A British solo yachtswoman who was left drifting in the Southern Ocean for more than 50 hours after her vessel was wrecked in a storm is recovering following a dramatic rescue in which she was winched aboard a huge cargo ship.

Susie Goodall was injured when her yacht flipped over and dismasted two days ago 2,000 miles from Cape Horn as she took part in a round-the-world race.

After more than two days nursing cuts and bruises and coping with severe sea sickness, Goodall, the only woman and the youngest competitor in the Golden Globe Race, was plucked on to the deck of a cargo vessel sent to rescue her by Chilean authorities.

She sent a message to her worried family and supporters that she was recovering with a hot drink. She is not expected to reach land until just before Christmas.

Goodall’s distress call was picked up by the coastguard in Falmouth, Cornwall, on Wednesday morning UK time.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Susie Goodall being winched to safety. Photograph: MRCC Chile ‏

A cargo ship, MV Tian Fu, had been steaming from China to Argentina but went to her assistance and reached her position at Friday lunchtime. It was dark when the ship reached Goodall, but she was able to see its lights approaching.

The master of the cargo vessel decided he would not be able to launch a recovery boat from the 40,000-tonne ship and instead planned to rescue Goodall by dangling a hook down to her.

The plan was for Goodall to get the motor of her stricken yacht working. The Tian Fu would then steam off slowly, allowing her to motor alongside but keeping a safe distance between her and the towering vessel. One of the Tian Fu cranes would swing its arm out and lower a hook to Goodall. Her job was to hook herself on and be winched from her deck.

With both boats rising and falling in waves up to 4 metres high, the moment of hooking-on was delicate, dangerous and needed to be carefully timed. A major hitch came when Goodall’s engine stopped. But on Friday afternoon she was winched to safety.

Race headquarters posted an image of Goodall dangling from the industrial hook with the caption: “Susie Goodall...having the ride of her LIFE on the hook of the TIAN FU and headed for that long awaited CUP OF TEA!! ...so good! thanks to all involved....a very professional effort.”

The ship is now bound for Argentina and expected to reach port on 22 or 23 December.

Golden Globe Race 2018 (@ggr2018official) Great News from Susie message: ON THE SHIP!!! sur le vaisseau!!!

Goodall had been suffering physically. She was cut and bruised in the wreck and had been resting in her bunk, only able to keep down a little water. She was also desperately upset to be out of the 30,000-mile race.

She wrote in a series of bulletins: “Totally and utterly gutted … This motion is just horrible! Clinging on in my bunk … In need of a good cuppa tea! But sadly no cooker.”

On Wednesday, day 157 of her attempted circumnavigation, Goodall’s 11m (35ft) boat flipped over and broke its mast in the storm while she was below deck.

Water filled the hull and Goodall, 29, from Stourbridge, West Midlands, initially thought the boat had been holed. But she confirmed the hull was intact, the boat managed to right itself, and she told race control she did not need immediate assistance.

SusieGoodallRacing (@susieBgoodall) ON THE SHIP!!!

On Friday evening, Goodall’s family paid tribute to her rescuers. “We would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone involved in the successful rescue of Susie.” They thanked the Chilean maritime search and rescue, the Falmouth coastguard, the Golden Globe race organisers, “and especially the master and crew on Tian Fu” who, they said, “have given it their all over the past few days”.

They added: “It was with a heavy heart Susie left [her boat] DHL Starlight to fend for herself, before she fills with water and rests on the Pacific Ocean floor. DHL Starlight has been her home for the past few years; a faithful friend who stood up valiantly to all the elements, a guardian until their last moments together.

“Once aboard Tian Fu, Susie remarked how enormously welcome the crew made her feel. They offered lots of food and drink, and over the next week or so she’ll have plenty of time to rest en route to Argentina.

“When she was younger, Susie loved doing somersaults on trampolines. We just never thought she’d do one in a boat.”

The race is a back-to-basics event to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston’s historic first solo non-stop circumnavigation. Eighteen skippers set out in boats similar to those sailed by Knox-Johnston, which are not equipped with modern technology or satellite-based navigation aids.

Goodall was in fourth place at the time, fighting for a podium finish but riding out a ferocious storm with 60-knot winds and huge seas.

It is thought the boat may have surfed down the face of a huge wave and catapulted over. She had been collecting seawater for experiments and the glass bottles containing her samples were smashed in the incident, making conditions even more difficult and dangerous.

Knox-Johnston said: “We are all incredibly proud of her, we all think she has done so well. We know she is a good sailor and she is tough, very determined.

“We were hoping to see her on the podium at the end of it all, but the Southern Ocean is a nasty place. It looks like one item of equipment sort of deprived her of the chance to succeed in getting around the world solo and non-stop - which would have been a wonderful achievement.

“I expect at this precise moment she will be feeling very relieved, but she will be feeling pretty devastated that she couldn’t quite do it.”