Two experienced sailors were killed in similar but 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 website that both crew members died after they were hit by the sail boom, a horizontal pole that holds down the sails and swings depending on the direction of the wind.
New South Wales state police said they were told just before midnight that a crew member of one Sydney to Hobart entry was struck by a sail boom. Fellow crew members performed CPR but the sailor could not be revived.
The sailor was identified by police as Nick Smith, 65, from South Australia. A crew member on the Bowline, Smith was competing in the race for the fifth time.
A couple of hours later, a crew member on the Flying Fish Arctos was also struck by a sail boom and died. He was identified as Roy Quaden, 55, a sailor from Western Australia with two decades of experience.
“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.