Sailor Andrew Taylor who survived after falling into the ocean during the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race has been to hospital for an examination of his leg.

Ipswich Star: Andrew Taylor in San Francisco after completing race across the Pacific Ocean.Andrew Taylor in San Francisco after completing race across the Pacific Ocean. (Image: � Abner Kingman)

The 46-year-old, who grew up in Newmarket, was thrown from his boat - the Derry-Londonderry-Doire - into the Pacific Ocean while racing on March 31. He had spent more than 90 minutes in the extremely cold water before he was rescued.

After arriving in San Francisco, following 5,600 miles of racing, he went to the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital for an examination of his leg, which he injured when he hit the starboard rudder shortly after going over the side.

The doctors have confirmed it is not broken, but he is suffering with bruising. He will see an orthopaedic surgeon on Monday for further assessment on the leg to see whether he can continue with the race.

Mr Taylor said: “I’m under no illusion that I am a very lucky man. I’m very happy to be here in San Francisco - I need to say thank you to a lot of these guys behind me for the work that they put in for the search and rescue operation.

“I also need to thank Olly Cotterell, the skipper of OneDLL, and the crew of OneDLL who suspended racing to come and assist in the search operation immediately.

“I need to say a massive thank to the Clipper Race team and the work that they did - in particular liaising with my family which is not an easy thing to do. They did an amazing job - my family speak very highly of them.

“It was horrific, the storm in particular; it was hard for these guys on the boat, it made the search harder but the storm treated me very badly. It beat me up badly.

“I kept myself really busy whilst I was in the water. There was a lot for me to do, a lot for me to concentrate on and what I needed to do to survive.

“The guys on the boat were doing everything they needed to do so it was important I did the same. There were a few times I did wonder if I was going to get back on the boat or not but I’m here and on the boat, many thanks to the crew. It was an epic piece of work to find me.”