Irish skipper Damian Foxall was injured on the capsized Foncia

Their two trimarans capsized about 280 miles south-west of the Isle of Scilly on Tuesday morning.

A French helicopter lifted the sailors to safety, from liferafts dropped earlier by an RAF Nimrod plane.

A third boat which lost its mast about 170 miles off the islands was towed to safety by a French fishing boat.

A French warship and several merchant vessels and fishing vessels were also involved in the rescue.

Clinging to hull

The yachts are part of a fleet of 34 competing in the Transat Jacques Vabre race between Le Havre and Brazil.

A distress beacon was fired by the two-man crew of the Swiss-registered Orange Project when it capsized at about 0300 GMT.

Both men were clinging to the overturned hull when the Nimrod flew over.

The plane dropped a self-inflating life raft near the stricken yacht, in what an RAF spokesman described as "quite an operation".

Mike Mulford said: "They calculated it should drift into the direction of the Orange Project."

The 60ft Foncia also set off a distress beacon after it capsized when in second place, about six miles from Orange Project.

Co-skipper Damian Foxall was said to have injured his shoulder and ribs and could have broken his collar bone.

The Sedebo dismasted at about 0600 GMT but its crew were said to be safe when it was being towed to safety.

'Absolutely atrocious'

Another trimaran, Brossard, took refuge in Guernsey on Monday night after its central hull split.

A coastguard spokesman told BBC News weather conditions were "absolutely atrocious", with 70mph (60 knots) south-westerly winds and very rough seas.

British yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur is taking part in the challenge.

She is thought to have passed through the Bay of Biscay on Monday and is among the leading boats in the race.

The race features mono-hull and multi-hull boats.

A Sea King helicopter from RMB Chivenor in north Devon, which was scrambled, has now returned to base.