost all our possessions.' However, Katie still had her mobile phone and called her parents when she was safely on the lifeboat.

They were all taken to Kinsale Yacht Club where they were looked after by locals who gave them dry clothing, hot food and 25 euros each.

Katie's mum Kim said: 'The Kinsale community reminded me of what Looe is like – everyone rallied around. We are very grateful to the RNLI and the people of Kinsale, particularly the Yacht Club. But the fact these kids were all properly prepared was down to the captain, and we can't thank him enough.