Brazil's navy has rescued an American single-handed sailor who had sustained an injury during a race across the South Atlantic.

Guy de Boer, 70, was under way on the outbound Atlantic leg of the McIntyre Golden Globe, a round-the-world sailing race that starts and ends in France. He suffered a fall inside the cabin on November 2 and injured his head. Suffering balance issues, he decided to quit the race and put out a distress call the following day, then allowed his vessel to drift in weathervane self-steering mode.

The injury was significant, and by the 7th, his condition had deteriorated to the point that he could not maintain his balance or stand. The Brazilian Navy made urgent preparations to evacuate de Boer. The corvette Barroso got under way at best speed that day, and transited out to meet the yacht at a position about 800 nautical miles off the coast of Rio de Janiero. Meanwhile, the yacht began to drift further away from shore under auto-steering, making nearly six knots and covering enough ground to delay the planned rendezvous. The race control team was unable to reach him immediately, but at 0700 UTC he was back in touch. Though "very groggy," de Boer lowered his sails and allowed the yacht to drift in order to avoid transiting further away from shore.

Once in range of the yacht, the warship launched a helicopter with rescue divers aboard. The aircrew retrieved de Boer and flew him safely back to the vessel for emergency treatment. The yacht was abandoned at sea.

“Everyone in the Golden Globe Race is relieved that Guy has now been recovered. We sincerely thank MRCC Brazil and the men and women of the Brazilian Navy for the professionalism, speed and efficiency of their response,” said GGR founder Don McIntyre in a statement.