A WESTCOUNTRY yachtsman is one of five British sailors being detained in Iran after their racing yacht was stopped by the Iranian navy while sailing from Bahrain to Dubai.

Oliver Young, 21, a professional yachtsman from Saltash, South East Cornwall, was on the Kingdom of Bahrain yacht halted by Iranian naval vessels last Wednesday.

It is thought the boat, which carried a satellite tracker, may have drifted into Iranian waters after its propeller was damaged.

Of the other four sailors, Oliver Smith, 31, is understood to have studied at the University of Plymouth and worked on yachts in the city and Luke Porter is believed to be from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

The crew members are being held after the yacht apparently strayed into Iranian waters. All are understood to be safe and well and their families have been informed.

Oliver Young, 21, is being held in Iran.

Mr Young’s father, Plymouth businessman David Young, told the Western Morning News last night that while the family was "concerned", he believed his son would be "coping with it fine out there".

Mr Young said: "He’s travelled a fair bit. He’s got experience under his belt. We understand they are being well looked after.

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"He’s been doing this since he was 18. He’ll be fine, I’ve got no doubt about that. He’s with a very good friend of his and two crew members.

"They’ve been out there on this project for a number of weeks now. I’m sure they are absolutely fine. We hope to see them very soon."

The two other crew members are understood to be Sam Usher and Dave Bloomer, believed to be a radio presenter in Bahrain.

The sailors were heading to Dubai to join the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.

The Foreign Office said the yacht might have strayed "inadvertently" into Iranian waters.

Mr Young, who is married and has four sons, said: "We’re confident this will be resolved very quickly. We’re all concerned and the sooner they are released the better. It is dragging along longer than we thought it would do.

"It’s just a worry that there are diplomatic stresses at the moment. They are under international pressure. We just hope they’re not used as a bargaining chip. The Foreign Office are doing their best and we’re hopeful of news any day soon."

Westcountry-based round-the-world yachtsman Conrad Humphreys said both Oliver Young and Oliver Smith worked for his team in Plymouth: "They’re pretty streetwise, very bright individuals."

Of Oliver Young, he said: "Olly worked for me on and off. He worked with me on the catamaran I had down here. I kind of gave him his first start out of school."

Oliver Smith, who is thought to be from Southampton, had worked on boats in Plymouth for about a year before joining Mr Humphreys’ team.

He is believed to have completed a degree in ocean science and marine navigation at the University of Plymouth and sailed on the University Men’s 1st Team.

Mr Humphreys described him as "a very solid guy. A good sailor, a tough young guy, pretty skilled with the boat".

The racing yacht is owned by Sail Bahrain, a team recently launched by yachting company Team Pindar. Its stable also includes Exmouth sailor Ian Williams – the reigning double ISAF World Match Racing champion and the first British sailor to win the world title.

The Kingdom Of Bahrain had been due to take part in the 360-mile Dubai-Muscat race which was due to start last Thursday. The race passes through the shallows of the Arabian Gulf, into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean via the Straits of Hormuz, before arriving into the Oman capital of Muscat.

A statement issued by Team Pindar read: "On November 25, Sail Bahrain’s Kingdom of Bahrain Volvo 60 racing yacht was stopped by Iranian navy vessels as it was making its way from Bahrain to the start of the Dubai-Muscat Offshore Sailing Race.

"The boat may have strayed inadvertently into Iranian waters. The five crew members, all British nationals, are still in Iran. All are understood to be safe and well and their families have been informed."

The incident is not the first time that Britons have been captured by the Iranian authorities while at sea.

Iran took 15 British service personnel hostage on March 23, 2007 and held them for 13 days.

The Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines, from the Devonport-based frigate HMS Cornwall, were taken at gunpoint by Iranian warships during a routine search of a cargo ship in the northern Persian Gulf.

Iran alleged the frigate strayed into Iranian territorial waters but the Ministry of Defence denied the allegation and said the ship was in Iraqi waters.

Footage of crew members was broadcast by Iranian television during their kidnap ordeal. The incident was a major embarrassment for defence chiefs, worsened by the subsequent decision to allow two of the captives – Leading Seaman Faye Turney and young sailor Arthur Batchelor – to sell their stories to tabloid newspapers.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinehjad agreed to pardon and free them on April 4, 2007.

In June 2004, six Royal Marines and two Royal Navy sailors were held for three days. They were part of a Royal Navy team which had been training the new Iraqi security forces to conduct anti-smuggling operations in the Shatt al-Arab waterway and were arrested while on their way to Basra to deliver one of the patrol boats to the new Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service.

The Iranian authorities said the boats had entered Iranian territorial waters in the Shatt al-Arab waterway which divides Iran from Iraq.

The Iran-Iraq border runs down the middle of the waterway. Some of those captured were also paraded on television.

The detention of the yachtsmen will further raise tensions between Iran and the West. The country has come under increasing pressure in response to its plans to build 10 new nuclear fuel plants.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the Government was in contact with the Iranians: "FCO (Foreign and Commonwealth Office) officials immediately contacted the Iranian authorities in London and in Tehran on the evening of 25 November, both to seek clarification and to try and resolve the matter swiftly.

"Our ambassador in Tehran has raised the issue with the Iranian foreign ministry and we have discussed the matter with the Iranian embassy in London. I hope this issue will soon be resolved. We will remain in close touch with the Iranian authorities, as well as the families."