The IMOCA 60 Asturiana limped into the Port of Tauranga today after suffering damage that forced it to abandon the Barcelona World Race.

The race tracker on the Barcelona World Race website shows Asturiana turned back about 3000km east of New Zealand.

Tauranga built ocean racer Asturiana arrives in port.

The yacht, with a noticeable list, arrived at the Tauranga Bridge Marina at about 2pm.

'She's smashed a frame on the port side,” says Southern Ocean Marine director Greg Prescott.

'She landed on something.”

Asturiana was built at Southern Ocean Marine and launched in Tauranga in 2003 as Ecover.

From Tauranga, Greg expects Asturiana to be shipped back to Spain on the next onion boat later in the month.

Whether she will be repaired before departure is not yet determined.

The damage is estimated to take 'one boat builder one week,” to repair.

Ecover won the Transat race in 2004, was third in the 2004-5 Vendee Globe, second in the Calais Round Britain race in 2005, fourth in the Transat Jaques Vabre, and won the SNSM record in 2006.

In 2007-8 as Madrilena she was fourth in the 2007-8 Barcelona World Race, and seventh in the first Round Spain Race.