Teenage round-the-world solo sailor Abby Sunderland has been found alive and in good health stranded in the Indian Ocean.

Crew on a Qantas plane made contact with the 16-year-old, who was in trouble in rough seas.

The American adventurer activated two distress signals last night and an international rescue operation was launched involving Australian and French authorities.

A spokesman for Qantas says an Airbus aircraft found the teenage sailor in an area about 2,000 nautical miles off the West Australian coast.

Abby's father, Laurence Sunderland, has told ABC Local 702 Sydney the search and rescue vessel has made contact with the 16-year-old.

"They've verified she's not injured. The boat is not upside down," Mr Sunderland said.

"They made contact with her by VHF radio from the aeroplane down to her.

"We've got our Abigail back. Probably the best news we at home base could have wished for. We are ecstatic."

Mr Sunderland says his daughter's quest to sail around the world in her Wild Eyes yacht is over.

"She'll be back. I don't know how she'll be routed back to us here or where we'll go to meet her, but knowing that she's alive and well means far more to me than any sailing record," he said.

A Qantas spokesman says the Airbus crew is establishing coordinates so boats on their way to rescue the teenager will know her position.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says the first boat due at the rescue site is not expected to arrive until mid-afternoon tomorrow.

Conditions are abating in the area after earlier offering 90 kilometre per hour winds and a six-metre swell.

AMSA spokesman Mick Kinley coordinated the search and says the young sailor is in a good condition.

But he says the same cannot be said of her yacht.

"The visuals and the report is that she's been dismasted, the rigging's over the side and in the water," he said.

"But otherwise it sounds she reports it's not taking on water, so we're in a much better place than we were this morning."

Mr Kinley says a nearby French ship is likely to be first on the scene tomorrow.

Melbourne sailor Jesse Martin, who once held the record as the youngest person to sail the world solo, has welcomed the development.

"Now it's just a matter of staying on the boat, staying with the boat, keeping warm," he said.

"Hopefully she can still light her stove and keep the boat warm and cheerful.

"But I imagine from her point of view, the fact that someone has flown over and talked to her would put a lot of her worries to rest, so now it's just waiting until someone can get there."

'Badly planned'

Earlier, the man who fitted out Jessica Watson's yacht said Sunderland's boat was not designed for a solo trip around the world.

Veteran yachtsman Marty Still said the boat was built for speed and it is difficult for it to be sailed by one person.

"They're not really designed for general purpose sailing. I think there is a compromise for safety when they are sailed single-handed," he said.

Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan is also an experienced sailor and held the Australian record for solo circumnavigation of the world.

He said Sunderland's trip was badly planned.

"I don't know what she's doing in the Southern Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it's just, it's foolhardy," he said.