A ROYAL Navy warship has spent the night sheltering Southampton yachtswoman Dee Caffari after her vessel lost a mast in high winds in the Bay of Biscay.

Dee, 34, was close to finishing the single-handed transatlantic Transat Ecover B2B race from Brazil to France when the damage occurred.

HMS Northumberland, which was travelling back from the Mediterranean to Devonport, was diverted to go to her aid and has sheltered the yacht overnight, allowing Dee to sleep.

A spokesman for Falmouth Coastguard said: ''The Northumberland is going to sit alongside her all through the night and see what the situation is in the morning.

''They will probably give her a bit of shelter from the wind so she can get some rest.'' He said the Northumberland is expected to give Dee some fuel so she can stay on the yacht.

A spokesman for the record-breaking sailor said her 60ft yacht Aviva lost the mast at about 6am yesterday in 45 knot-plus winds, 160 miles off Cape Finisterre in northern Spain and she did not have enough fuel to get to a Spanish port unaided.

Falmouth Coastguard later contacted the Royal Navy to find out whether any of its ships were in the area and HMS Northumberland was diverted.

Andy Cattrell, watch manager of Falmouth Coastguard, said: ''We are grateful to the Royal Navy for responding to the call for assistance and diverting from their home passage back to Devonport for Christmas leave.'' Dee said in a statement: ''Aviva fell off a wave, landed with a massive bang and crash then shuddered. I jumped up on deck to see the mast going over the port side of the boat. I just thought: 'Oh my god'.'' The sailor then had to spend more than an hour cutting the broken mast free to stop further damage to the boat.

''My hands are cut from using the hacksaw and knives on the rigging but I feel the emotions will kick in later,'' she said yesterday.

''I feel I'm being stretched to the limit and this is the last sting in the tail.

''I knew the weather was going to be horrible but I didn't expect 50 knots. I was so pleased to be in the Bay of Biscay within 300 miles of being home so I can't believe what has happened.

''There is no good time for a dismasting - it doesn't matter if you are five miles from the shore or 500 miles from the shore. The fact that it happened in bad weather made it quite difficult.'' The spokesman added: ''Dee is now drifting west at about two knots and is in regular contact with her shore team who are arranging a tow into northern Spain.'' Dee came to prominence 18 months ago when she became the first woman to sail solo around the world non-stop against the prevailing winds and currents.

Since then the former PE teacher has signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with Aviva to compete in solo off-shore racing.

The Transat race was a stepping stone in the sailor's plan of competing in next year's Vendee Globe solo non-stop around the world race.