An Australian navy frigate on Saturday rescued a French yachtsman badly injured in the remote Southern Ocean during a solo round-the-world race, race organisers said.
Two crew members transferred Yann Elies to the HMAS Arunta from his 18m yacht Generali, fellow sailor Marc Guillemot said on the Vendee Globe race website.
Elies (34) was unable to move freely and was in great pain after breaking his thighbone on Thursday while changing a sail.
“Some highly professional work. They prepared Yann for the transfer. Still heavy swell but they carried out manoeuvre perfectly.
“Yann is now aboard the frigate and has a doctor taking care of him,” Guillemot said.
“It was like a dream. It didn’t seem real. They took care of that magnificently,” he said.
Guillemot had changed course to meet Elies early Friday following his accident and remained nearby providing support over the radio until the arrival of the Australian ship, which was carrying a doctor from the famed Royal Flying Doctor Service.
Race director Julian Hocken said there was no need to airlift Elies to hospital as the frigate was fully equipped for medical emergencies.
“The warship is fully fitted out for medical care and for injuries of this level of severity. Yann will stay on the warship as it heads back to Fremantle, back to its home port,” Hocken told the BBC earlier.
He said Elies had “held up pretty well” over the past two days since his accident.
Hocken said the weather conditions had greatly improved in the hostile Southern Ocean which would help the rescue effort.
“The wind gods are smiling on us because there’s a little weather window which we’ll have for maybe two or three hours.
Elies was forced to abandon the Vendee Globe round-the-world yacht race on Thursday while in eighth place aboard Generali in the Southern Ocean about 800 nautical miles south of the Australian coast.
He managed to drag himself into the cabin and activate the yacht’s autopilot after breaking his leg in a fall when a huge wave slammed into the vessel as he was changing a sail. — AFP