Australia Sailor - French sailor arrives back on land after rescue, taken to hospital
NAME: AUS SAILOR 20081222I
TAPE: EF08/1280
IN_TIME: 10:17:24:11
DURATION: 00:01:19:13
SOURCES: AuBC
DATELINE: Fremantle/Perth, 22 Dec 2008
RESTRICTIONS: No Access Australia
SHOTLIST:
Fremantle
1. Aerial of HMAS Arunta heading towards Fremantle port
2. Wide of ship arriving at port
3. Various of rescued French sailor Yann Elies being carried off ship
4. Elies on gurney being moved to back of ambulance
5. Ambulance driving away
Perth
6. Wide of Elies being taken inside hospital
Fremantle
7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Steve Bowater, HMAS Arunta Commander:
"The conditions were challenging with heavy seas and swell, but we made good speed and were able to reach Mr. Elies in his yacht Generali ahead of schedule. The time saved ensured that Mr. Elie's condition did not deteriorate any further."
8. Mid of Bowater introducing his crew
STORYLINE:
A French sailor who was rescued after breaking his leg during a round-the-world race landed safely in Australia on Monday with the assistance of the Australian Navy.
A sedated Yann Elies, 34, arrived in Fremantle south of Perth in Western Australia state and was admitted to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment of the injuries he received during the Vendee Globe round-the-world race.
He smiled and gave a thumbs-up sign before being loaded onto an ambulance.
Elies was in stable condition but needed to be further assessed by doctors before speaking with the media, hospital spokeswoman Joanne Hill said.
Elies was injured when his boat, Generali, came to a sudden halt slamming into a wave on Thursday.
He had not had any pain relief for 48 hours until a Royal Flying Doctor Service doctor and officers from Australian Navy vessel HMAS Arunta boarded his yacht on Saturday about 750 miles (1,200 kilometres) south of Perth.
The Vendee Globe Web site said Elies was diagnosed with a fractured left femur and several broken ribs.
The Vendee, a single-handed race for men and women without any stopovers, set off from Les Sables d'Olonne on November 9.
Thirty Open 60 race boats - high-tech carbon-fibre yachts built to be fast yet tough - began the race, but more than one-third of the fleet has been forced to retire less than halfway into the race.
The Vendee takes the fleet around the three great capes - the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn - marking the southern tips of Africa, Australia and South America.