Canada has dispatched several ships and planes to assist in a daring ocean rescue of three racing yachts that are being hammered by a massive storm in the mid-Atlantic.

According to Major Rhonda Stevens, who is overseeing the operation through the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax, two Canadian Coast Guard vessels, one naval ship and two Air Force planes have been dispatched to the scene, which is nearly 1,700 kilometres east of Newfoundland. Portugal has also sent a military aircraft.

“The weather on scene, and even en route, is extremely severe right now,” Stevens told CTV News Channel on Friday.

The sailboats had been competing in a transatlantic race hosted by England’s Royal Western Yacht Club that sees solo sailors and crews of two race from Plymouth, England to Newport, Rhode Island -- a distance of more than 2,900 nautical miles. The race began on May 29, but late Thursday, hurricane force winds of nearly 130 km/h and waves as high as 15 metres struck the flotilla. One boat lost its mast while two others sustained rigging or hull damage, Stevens said. Two of the disabled sailboats are being piloted single-handed while the third has a crew of two.

Canadian aircraft have already arrived at the scene in the mid-Atlantic, Stevens said, and they are maintaining communications with the three damaged vessels, which are spread over a roughly 380 kilometre radius. No severe injuries have been reported.

“They’re in good spirits,” Stevens said, “as good as they can be in the situation that they’re in with their vessels being damaged,”

A cargo ship and oil tanker, Steven added, may be able to reach the vessels as early as late Friday night. The Canadian Coast Guard and naval ships are expected to arrive by Saturday evening.

“We are extremely hopeful that within the next 12 to 24 hours we will be able to rescue those sailors,” Stevens said.

With files from The Canadian Press