AJACCIO, Corsica (Reuters) - French sailing star Florence Arthaud fell off her boat during a pee break but rescuers whisked her from Mediterranean waters in the early hours of Sunday 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 10-meter 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.