Rescuers searching for Jean Le Cam, the missing French sailor whose boat capsized 200 miles west of Cape Horn while sailing in the Vendee Globe around-the-world yacht race, have made contact with the skipper.

At 1421 GMT fellow competitor Vincent Riou, onboardPRB, arrived at the scene ofVM Matériaux’s capsize. Riou reported that he found the yacht floating upside down, without its keel bulb, and with a small ‘flag’ visible at one of the through-hull fittings on the bow of the upturned yacht. Riou shouted for Le Cam, 49, a married father of two, and heard a response from the French skipper inside the upturned boat.

The stern ofVM Matériaux, where there is an emergency escape hatch, is underwater.

A Chilean naval tug has also been sent to aid the rescue effort. The tug left Puerto Williams, Chile, at 1230 GMT and is due to reach the area tomorrow morning at 0630. The tug is equipped with a RIB and divers to assist in recovering the skipper.