Two sailors were killed in separate accidents in the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, the first loss of life in the prestigious ocean race since 1998, organizers and local authorities said on Friday.
Race organizers said in a statement on their website that both crew members died after colliding with the spinnaker pole, which is a horizontal pole that stabilizes the sails and swings depending on the direction of the wind.
New South Wales Police said they were informed shortly before midnight that a crew member on a ship heading from Sydney to Hobart had been struck by a sailboat.
Crew members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but the sailor could not be revived.
Two hours later, a crew member from another ship was also reported to have been hit by a sailboat and died.
Race organizers identified the Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline as the boats where the incidents occurred.
“The sailing community is a very close community, there are about a thousand sailors on the water in this race, and to lose two in this way is devastating,” said David Jacobs, vice-commander of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.
“We always want to improve safety wherever we can. So we will investigate, and if there is something boaters can do to try to prevent this from happening, we will implement it.”
Bad weather forced several boats to withdraw 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 was in 1998, when five yachts sank and six sailors died after a major storm struck the fleet.