Bundled up in huge clothes against the bitter cold and spraying waves, Xavier Doerr gave two weary thumbs up as he was airlifted into a helicopter almost 24 hours after his dramatic sea rescue began.

The 22-year old experienced solo sailor set off an emergency beacon shortly before five o’clock on Friday evening, as his yacht, Waterline, began to take on water and he lost contact with his land team amid a savage storm in the Great Australian Bight.

An extensive rescue operation was launched by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, with planes from Perth to make aerial contact and several vessels, including bulk carriers, diverted to the beacon’s location.

Late yesterday Mr Doerr was taken aboard the Bulk Carrier Theodore JR and treated for injuries.

Vision of the dramatic rescue shows his smaller vessel rocked by huge waves, with at least three attempts made to get him off his stricken boat and onto the larger carrier before darkness fell.

AMSA said on Sunday afternoon that a rescue helicopter had reached the bulk carrier, and he has now been flown to an Adelaide hospital for treatment.

He’d departed Queensland’s Southport Yacht Club weeks ago to complete an anti-clockwise circumnavigation of Australia, and had already travelled over 5200 nautical miles when he ran into trouble thousands of kilometres from help.

He had been hoping to become the youngest and fastest sailor to complete the journey by finishing in less than 50 days.

-AAP