Stricken sailor in dramatic rescue manages to save the ship's cat

Dramatic footage has captured the moment a Frenchman with a cat tucked inside his clothing made a leap of faith from his stricken boat.

The US Coast Guard shot the nerve-wracking video from an aircraft monitoring the rescue on Tuesday in high seas south of Alaska.

It shows Emmanuel "Manu" Wattecamps-Etienne jumping from his boat to a rescue ship as his vessel is tossed about by 20ft waves and 46mph winds.

Clinging to the rigging pole near the bow of his sailboat, he rides wave after wave before jumping to safety over the railing of the neighbouring ship.

The 28-year-old sailor, along with his cat which he tucked inside his coat ahead of the leap, miraculously escaped without serious injuries and is back on dry land.

But writing about the ordeal on Facebook, Mr Wattecamps-Etienne said he was bereft after losing his boat, named La Chimere.

"Now I'm a captain without a ship," he said. "I have got nothing, my whole life was on my boat. I feel like a footballer who just lost a leg. Useless and without purpose."

The lone traveller said his boat flipped after being struck by a massive wave and when it turned back over the cabin was filled with water. He had left Dutch Harbour, Alaska, on October 13, for Vancouver.

He activated a location beacon about 400 miles south of Cold Bay, Alaska and a C-130 plane was dispatched to assess the situation.