A 70-foot yacht competing in the Clipper Round the World Race was sailing in the Pacific Ocean north of Papua New Guinea when it was hit with a surprise 115 mile-per-hour wind. In short order, the boat was on its side, and crew members were tumbling into the water.

"All of a sudden, out of nowhere, we were unsure what it was, but the wind picked up, and the noise picked up, and the water just started to rise," says Paul Hardy, a crew member, in the video above.

Two sailors, Sarah Usher and Liz Richards, were thrown off the side and into the water.

From the Daily Mail:

'I remember being hit by a rush of water. I lost my balance and the force of the water just took me over the side.



[Usher] said: 'I was shouting at my crew 'I'm not clipped on, I'm not clipped on!' My heart was in my mouth - it was pretty frightening.

The yacht was competing in an amateur event, and Usher had never sailed before the race began. She and Richards were quickly pulled back onto the deck after the spill.

According to Hardy, the entire ordeal was over within 60 seconds, and everyone was safe, but it was "certainly an experience we wouldn't want to repeat."