Yann Eliès, the French yachtsman who was stranded helpless on his boat for two days in heavy seas with a broken leg, was dramatically rescued from the treacherous waters of the Southern Ocean yesterday.

An Australian naval frigate reached Eliès’s 60ft boat, Generali, at about 9.40am GMT.

Another French yachtsman, Marc Guillemot, had got there first but was unable to offer any real help, his attempts to throw painkilling drugs aboard ending with them in the sea.

HMAS Arunta launched a rigid inflatable boat (RIB) with a doctor from the Royal Flying Doctor Service, two medics and a crewman who is also an experienced yachtsman. The crewman scrambled aboard the Generali to secure it before the medics could give Eliès emergency attention.

Once they were happy he was stable, they tipped the keel of the Generali to one side so he could be lowered gently into the RIB. The only real delay was in searching the yacht to find Eliès’s passport.

Just over an hour after the operation began the 34-year-old Breton was taken safely aboard the Arunta, bound for a military hospital in Perth, 850 miles to the north. The father of two had recovered enough to call his wife.

Commander Stephen Bowater, commanding officer of Arunta, said: “Once we’d stabilised the patient, we got him on a stretcher and brought him back onto the ship. He’s now comfortably ensconced in the supply officer’s cabin and being well looked after.

“It took about 45 minutes — it probably took longer to find his passport, which he had hidden pretty well.”

Eliès was taking part in the 27,000-mile Vendée Globe nonstop round-the-world race, one of the toughest tests for any sailor. Yesterday’s rescue ended an ordeal that had lasted since Thursday morning and is one of the worst nightmares for all solo sailors.

Sam Davies, a British yachtswoman who had changed course to fight through storm-force winds to give Eliès “psychological assistance”, was stood down before she could reach him.

The 33-year-old Cambridge engineering graduate, who lives in Brittany, was about two hours away when Elliès was rescued. She said she had no hesitation in leaving the race to try to reach him.

Davies, who blacked out herself when she injured her elbow earlier in the race aboard her yacht Roxy, said: “We are so isolated in this race. We all know that the nearest help is from our competitors.

“It is a terrible feeling to be on your own and be incapacitated and out of reach of your first-aid kit. He must have suffered terribly.”

Last night she was in ninth position out of the 30 boats that started the race. She was 1,200 miles behind the leader, Michel Desjoyeaux, 43, another Frenchman, in his yacht Foncia.

Meanwhile, the £1.75m red-and-white Generali was drifting north on autopilot. A salvage crew from the French team supporting her has set off to intercept. If she survives the Southern Ocean, they hope to sail her into Perth later this week.

Guillemot, who had turned his yacht Safran back to aid his fellow countryman, praised the Australians for the rescue.

“There was some highly professional work done there,” he said. “There was still a heavy swell but they carried out the manoeuvre perfectly.”

The rescue echoed the way Tony Bullimore, the British yachtsman in the Vendée race, was rescued 11 years ago by the Australian navy after his yacht flipped over in a storm.

The latest drama began early on Thursday, the 39th day of the race, when Eliès alerted the competition’s headquarters in Paris that he was badly injured.

Eliès had been working on his foredeck when he was thrown by a huge wave. He managed to crawl back into his bunk in the cockpit of his boat, but was agonisingly out of reach of his medical kit.

Guillemot, altering course 100 miles to the south, was the first to arrive, though he was unable to board Generali because of high winds and strong seas. “I’m going to stay here as long as it takes,” Guillemot said. “I’m just trying to talk to him. The subject doesn’t matter.”

For two days the 48-year-old Guillemot, who himself suffered two broken legs in a sailing accident more than 20 years ago, kept Eliès company. He tried without success to throw water bottles and medical supplies into the cockpit. Occasionally he could see his friend’s head and hands, which boosted both men’s morale. “We are both Bretons,” said Guillemot. “So we are both stubborn.”

Eliès’s plight had a deep impact on the rest of the fleet, who had no heart to race on until they knew he was safe.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Canberra was alerted and the Arunta was sent to the rescue from HMAS Stirling, a naval base near Perth.

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