Jean Le Cam, 49, was sailing his boat VM Materiaux in the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race when he sent a distress call to his shore team moments before his phone went dead and a distress beacon was activated.

At the time the married father-of-two was close to the treacherous Cape Horn lying third in the 26,000-mile race and it appears he lost his keel, causing the yacht to capsize.

Fellow French sailors in the race, Vincent Riou and Armel Le Cleac'h, changed course to go to the area where Le Cam was.

Riou was able to get alongside the wreck in his yacht PRB and heard a shout from Le Cam, who eventually climbed out of the stricken yacht and made it aboard Riou's vessel in heavy seas.

A race spokeswoman said: "Jean Le Cam has been rescued safe and sound.

"This evening a full-scale rescue operation was in place to retrieve Jean Le Cam from the upturned hull of VM Materiaux - a Chilean Navy tug boat equipped with divers was on its way, a helicopter had been deployed and the tanker Sonangol Kassanje was standing by - but in the end it was Vincent Riou who successfully recovered fellow skipper and friend Le Cam.

"Vincent Riou circled repeatedly to retrieve the skipper from the water, and on the fourth attempt he successfully rescued Le Cam on board PRB.

"Le Cam appears to be unhurt, as Riou reported that both skippers worked on deck to stabilise PRB's mast."

Le Cam, from Brittany, is an experienced sailor who came second in the last Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race, which finished in 2005.