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More Defence news: 22 December 2008 - 28 December 2008

Arunta rescues badly injured French sailor

Arunta rescues badly injured French sailor

Injured French solo yachtsman, Yann Elies is carried along the starboard waist on a stretcher by members of the ship's company of HMAS Arunta, after being transferred from the rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) and on to the ship.

22 December – Over the weekend the crew of the Royal Australian Navy ship HMAS Arunta successfully rescued a badly injured skipper of a yacht in challenging conditions in the Indian Ocean, approximately 850 nautical miles off the Western Australian coast.

Frenchman Yann Elies was competing in the round-the-world ‘Vendee Globe’ yacht race when he suffered a broken femur.

Race officials had classed Mr Elies as being in a life-threatening condition.

Using a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat, specially trained crew from HMAS Arunta extracted Mr Elies from his yacht.

HMAS Arunta has now returned to port.

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