Two people taking part in Australia’s annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race have died in separate incidents, police said.
Both crew members died in separate incidents after being struck by a boom – the large pole attached horizontally to the underside of a sail.
Event organizers said the incidents occurred on the Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline.
The first boats are expected to arrive in the city of Hobart, Tasmania, later Friday or early Saturday. Some have already retired due to the bad weather.
New South Wales (NSW) Police said the first incident was reported to officers just before midnight on Thursday local time (12:50 GMT) by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority in the state capital Canberra.
Just over two hours later, at 2:15 a.m. Friday, New South Wales Police were told that the crew on board the second boat performed CPR on the second person, which also did not work.
The Flying Fish Arctos sailed about 30 nautical miles east/southeast of the New South Wales town of Ulladulla, organizers said.
Bowline was now about 30 nautical miles east/northeast of the town of Batemans Bay, also in New South Wales.
“Our thoughts are with the crews, family and friends of the deceased,” organizers said in a statement.
“The Sydney to Hobart journey is an Australian tradition and it is heartbreaking that two people have lost their lives at a time of joy,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
The race, which began on Thursday, continued.
It is not the first time that fatalities have occurred in the race, which was first held in 1945.
Six people, including British Olympic sailor Glyn Charles, died in 1998 after violent storms hit the competitors.
