A HAMPSHIRE sailor waited two days to be rescued by his wife because he did not want to trouble the Coastguard.

Tony Curphey, who sails around the world with his wife, Susanne, but in separate boats, got into trouble 700 miles off the coast of New Zealand.

But because the 67-year-old, did not want to become ''another Tony Bullimore'', he alerted his wife, who is from Germany, rather than the local rescue services.

Bullimore was rescued by the Australian navy after his yacht, the Exide Challenger, capsized in the Southern Ocean during the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race in 1997.

Mr Curphey got into trouble when his 27ft clipper, Galenaia, started taking on water in a storm.

He radioed his 47-year-old wife, with whom he normally only meets up in port, who was 150 miles away in her 40ft ketch, So Long.

It took her two days to reach him and she sailed past five times before managing to attach a tow line.

The couple, from Emsworth, kept in contact with rescue services by radio and reached Nelson in New Zealand eight days later.

Mrs Huber-Curphey is reported as saying: ''Australians still complain how much it cost to rescue Tony Bullimore and my Tony didn't want to follow in his footsteps.''