Two sailors killed as wild weather devastates Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Two sailors have been killed in separate incidents in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, organisers and local authorities said on Friday, the first loss of life in the prestigious ocean race since 1998.

Race organisers said in a statement on their websitethat both crew members died after they were hit by the sail boom, a horizontal pole which holds down the sails and swings depending on the direction of the wind.

New South Wales police said they were informed just before midnight that a crew member of one Sydney to Hobart entry was struck by a sail boom.

Fellow crew members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but the sailor could not be revived.

A couple of hours later a crew member on another vessel was reported to have also been struck by a sail boom and died.

Race organisers identified Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline as the boats where the incidents occurred.

“The sailing community is a very close community, and there’s about a thousand sailors on the water in this race and to lose two in this fashion is just devastating,” said David Jacobs, vice commodore at Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

“We always want to improve safety wherever we can. So we will do an investigation and if there’s something that boats can do to try and prevent this happening, we will implement it.”

Bad weather has forced several boats to retire from the 79th running of the race, which began on Thursday, leaving Law Connect as the new race leader in the South Pacific.

The last loss of life in the race came in 1998 when five yachts were sunk and six sailors died after a major storm hit the fleet.