Wednesday, 15 January, 2003, 16:50 GMT
Veteran yachtsman Olivier De Kersauson, who sailed from Brittany on Saturday, said that several hours into his voyage he found that a giant squid had clamped on to the hull of his boat. 
The creature, scientifically known as Architeutis dux, is the largest of all invertebrates. Scientists believe it can be as long as 18 metres (60 feet).
Giant squid have been found washed ashore or caught in the nets of trawlers, but scientists have never seen one alive.
Stuff of legend
Olivier de Kersauson said the sighting occurred off the Portuguese island of Madeira.
"I saw a tentacle through a porthole," Olivier de Kersauson said from his boat. "It was thicker than my leg and it was really pulling the boat hard."
Mr de Kersauson says two of the tentacles were blocking the rudder. 
Giant squid often feature in maritime legends and novels - including Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
But unlike Jules Verne's fictional Captain Nemo, Mr de Kersauson did not have to fight with the monster and cut off its tentacles.
The French sailor says the squid released its grip when he stopped the boat.
"We didn't have anything to scare off this beast, so I don't know what we would have done if it hadn't let go," Mr de Kersauson said.
"We weren't going to attack it with our penknives."
Rare sighting
Mr de Kersauson says the squid must have been seven or eight metres (22 to 26 feet) long.
"I've never seen anything like it in 40 years of sailing," he says.
Giant squids are carnivorous mollusks who live deep under the sea.
Only about 250 sightings - mostly of dead animals - have ever been recorded.
A giant squid measuring about 15 metres (50 feet) was found washed up on an Australian beach in July.
A smaller one was caught by a trawler's net off the coast of Scotland a year ago.
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