Rescue ship reaches capsized yacht racer

A rescue boat has pulled up alongside the capsized yacht of Vendee Globe racer Jean Le Cam but is encountering rough seas, officials said Tuesday.

Race officials in Paris issued an update saying the oil tanker Sonangol Kassanje was alongside Le Cam’s overturned yacht near Cape Horn but that a rescue attempt was being delayed by adverse weather conditions. Le Cam is believed to be alive and well in his yacht’s hull, The Times of London reported.

The Frenchman, who was in third place in the round-the-world yacht race, triggered a rescue beacon Tuesday morning and was spotted by a Chilean rescue plane.

Also closing in on Le Cam’s position were fellow racers Armel Le Cleach, who was in fourth place, and Vincent Riou, in third place. Vendee Globe safety consultant Alain Gautier told reporters Le Cleach’s presence was important in a rescue attempt because it’s not certain that the oil tanker can lower a boat into the water.

Gautier said it may be possible that Le Cleach or Riou could make the rescue, noting the same thing happened with yachter Pete Goss-Raphael Dinelli in the 1996 Vendee Globe.