A YACHTSMAN is lucky to be alive after he was winched to safety by a rescue helicopter moments before his yacht broke up on rocks.

Last night, the mother of Stephen Elton said hearing that her son was alive was the best birthday present she could have had.

Amateur sailor Mr Elton, 50, from Framwellgate Moor, Durham, had been due to join other family members for his mother's 70th birthday party.

Instead, Pat Elton received a call from The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, to tell her that her son had been the subject of a dramatic rescue.

Coastguard Bernie Cother said 50-year-old Mr Elton was pulled to safety in the nick of time.

Mr Cother said: "He was a very lucky man. Within a couple of minutes of him being winched up, his yacht broke up."

Mrs Elton said last night: "He is very down, traumatised. He just could not get his boat to do anything because the waves and stiff winds were just pushing it backwards.

"He is terribly swollen and bruised, and may have to have surgery to one of his hands."

But, she added: "I think he has been very fortunate - very fortunate to have had people there to save his life.

"It was pretty scary hearing about it. I said to my husband, 'it is a birthday I will remember'."

Mr Cother said rescue services picked up a faint mayday message from the yacht, the Joan of Arc, on Sunday evening, but the link kept breaking up. Unable to plot its position, the Redcar lifeboat was launched to search the seas to the south and the Staithes lifeboat sent to look north.

The yacht was found on Hummersea Scar, below cliffs near Boulby, east Cleveland, being driven further and further on to the rocks. It had been sent aground by gale force winds and heavy seas up to three metres high.

Mr Cother said: "You don't mess around with the rocks there. Basically, we received a very broken up call that he was in trouble. We did not know who he was or where he was."

A ship, the Jemma Star, stationed in Tees Bay to warn shipping of a fouled pipeline, helped to pinpoint the position of the stricken yacht.

A Sea King rescue helicopter from RAF Leconfield was called after attempts by the Staithes RNLI lifeboat to rescue the lone sailor were aborted, because of the worsening conditions.

Redcar RNLI helmsman Andy Beevis said: "Conditions were very difficult and were worsening by the minute. The yacht was hard aground and was being battered by the seas.

"The best thing was for the man to stay aboard his yacht. If he'd tried to make his way ashore he'd have faced the serious risk of injury or worse."

Covered in bruises, one hand smashed with multiple fractures, the other swollen, and having sustained a blow to his mouth, Mr Elton collapsed unconscious once inside the helicopter.

The coastguard said last night there was nothing left of his beloved yacht but matchwood.

Mr Elton, who is divorced, lost a wealth of equipment, including a laptop computer and camcorder he had on board the yacht.

He was flown to Middlesbrough's James Cook University Hospital for treatment.

It is Mr Elton's second life- threatening encounter in recent years. Three years ago, he contracted a virus which attacked all his major organs and was in intensive care for ten days.

"That was touch and go," Mrs Elton said last night.

A computer consultant with the Deutsche Bank, Mr Elton bought the Joan of Arc second- hand and has spent the last two-and-a-half years restoring it. He has been sailing for three years.