French sailing star Florence Arthaud fell off her boat during a pee break but rescuers whisked her from Mediterranean waters yesterday after she called her mother by mobile phone.
Arthaud, winner in 1990 of the Route du Rhum single-handed transatlantic sailing race, was located and rescued near the island of Corsica thanks to a headlamp and the GPS system on her phone.
"I quite simply fell into the water while preparing to take a pee," the 54-year-old told BFM television.
Arthaud, alone on her 10m boat when she fell overboard, managed to hold her phone, protected by a plastic bag, above water and call her mother to raise the alarm.
