An Australian navy frigate 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 60-foot (18-metre) yacht Generali, fellow sailor Marc Guillemot said on the Vendee Globe race website, describing the scene.
Elies, 34, was unable to move freely and was in great pain after breaking his thighbone on Thursday when a massive wave hit his yacht while he was 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. A spokesman for the defence department said Elies was in a serious but stable condition, according to the Australian AAP news agency.
Arunta Commander Stephen Bowater said Elies was receiving medical care from the doctor and was resting comfortably. "We have proven again that the navy constantly maintains the ability to respond at short notice to emergency situations," he said on the race website. Assistant 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. "The sea has flattened out considerably from the three or four metre swells they've had for the last 48 hours. There's a blue sky, the sun is shining and the wind has dropped right down to a very manageable 14 knots," Hocken said.
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.
Race organisers said the empty yacht would be allowed to drift until a crew from Team Generali arrived by motor launch to collect it and sail back to Southern Australia. This is not the first time Australian forces have rescued Vendee Globe racers. They went to the aid of Briton Tony Bullimore and Frenchman Thierry Dubois in the 1996-97 race.
The rescues drew criticism because of the cost to the Australian taxpayer, but Navy chief Vice Admiral Russ Crane said the navy had no hesitation in responding to the request to help Elies. Thirty yachts began the gruelling round-the-world classic, which is held every four years, from the French Atlantic port of Les Sables d'Olonne on November 9, but 12 have now abandoned the race.
More than 633 nautical miles ahead of the injured skipper, Frenchman Michel Desjoyeaux is leading the rest of the pack on the 39th day of the race, with more than 12,000 nautical miles to go to the finish line. "I wasn't worried about the rescue so that's good news that Yann is being taken off," he said on the race website.
Comments
Comments are closed.